SrA. Daniel R. Sanchez, a combat controller assigned to the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla., has died while conducting combat operations in Afghanistan, the Defense Department has announced. He was 23. A native of El Paso, Tex., Sanchez died on Sept. 16 in Oruzgan province, according to DOD’s release.
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…