The Great Falls Tribune reports that the missile folks at Malmstrom AFB, Mont., are “off to a good start” shedding themselves of the 50 Minuteman III ICBMs and alert facilities the Air Force (and the last Quadrennial Defense Review) mandated the 341st Space Wing cut. Community officials near those missile sites are seeking a $500,000 grant from DOD to help them adjust to the loss of some 500 personnel and the road subsidies the communities received. Meanwhile, as we reported earlier this month, Montana lawmakers are trying to work a Total Force arrangement that might lead to reopening the Malmstrom runway.
The U.S. sent Air Force F-16s over central Syria in a show of force following the Dec. 13 killing of two U.S. Army Soldiers and one American civilian interpreter by a gunman linked to the Islamic State group.
