A team of nine Air Force Academy cadets took first place honors in a Boeing-sponsored competition for its design of a search and rescue and medical evacuation aircraft dubbed “the Night Owl,” according to an academy release. The competition pitted the cadets against counterparts at the Army and Navy academies at West Point and Annapolis, respectively. The Night Owl, a “futuristic cyclogyro”—Boeing’s release calls it a “cyclorotor”—is projected for service around 2045, and designed to be capable of “thrust in any direction” and allow for hover and forward or backward flight, according to the academy’s May 17 release. “This is a very impressive piece of work,” said Dennis Muilenburg, president of Boeing Defense, Space, and Security. “This competition gets tougher every year and you guys knocked it out of the park,” he told the cadets. They worked for one year on the project, according to the academy release. (Colorado Springs report by Amber Baillie)
Pentagon Releases Cost of Living, BAH Rates for 2026
Dec. 30, 2025
The Pentagon will pay cost of living allowances to 127,000 service members in the continental U.S. in 2026, an increase of 66,000 members in 2025. Airmen and Guardians across the U.S. will also receive an average increase of 4.2 percent for their Basic Housing Allowance, compared to the 5.4 percent…
