Minnesotans have enlisted the aid of their US Senators—Republican Norm Coleman and Democrat Amy Klobuchar—to try to get the A-12 Blackbird spy plane returned to the state for continued display at the Air National Guard Museum. Now, the Pioneer Press reports that the issue has caught the attention of former CIA pilot (and son of the Learjet founder) John Lear, who calls the forced return of the aircraft—after Minnesota veterans refurbished it—to the Air Force, which turned it over to the CIA for a display, a “royal rip-off.” Lear vows to “pull every string” to get the A-12 back to Minnesota.
The Air Force plans to have its new Integrated Capabilities Command stood up by the end of 2024, Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin said May 2, offering new details of one of the signature reforms announced by the service earlier this year. Allvin said around 500-800 Airmen will…