Bunkers are now in place at Ali Base, Iraq, in response to an increase in rocket attacks. Construction began on the concrete shelters the day after Col. David Orr, 407th Air Expeditionary Group commander, ordered the new bunkers to increase safety and security. Local contractors provided and placed barriers and t-walls to fortify high traffic areas, providing protection for airmen from fragmentation of rockets, shrapnel, and debris. In the near future, the AEG plans to install benches and reinforce the bunkers with sandbags, reports to the base newspaper, Ali Times.
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.