Retired Lt. Col. Claude R. Kinsey, who became an ace flying the P-38 during World War II, died Feb. 4, of cancer, the Washington Post reported Thursday. He was 86. Kinsey, who is credited with shooting down seven enemy aircraft over North Africa, enlisted in the Army Air Forces in 1940, becoming a sergeant after completing flying training. After Pearl Harbor, he was trained in the P-38 and commissioned. After the war, he flew B-47s in Strategic Air Command, retiring in 1965.
The Air Force budget would grow to $234 billion while Space Force spending would shrink to $26 billion under the White House's yearly ask.