The Air Force activated the 575th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron during a Dec. 11 ceremony at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, according to a Dec. 17 release. The new squadron, a geographically separate unit assigned to the 309th Aircraft Maintenance Group at Ogden Air Logistics Complex, Hill AFB, Utah, consists of over 300 civilians working towards the upkeep up the Air Force’s T-38 fleet. “Over the past three years, this team’s hard work and dedication have served to prove to our Air Force that you definitely possess the capability, the drive, and the motivation to continue providing world-class support for our warfighters’ training mission,” said Brig. Gen. Carl Buhler, Ogden Air Logistics Complex commander, in the release. “The fruits of your labor were affirmed when the Air Force recognized and activated this operating location to its rightfully earned status as an Air Force squadron.”
The Air Force on March 12 awarded contract modifications worth a combined $2.4 billion to Boeing to procure an undisclosed number of E-7 Wedgetail as part of the program's engineering and manufacturing development phase and continue work on the airborne battle management aircraft’s radar.