Air Force personnel officials announced that they plan to impress senior non-commissioned officers into service as military training instructors to fill a critical cadre shortage at basic training at JBSA-Lackland, Tex. “Basic military training is the cornerstone of the Air Force,” said Col. Deborah Landry, Air Force Personnel Center’s assignment division chief, in a Jan. 11 release from JBSA-Randolph, Tex., home of the center. “So getting the MTI field healthy is a critical priority,” she added. Only qualified technical sergeants and master sergeants will be drafted and “this month, we will use the non-volunteer selection process to bring the manning levels up,” she said. NCOs selected for MTI duty will have 45 days to submit their non-volunteer application or decline the assignment, which would make them ineligible for promotion or reenlistment, according to the release. Voluntary applications are still accepted and senior NCOs in critical career fields or with more than 16 years of Active Duty service are exempt. (Randolph report by Debbie Gildea)
The U.S. thwarted a drone attack on U.S. forces at Al Asad air base in western Iraq on April 22, marking the first time that American troops have been targeted since February, U.S. officials said. “We can confirm it was an attack on Al Asad,” a defense official told Air & Space…