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.
Members of the Air Force Reserve’s 920th Rescue Wing helped save 11 airplane crash survivors off the coast of Florida on May 12. The Reserve Airmen were flying an HC-130J Combat King II and an HH-60W Jolly Green II on a routine training flight when a Coast Guard call diverted…