Making use of the Army’s Military Operations in Urban Terrain facility recently, airmen of the 455th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron practiced how they would rescue airmen taken hostage on a mission to distribute humanitarian supplies to an Afghan village—a frequent occurrence. The facility mirrors a typical Afghan village but contains cameras, voice recorders, moving mannequins, and speakers and is run from a computerized control room. According to one participant, Reservist TSgt. Robert Taverna from McGuire AFB, N.J., every Air Force security forces airman now provides this type of security once left to specialized SF units. Taverna explained to Air Force journalist Maj. David Kurle, that the security forces “career field is not just sitting in shacks guarding gates any more.”
In a new 2026 appropriations bill released Jan. 20, Congress included an extra $900 million to save the E-7 airborne early warning and control aircraft from cancelation, an additional $500 million for the F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter to address “emerging” needs, and $401 million to make up for “economic factors” in…
