An article this week in the Rapid City Journal recounts the first flight of Allegiant Air from Rapid City, S.D., to the Phoenix-Mesa Gateway Airport, the new name for Williams Gateway Airport. Reporter Dan Daly notes that the airport is the product of a “13-year effort by Mesa and other nearby cities to turn the former Williams Air Force Base into a civilian economic engine for the east end of the Phoenix area.” Williams fell to an early BRAC, and Daly goes on to report how Ellsworth barely escaped BRAC 2005.
Air Force Gen. Alexus G. Grynkewich assumed command of U.S. European Command on July 1, taking over the key assignment as the U.S. and its allies contend with a resurgent Russia and a grinding war in Ukraine.