Air Force firefighters from the 349th and 60th Civil Engineer Squadrons at Travis AFB, Calif., won the World Firefighter Combat Challenge team competition for the second year in a row. The Travis team beat more than 240 firefighters from around the world during the Deerfield Beach, Fla., competition last week. Teams competed in five task areas—climbing a five-story tower, hosting and chopping, dragging hoses, and rescuing a life-size victim, all in “full bunker gear.”
As Air Force leaders consider concepts of operations for Collaborative Combat Aircraft, sustainment in the field—and easing that support by using standard parts and limiting variants—should be a key consideration, according to a new study from AFA's Mitchell Institute of Aerospace Studies.