Air Force Reserve Command’s 440th Airlift Wing at Pope Field, N. C., is working to reassign many of its drill-status airmen ahead of the unit’s imminent inactivation in September, officials announced. “The Air Force has not submitted the congressionally mandated report on the C-130 force structure, however, we know the AF plan is to inactivate the 440 AW by the end of FY15,” 440th AW Commander Brig. Gen. James Scanlan wrote in a letter to unit members, which was posted on the Wing’s Facebook page on Feb. 18. “Based on current funding, all currently assigned personnel will be able to drill with the 440th through 30 Sept.,” after which drill-status personnel without a new assignment will enter inactive status, according to the letter. Scanlan said 440th AW officials are working with the Air Force to fund traditional Reserve billets past March and “determine a way ahead.” Pope was slated to replace its C-130Hs with C-130Js, until the Fiscal 2015 defense authorization called for its’ stand-down.
A recent seven-day exercise sent Air Force F-22s—along with other USAF aircraft—to austere, challenging environments across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Agile Reaper, taking place for the second time after its inaugural edition last year, featured 800 Airmen and 29 aircraft across five different locations from April 10-16, training…