Six B-52H bombers and their crews from the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale AFB, La., have returned to their Louisiana home after spending about a week at Minot AFB, N.D. The Minot Daily News reported yesterday that the Barksdale B-52s were dispatched Aug. 31 to Minot—home to the Air Force’s only other B-52 wing—as Hurricane Gustav threatened the Gulf Coast, potentially affecting the aircrew training schedule. As part of Minot’s hospitality, the Barksdale aircrews were able to use the simulator of Minot’s 5th BW during their visit, according to the newspaper.
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…