Adm. Timothy Keating, commander of US Northern Command, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that NORTCOM has learned some lessons from Hurricane Katrina. For one thing, Keating told the panel this week, it needs to spruce up its command of rescue operations. He said NORTHCOM’s Air Force component is currently working with the US Coast Guard and the National Guard Bureau to develop a joint search-and-rescue center for large-scale operations after disaster strikes. Airmen carried out thousands of rescues during the September disaster.
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes in the Middle East are flying with fresh modifications as the Air Force looks to make the plane more versatile amid America’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and a tenuous ceasefire in the U.S. air war against Iran.