A federal judge says the Air Force has not been responsive in its handling of Freedom of Information Act requests. US District Judge Rosemary Collyer issued a memorandum opinion on April 19, finding for the National Security Archive, a Washington-based non-profit library of unclassified government information, which filed suit last year, claiming a “pattern” of FOIA violation that extends over numerous requests—some filed 18 years ago. Collyer notes that the Air Force admits failing to “complete processing” in a “timely manner” for 33 of the NSA’s 82 requests. She also acknowledges that the service argues “it is exercising due diligence now.” The judge says, though, that there is “reason for concern” because there is no one single person who oversees FOIA compliance and the responsibility to answer requests “is spread as wide as the Air Force is spread.” She would not order the Air Force to turn over classified documents without proper review, but she sided with the archive in its request to set a timetable.
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…