United Through Reading is a program that offers military personnel the chance to read to their small children while they are away on a deployment. Personnel can go to more than 60 USO locations or 200 Defense Department sites to record themselves reading a book to their children. They receive a DVD that is sent with a copy of the book to their child. “This is wonderful for anybody who has a child and is going to be gone for a while,” said TSgt. David Aceveda, a 744th Communications Squadron member at JB Andrews, Md. Before his deployment in October, Aceveda recorded himself reading books for this two youngest children. “This means a lot to me, because this will really help them remember who daddy is,” he said. The program is available to any deployed or deploying troops. (Dover report by TSgt. Scott P. Farley)
The Collaborative Combat Aircraft will be operational in the late 2020s, several years before the Next-Generation Air Dominance family of systems, Air Force officials told the House Armed Services tactical aviation panel. The CCAs will first be “shooters,” then electronic warfare platforms, then sensors, in that order, they added.