Officials at Cannon AFB, N.M., officially activated the 43rd Intelligence Squadron during a ceremony last week. The squadron, which is taking the place of Det. 1, 25th IS, which was inactivated, will train and employ direct support operators specializing in threat warning and situational awareness while flying aboard Air Force Special Operations Command aircraft. “As a detachment, we’ve been here since the 27th Special Operations Wing first stood up,” said 1st Lt. Paul Caruso, 43rd IS chief of current operations. “As a squadron, we’ll be here for as long as there are flying squadrons who need the intelligence we provide.” Maj. William J. Howery, the former Det. 1 commander, relinquished command to Lt. Col. Frederick Humphrey, the new squadron commander, during a ceremony at Cannon, Nov. 1. The transition from a detachment to a squadron was necessary to accommodate an increase in flying squadrons and aircraft located at Cannon, according to the release.
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…