Two airmen in separate training programs in Texas died earlier this month. Officials still are investigating the causes of the deaths. According to the San Antonio Express-News, Maj. Bryan Adrian, 41, an Air National Guardsman from Anchorage, on Feb. 15 was pulled from a swimming pool at Lackland AFB, Tex., where he was undergoing water confidence training, and was pronounced dead at the base hospital. Adrian was a member of the ANG’s 212th Rescue Squadron, Kulis ANGB, Alaska. The Associated Press news service reported that SrA. Leonard Hankerson Jr., 24, assigned to the 56th Security Forces Squadron at Luke AFB, Ariz., on Feb. 11 became ill during training at Ft. Bliss, Tex., and later died at a military hospital.
The House Armed Services Committee on June 4 approved an amendment to a key defense policy bill that would bar the Air Force from retiring E-3 Sentry aircraft through fiscal 2027.