Some 43 airmen of the 939th Air Refueling Wing at Portland, Ore., are the first to complete the Air Force’s readiness safeguard command and control functional training exercise. The five-day course, which took place at Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center in Wisconsin, provides training in problem solving for personnel manning a unit’s survival and recovery center, putting them “in a realistic environment,” said Lt. Col. Jonathan McDaniel, the program’s director.
The U.S. began extensive air and artillery strikes against Islamic State group targets in Syria on Dec. 19 in retaliation for the killing of three Americans on Dec. 13 by a gunman affiliated with ISIS, U.S. officials said.

