For 12 hours on Nov. 8, an all-Air Force Reserve Command crew were the sole handlers for the Space-Based Infrared System Highly Elliptical Orbit satellites, operating from the mission control station back-up at Schriever AFB, Colo., according to a Dec. 15 release. The airmen are members of the Reserve Associate unit Det. 1, 8th Space Warning Squadron, 310th Space Wing at Schriever. “This historic event marked the second time in the history of space-based missile warning that an all-Reserve crew performed missile warning,” said Lt. Col. Mark Gruenewald, Det. 1 commander. He continued, saying that the first time was on Nov. 3, 2002, when the 8th SWS “performed SBIRS Increment 1 operations using legacy Defense Support Program satellites out of the Mission Control Station at Buckley Air Force Base [Colo.].” (Det. 1 report by Lt. Col. Andrew Peeples)
House lawmakers unveiled a new reconciliation package July 15 with $60 billion for defense, $290 billion less than the Pentagon has been seeking, a day after a Senate vote to advance the annual defense policy bill failed—developments that show the perilous state of the Pentagon’s ambitious plans for fiscal 2027.