At Ft. Dix, N.J., students with Air Mobility Command’s Mobility Warfare Center participated in the Phoenix Raven course recently, helping to improve their security forces skills. Taught by the 421st Combat Training Squadron, the course started in the 1990s to improve the protection of military aircraft in an expeditionary environment. Completion of the course earns an airman the coveted Raven patch, which shows the airman is prepared to travel anywhere in the world to protect DOD assets for as long as necessary, according to TSgt. Kelly Tabor. Students get nearly 130 hours of instructional training during nearly three weeks, with more than 50 hours of classroom instruction, including focus on topics from anti-terror training to mastering the collapsible baton.
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.