Air Force officials at Hill AFB, Utah, have saved nearly $1 million with a decision to eliminate the base decals required on passenger vehicles, according to a USAF news release. The Air Force plans to make it a servicewide change, starting March 15. Another Air Force Materiel Command base, Robins AFB, Ga., already has followed Hill’s example. Security procedures in effect since 9/11 prompted Hill officials to eliminate the decal. Since 9/11, security personnel at base gates check individual identification of every passenger in vehicles, instead of waving the vehicle through if it had a military decal. Other services may not follow suit, however. For instance, at many military installations in the nation’s capital,vehicle occupants must show IDs, but a DOD decal on the vehicle means the vehicle doesn’t normally have to go through a full security screen.
B-52 Stratofortress bombers marked a new first in Operation Epic Fury when some of the BUFFs flew over Iran carrying JDAM-guided gravity bombs, according to people familiar with the matter. The development signals a weakening of Iranian air defenses and a new use for the venerable bomber in the nearly…