Already the Defense Department’s largest library, Air University’s Muir S. Fairchild Research Information Center at Maxwell AFB Ala., is slated for expansion this spring. The $13.4 million project will add 17,000 square feet of space, including a climate-controlled special collection room, cartographic research area, study rooms, and a computer lab. Workers will also upgrade the building’s entire climate control and ventilation systems, lighting, fire-protection systems, and additional infrastructure. Constructed in 1956 and renovated in 1984, FRIC boasts one of the most comprehensive aeronautical and military collections in the United States. Its vast archives include rare and classified material that serves military and civilian academics as well as students. Within the center’s archives are many items that “only Air University has copies of in the entire world,” noted Jeff Luzius, FRIC director. (Maxwell report by Kimberly L. Wright)
Secretary of Defense Austin Lloyd III met with his counterparts from Australia, Japan and the Philippines to discuss bolstering defense ties on May 2. The discussion included plans for joint F-35 exercises with Japan and Australia in the coming years.