Democratic Sen. Byron Dorgan of North Dakota is marshalling forces for “a new era of opportunity” for the Red River Valley Research Corridor by hosting an “action summit” on March 22 at the University of North Dakota. The Air National Guard unit at Fargo and Grand Forks Air Force Base will be jointly operating Predator UAVs. Dorgan also hopes to get USAF to make the university a Center of Excellence for UAV education. He says he wants the summit to identify steps to take “to accelerate” the Predator deployment and identify potential economic opportunities for the surrounding communities.
Air Force depots are not typically meant for quick repair jobs, but during Operation Epic Fury, the service moved some of its stateside heavy maintenance capability forward to fix battle-damaged aircraft closer to the fight.
