Airmen at Spangdahlem AB, Germany, are busily preparing to shift operations to the Air Force Network, the service’s new centrally administered computer network, becoming the first US Air Forces in Europe installation to make the jump, announced base officials on July 10. Once preparations are complete, members of Spangdahlem’s 52nd Communications Squadron will begin transferring workstations and e-mail to AFNet starting on August 13, they said. During the migration, some Spangdahlem users may experience network or e-mail access interruptions, but for the majority, user impact will be minimal, they said. Several overseas bases in the Pacific already began migrating to AFNet earlier this year. The Air Force intends to complete the service-wide transition to the new network in 2013. (Spangdahlem report by TSgt. Christopher Conway)
It'll take up to 18 months for Lockheed Martin to deliver the 100 or so F-35s that went directly from production line to storage, awaiting the completion of Tech Refresh 3 testing. Customers haven't complained about the order in which the backlog is being delivered.