Airmen from the 7th Weather Squadron’s Det. 7 at Grafenwohr, Germany, recently trained to forecast avalanches in Arabba, Italy, reports Stars and Stripes. Both Air Force and Army commanders in Europe felt the training might be useful for US forces headed to Afghanistan or other countries with mountainous terrain. Some 20 USAF combat weathermen and Army Special Forces trained with Italian instructors from the Italian Army’s Commando Truppe Alpine Metomont Service, a group that was formed after nine Italian alpine troops died in an avalanche.
It is critical that the Air Force move forward on the replacement for its E-4B “Doomsday” aircraft to keep the capability “viable” into the next decade and beyond, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. told lawmakers May 8.