Officials at JB McGuire, N.J., on June 11 inactivated the 816th Contingency Response Group. This unit was a component of McGuire’s 621st Contingency Response Wing. Like other CRGs, it was responsible for tasks such as opening expeditionary air bases. The move was part of a restructure that consolidates the wing’s contingency response capability in its two remaining CRGs–the 817th CRG and 818th CRG. The restructure also transfers some of this mission to the New Jersey Air National Guard’s 108th Air Refueling Wing at McGuire, thereby creating an Air Guard contingency response group. “In its short but distinguished history, the 816th CRG performed the mission of units many times its size, under difficult conditions, in remote locations, and often with little to no notice,” said Lt. Col. Vikki Ellison, 816 Global Mobility Squadron commander. (JB McGuire report by TSgt. Parker Gyokeres)
The Air Force plans to start buying thousands of advanced new handheld radios in 2027 for downed aircrew to communicate with search-and-rescue forces, a capability spotlighted earlier this year during the recovery of two aviators shot down in Iran.