The aerial port airman at RAF Mildenhall, England, have somewhat of a dilemma: They work with a wide variety of aircraft that transit the base, but they have little chance to maintain their training with these aircraft. Consequently, they “mob” the transit aircraft or have to deploy to other bases to bone up on particular types, reports Air Force journalist Louis Arana-Barradas. The 727th Air Mobility Squadron, comprising some 150 US Air Force blue-suiters and 80 British civilians—who provide continuity—is a slave to world events, such as a short-notice Presidential stop or the hurry up effort to help deploy the base’s special operations airmen to aid Americans evacuating Lebanon, according to squadron ops chief Lt. Col. Tim Taylor. He says, “Our work is cyclical, it comes in waves.”
While the Space Force is still making long-term plans to establish high-fidelity live and virtual test and training ranges in the coming years, officials say they're also working with operators to identify near-term gaps and quickly field capabilities to address them.
