Air Force Special Operations Command now has two operational squadrons at its new western base. Officials of the 27th Special Operations Wing at Cannon AFB, N.M., on May 16 activated the 318th Special Operations Squadron. The 318th SOS will fly light and medium aircraft, including the PC-12, that AFSOC airmen term “non-standard aviation,” according to a May 19 release. The New Mexico base received the first of 10 planned PC-12 aircraft in January. The 318th designation is not new to Air Force special operators; its colors last flew at Pope AFB, N.C., in the 1970s, but its earlier history includes duty with the World War II air commandos. (Cannon report by Capt. Mae-Li Allison)
The Air Force is in talks with Boeing to modify requirements for its new VC-25B presidential aircraft, in a push to get them into service by 2027. Boeing has given the Air Force a revised timeline that could bring the VC-25B aircraft earlier “if adjustments are made to requirements,” a…