The Defense Department has announced that the remains of nine airmen missing in action since 1968 have been recovered and returned to their families. These airmen were buried with full military honors June 10 at Arlington National Cemetery. They are: Col. William H. Mason, Camden, Ark.; Lt. Col. Jerry L. Chambers, Muskogee, Okla.; Maj. William T. McPhail, Chattanooga, Tenn.; Maj. Thomas B. Mitchell, Littleton, Colo.; CMSgt. John Q. Adam, Bethel, Kan.; CMSgt. Calvin C. Glover, Steubenville, Ohio; CMSgt. Thomas E. Knebel, Midway, Ark.; CMSgt. Melvin D. Rash, Yorktown, Va.; and MSgt. Gary Pate, Brooks, Ga. The airmen were aboard a C-130A transport that went down May 22, 1968, during an evening flare mission over northern Salavan Province, Laos. Four excavations were held in Quang Tri Province, Vietnam, between 1989 and 2008 that led to the recovery and subsequent identification of their remains.
The Department of the Air Force has identified 50 programs that will make up the core of its contribution to the Pentagon’s joint all-domain command and control effort, branding them part of the “DAF Battle Network,” according to newly-released budget documents. The DAF Battle Network programs span multiple offices and agencies…