Nineteenth Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Craig Wills is doubling down on publicizing pilot height waivers to encourage a more diverse population of USAF aviators, he told Air Force Magazine in a Nov. 14 interview. “The reason for now is that we want to get the word out because we want to have more female aviators, we want to have more aviators from ... underrepresented groups, and we want to make sure that our Air Force looks like our nation to the max[imum] extent because we think that that leads to a more combat-capable force,” he said. Wills acknowledged that the service’s pilot height standards may change, but said the extent of those changes and the timeline for their implementation is as of yet unclear. But he said he takes heart in the fact that the current waiver process’ design means no airmen will fall through the cracks in the meantime.

The Air Force’s biggest F-35 operating base recently unveiled its new $45 million runway, bringing to a close a nine-month project that sent the base’s F-35s to other locations across the world. While construction was underway, Hill sent its F-35s to Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, along with deployments to the Middle East and Europe. The new runway is expected to help F-35 operations through a reduction in foreign object debris.

Four B-52s and about 300 airmen returned to Barksdale AFB, La., after a four-week task force deployment to Europe that included training exercises throughout Europe and the Middle East. The bombers from the 2nd Bomb Wing flew 32 sorties at its deployed home base of RAF Fairford, England, and trained with 13 total partner nations since first deploying last month.

The US Air Force Academy’s South Gate was reopened after an explosives scare at the Academy prompted an approximately three-hour closure on the morning of Nov. 15. The closure was prompted by an ion scan that falsely detected nitroglycerine in a dump truck during a vehicle inspection, Academy spokeswoman Maureen Welch told Air Force Magazine via email. “A thorough investigation revealed no actual trace of nitroglycerine,” Welch wrote. “The vehicle was released to the driver.” South Gate Boulevard has since reopened to traffic, she said. The incident was first reported by the Colorado-based KOAA News5.