Air Frame: Year in Review, June 2011: More than 1,100 airmen assigned to Minot AFB, N.D., and their family members were displaced from their off-base homes in June 2011 when the Souris River flooded to record levels, as shown here. On June 6, 2011, Ret. Maj. Gen. John R. Alison, the father of USAF special operations, died at age 98. Also in June, President Obama announced that the United States would withdraw 33,000 troops from Afghanistan by mid 2012, reversing the earlier troop surge. The Air Force finished an 18-month project to reposition GPS navigation satellites for better worldwide coverage and launched the ORS-1 imagery satellite into orbit. An engine anamoly cut short the flight test of the second X-51A hypersonic air vehicle and Lt. Gen. Eric Fiel took charge of Air Force Special Operations Command. Air Force photo by SrA. Jesse Lopez
As the Air Force readied for its June 21-22 strikes on Iran’s nuclear facilities, the service was also putting its Agile Combat Employment strategy into action, dispersing combat aircraft and Airmen from Al Udeid Air Base in Qatar in preparation for a possible Iranian retaliatory attack. Some defense experts say…
