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 last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.