The Air Force has converted its first group of non-union civilian employees to the new National Security Personnel System, which is still embroiled in a legal dispute with unions. An NSPS official said last week that the process to convert the 3,100 lucky individuals of Spiral 1.1 who work at the Air Force Audit Agency, Air Force headquarters, and Tinker AFB, Okla., “went very well.” The next group, Spiral 1.2, will be ushered into the system in October, followed by Spiral 1.3 in January 2007.
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes in the Middle East are flying with fresh modifications as the Air Force looks to make the plane more versatile amid America’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and a tenuous ceasefire in the U.S. air war against Iran.