Gen. William Looney yesterday stepped down as commander of Air Education and Training Command during a change of command ceremony at Randolph AFB, Tex., and retired from the Air Force after 36 years of service. Looney led AETC since June 2005. On July 1, he conducted his final flight from Randolph in the cockpit of an F-15. Succeeding Looney at AETC is Gen. Stephen Lorenz, formerly head of Air University, who received his fourth star yesterday during a separate ceremony. (Includes Randolph report by TSgt. Mike Hammond)
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…