The Air Force has dispatched elements of the 552nd Air Control Wing at Tinker AFB, Okla., to support operations in Iraq and Afghanistan, for the first time in four years. On the unit’s last deployed to Operation Enduring Freedom, reports journalist SSgt. Stacy Fowler, its E-3 AWACs amassed 10,000 flying hours from September 2001 through October 2002. When the E-3 Sentry force left SWA in 2003, it had sustained a 13-year continuous presence, flying for Northern and Southern Watch, Enduring Freedom, and Iraqi Freedom. The Sentry force also just celebrated its 30th anniversary at Tinker. (Read more in journalist Polly Orcutt’s report.)
US Space Command Should Always Be Led by a Guardian
Sept. 12, 2026
General Stephen Whiting took command of U.S. Space Command in January 2024, and if customary three-year tenures hold, his tour would end in January 2027. The question now before the President and Senate is who should follow him? Whoever they choose, it has to be a Guardian—and so should every successor…
