The Kaiserslautern Military Community Center project, overseen by the 435th Civil Engineer Squadron at Ramstein AB, Germany, recently had a 15-ton dome lowered into place, completing one more segment of the 840,000 square feet of hotel, shops, base exchange, restaurants, and movie theater, scheduled to open in January 2007. The 350-bed hotel actually plans take its first guest in June 2006. Brig. Gen. Danny Gardner, US Air Forces in Europe Mission Support director, calls it a “little piece of the United States” to improve quality of life, but he adds that it is not intended to replace the benefit of exploring new places and trying native foods and services.
The Pentagon’s fiscal 2026 defense budget, submitted to Congress last week, accelerates the downsizing of the U.S. Air Force. It proposes divesting 340 aircraft, while only acquiring 76. These cuts risk the Air Force’s ability prevail. “Peace through strength” has...