The Air Force is holding a tryout on Dec. 6 at JB Langley-Eustis, Va., for aspiring special operations professionals. “We are looking for America’s best—individuals in top physical condition and ready to take their skills to the next level,” said SMSgt. Ed Edgar of the 317th Recruiting Squadron. He is the Air Force’s chief recruiter in the region including Washington, D.C., Maryland, and Virginia. Under an initiative known as Air Force Special Operations Orientation, applicants will have the opportunity test their mettle and qualify for positions ranging from pararescue, combat control, tactical air control, and survival instruction, according to a Dec. 4 service release. Each applicant must meet physical, mental, and character requirements to qualify. The physical standards—which include a 500-meter swim, 1.5-mile run, pull-ups, sit-ups, and push-ups—are well above what is expected for a normal military recruit, states the release. “The United States Air Force needs individuals of strong character, with both the physical and intellectual capacity to handle our nation’s toughest assignments,” said Edgar. (Washington, D.C., report by Lt. Col. Ravi Chaudhary)
After years of serving as the bill-payer for other Pentagon priorities, munitions stockpiles are poised to get a major boost from the $150 billion reconciliation package unveiled by lawmakers in Congress this week, along with the defense industrial base to...