The KC-135 tanker is celebrating its 50th anniversary this year, but so is a retired chief master sergeant, who spent his entire Air Force career working on the KC-135 and continued right on in civilian life. Retired CMSgt. Bobby McCasland was with the crew that picked up USAF’s first KC-135 in 1957 and spent the next 23 years in and around the tanker. After retiring, he worked with the Air Force as a civilian—on KC-135 quality assurance—retiring in 1987. He is now helping convert a KC-135R into a communication test aircraft at the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker AFB, Okla. (Read more here.)
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.
