Airmen in training at Schriever AFB, Colo., on the new Space Based Infrared Systems missile warning satellite are getting a lot of time with their instructors—the ratio is one instructor for every two students, reports journalist SSgt. Jeremy Larlee. Air Force Space Command embarked on such an intensive arrangement to ensure the trainees—systems crew chiefs, mission management, mission crew chiefs, and commanders—get every detail in an area in which “there can’t be any mistakes,” says SSgt. Narciso Bautista, a mission management instructor for the 460th Operations Group Det. 1, part of the 460th Space Wing at Buckley AFB, Colo. The first class began its SBIRS training in January.
The six-week government shutdown did not affect the hours flown by Air Force pilots, a service spokesperson told Air & Space Forces Magazine—avoiding what could have been a major blow at a time when flying hours are already lower than they have been in decades.
