The 1st Special Operations Communication Squadron based at Hurlburt Field, Fla., has won the 2007 Lt. Gen. Harold W. Grant Award for Excellence in Communication. The award is given annually to the top Air Force communications and information unit. “We have unique programs” as part of Air Force Special Operations Command, said Lt. Col. Michael Hammond, who led the squadron in 2007 and has moved to be second in charge of Hurlburt’s 1st Special Operations Mission Support Group. He continued: “But that isn’t the only thing that sets us apart. We put 100 percent into every project we do.” The unit, he noted, has a history of on-time compliance, while working at a high operations tempo. (Hurlburt report by TSgt. Kristina Newton)
The Air Force said May 4 it has approved the T-7A Red Hawk trainer aircraft to move into low-rate production and awarded Boeing a $219 million contract to start building the first 14 production jets.