Senior Executive Service member Thomas Wells has been named to head the new 711th Human Performance Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, where BRAC 2005 mandated USAF consolidate human research functions from Brooks City-Base, Tex., and Mesa Research Site, Ariz. • And, Wright-Patt officials will break ground next month for a $330 million construction project to house the new wing. • Air Force Recruiting Service in October will deactivate the 367th Recruiting Group at Robins AFB, Ga., as part of its budget-cutting reorganization; the unit recruited more than 7,000 fledgling airmen in 2007. • The 56th Fighter Wing at Luke AFB, Ariz., plans to deactivate the 63rd Fighter Squadron in spring 2009 as part of a BRAC 2005 action that directed USAF to remove a total of 37 F-16s from Luke.
The successful second flight of Blue Origin’s New Glenn rocket on Nov. 13 from Cape Canaveral Space Force Station, Fla., also included a first for the company—the launcher’s booster stuck its landing on a barge in the Atlantic Ocean.
