Some 80 percent of the 1st Combat Communications Squadron at Bitburg AB, Germany, comprises junior airmen—senior airman and below and some first-termers, says the squadron commander, Lt. Col Joe Sublousky. And that is the reason the squadron developed its own basic deployment course. Recently the unit trained 33 new airmen, teaching them everything from how to set up tents to driving convoys and hand-to-hand fighting.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.