A redacted Air Force Inspector General investigation report released Aug. 21 determined that Air National Guard RC-26B flights conducted over protests in Minnesota, Arizona, California, and Washington, D.C, didn’t collect citizens’ personal information, but the National Guard Bureau made some serious missteps in its utilization of the reconnaissance aircraft. These errors, which the report said were rooted in policy misinterpretations by the National Guard Bureau, included not getting Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper’s clearance for the RC-26 missions, and activating aircrew and support personnel for these missions in an inappropriate status. The IG also cited Defense Department policy for leading the bureau to mistakenly believe “that the RC-26B is not an intelligence resource,” a point of confusion that it said “substantially contributed to the likely misuse of Immediate Response Authority.”

The Air Force hopes to make up lost ground in battling its chronic pilot shortage with Undergraduate Pilot Training 2.5, the main topic of the first field trip for newly minted Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force JoAnne S. Bass, who joined service Secretary Barbara M. Barrett on a trip to Air Education and Training Command in Texas. Barrett said the visit was meant to highlight the importance of innovation in technical training.

While the Air Force has moved to put the F-15EX fighter program under contract, it's not obliged to buy the entire notional fleet of 144 of the jets, and could terminate the program at any time, according to Air Force Materiel Command. It may wish to do so as more advanced systems come along and USAF needs to make room for them in expected flatter budgets.

Air Force bases along the Gulf of Mexico are preparing for twin tropical storm systems that are expected to make landfall as hurricanes within the next several days. Tropical Storm Laura, as well as a tropical depression likely to strengthen into Tropical Storm Marco, could grow into a rare case of two tropical cyclones to barrel through the Gulf of Mexico at the same time, according to the National Weather Service. They are slated to strike Florida, Mississippi, Alabama, Louisiana, Texas, and Puerto Rico during the week of Aug. 23. Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., and Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., have begun the earliest phase of storm preparations.

C-130s from four Air National Guard and Reserve units, outfitted with Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems, are flying at a high operations tempo battling massive fires burning across California. The units had 2019 off from firefighting because of a slow season, but are now facing what CalFire has said are hundreds of blazes across the state, including two of the largest in state history. For one unit, the California Air National Guard’s 146th Airlift Wing, the fire is in their backyard, making the mission personal, said Col. Gregory Berry, commander of the 302nd Air Expeditionary Group, who is coordinating the response.

60th Air Mobility Wing Commander Col. Corey A. Simmons gave non-essential Airmen and their families the all-clear to return to Travis Air Force Base, Calif., as of 10 a.m. PDT on Aug. 21, following a wildfire-induced evacuation on Aug. 19, the base announced in a Facebook post. Simmons issued the order as a preventative measure amid the LNU Lightning Complex Fire, which purportedly got within 2 miles of the base in recent days, as similar evacuations were underway in nearby communities, Air Force Magazine previously reported. The wing expects the C-5s, C-17s, and KC-10 aircraft it sent out of state as a precaution to be back on base within “the next few days,” according to the post.

On March 23, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies will host a virtual Nuclear Deterrence Series event featuring Scowcroft Group Principal Frank Miller. At a time when nuclear modernization programs are accelerating around the world, proposals to recapitalize the U.S. nuclear arsenal are at the forefront of debates over defense spending. Miller will share his insights into the prospects for U.S. nuclear modernization programs and the value of nuclear deterrence in today's competitive security environment. The think tank will post event video on its website and YouTube page after the live event.