Air Force Reserve Command’s B-52 bomber operations at Barksdale AFB, La., are now managed by the newly activated 307th Bomb Wing. The unit replaces the just-inactivated 917th Wing as the overseer of the Reservists’ activities, which include running USAF’s sole B-52 schoolhouse and cooperating in the maintenance and operations of Barksdale’s combat-ready, nuclear-capable B-52s that are assigned to the active duty 2nd BW. As part of the changes, the 307th BW will no longer manage AFRC’s A-10s at Barksdale as the 917th Wing did. Instead, the 442nd Fighter Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo., now oversees them. Reserve officials at Barksdale have said this reorganization will allow them to place more focus on the bomber mission. Service officials hosted a ceremony on Jan. 8 featuring Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner, Air Force Reserve chief, to mark these changes, reported the Shreveport Times.
Since President Donald Trump first unveiled his “Golden Dome” missile defense initiative in late January, much of the focus for it has been focused on space—how the Pentagon may deploy dozens, if not hundreds, of sensors and interceptors into orbit to protect the continental U.S. from missile barrages. But the Air…