Retired Air Force Col. John M. Thacker died of kidney disease March 6 at his home in Virginia, reports the Los Angeles Times (Thacker obituary is third in a series of obits.) He was 90. Thacker was one of the few pilots who got into the air during the Japanese attack on Pearl Harbor on Dec. 7, 1941, receiving a Silver Star for his actions that day. He commanded a fighter group during the Korean War and last served as inspector general of Headquarters Command at Bolling AFB, D.C., before his retirement from the Air Force.
Trainees in Basic Military Training and technical school no longer have the option to try alternate PT drills if they fail an initial assessment, according to a policy change the Air Force made in April. The move is part of a larger shift out of the classroom and into hands-on,…