Modernizing the Air National Guard’s equipment and resources is a top priority, said ANG Director Lt. Gen. Stanley Clarke. Speaking at a Dec. 19 Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event in Arlington, Va., Clarke said he wants to make sure “that the equipment that we have today is going to be recapitalized and modernized.” Using the example of a beautiful, head-turning 1961 Corvette sitting in his garage that he doesn’t trust more than 10 miles away from home, Clarke said it is imperative that the aircraft being utilized in missions are fully updated and well maintained to get the job done. “If I want these people to be battleready, … I want them to feel like the airplanes that they are flying are safe, reliable, and modernized to the point that they can do anything that’s tasked to them” in different environments and under different conditions, Clarke said.
The Air Force has dispatched an element of its Natural Disaster Recovery Team to Guam in the wake of Super Typhoon Mawar, which has caused widespread damage on the island and at Andersen Air Force Base. The team will assess the damage and put together a recovery cost estimate for…