Whiteman Reservists Touch Down in Afghanistan: Airmen from Air Force Reserve Command’s 442nd Fighter Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo., have arrived at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, with their A-10 Warthogs to conduct air-to-ground missions. The first six aircraft maintainers and pilots arrived last week as the advance party for an untold number of additional 442nd FW airmen. Some of these Reservists remember Bagram from a 2002 deployment, when they performed aircraft maintenance out of two tents. Now, there are “actual buildings,” said CMSgt. Steve Brazeal.
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…