Virginia Republican Sen. John Warner, chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, in a letter to BRAC commission chairman Anthony Principi, blasted the commission on its decision to consider bringing back to life Cecil Field in Florida, as a replacement for Virginia’s NAS Oceana, which the Pentagon has proposed to close. Warner said such a move would be illegal. The Navy closed Cecil in 1999, sending most of its aircraft to Oceana.
As the U.S. war with Iran intensifies, the Pentagon is rushing more warplanes to the region, deploying Air Force F-16 Fighting Falcons and F-35 Lightning II fighters to the Middle East, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.