DOD has determined the identity of the remains of an airman missing since Jan. 8, 1968, when his RF-4C Phantom disappeared over South Vietnam. He was Maj. Charles L. Bifolchi of Quincy, Mass. A US Army helicopter crew found wreckage the day after Bifolchi and his fellow crewmember went missing, and US forces continued searching for four days, but enemy activity and the steep terrain prevented recovery of the two crewmen. The Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command personnel and Vietnamese teams conducted two surveys from 1993 to 2000, recovering human remains and aircraft wreckage.
Aircraft readiness will suffer if Congress does not approve some $1.5 billion worth of spare parts the Air Force requested in its annual Unfunded Priorities List, sent to Capitol Hill last week, Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin said.