When USAF created its air and space expeditionary force (AEF) concept, the premise was that AEFs would head overseas. Hurricane Katrina proved that the AEF can be useful at home, too. At Keesler AFB, Miss., the Air Force has set up the 97th Air Expeditionary Group, comprising initially some 190 airmen from around the country. Its working up to a total of 250 airmen, who will relieve the folks at Keesler from support for FEMA and other groups. That means Keesler can get down to restoring Keesler.
In the face of Chinese war plans to disrupt U.S. command-and-control networks in the event of a conflict, the Air Force needs to focus less on its “connect everything” efforts and prepare its combat aviators to fight without a constant connection to higher-ups, according to a new report from AFA’s…