The Air Force has awarded a Bronze Star to Capt. Samantha Elmore, a public health officer of the 9th Medical Operations Squadron at Beale AFB, Calif., for her efforts while deployed to Iraq. Elmore led a team in Baghdad that assessed sanitation and hygiene at city hospitals and the morgue that led to equipment and supplies improvements. She also helped create the first Preparatory Iraqi Nurse Corps.
The final version of the fiscal 2026 defense policy bill calls for adding $1.2 billion to the Space Force’s research and development accounts, an increase that’s mostly split between two efforts: expanding the service’s low-Earth orbit data transport network and boosting its space-based missile warning and tracking capabilities.
