Barksdale Air Force Base, La., suffered light damage and no deaths or injuries due to Hurricane Laura, which passed close to the base early on Aug. 27. Most of the base's B-52 bombers evacuated to Minot Air Force Base, N.D., in the day and night before the storm struck. Damage at Barksdale seemed to be confined to downed trees, power outage, shallow flooding, and some wind damage on buildings. A more definitive assessment will be made in the coming days. Col. Matthew G. Rippen, commander of Louisiana’s 159th Fighter Wing, announced the state was activating its entire National Guard force in an Aug. 26 Facebook video. As of the afternoon of Aug. 27, 480 Airmen from the New Orleans-based wing had been mobilized in response to the storm.

Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper continued his verbal offensive against China, accusing the country of “self-serving” behavior and a disregard for international laws, the same day the Chinese military fired medium-range ballistic missiles during a military exercise. China is undergoing an aggressive modernization plan to “achieve a world-class military by the middle of the century,” which will embolden Beijing’s expansionist plans and provocative behavior, particularly in the disputed South and East China Seas and “anywhere else the Chinese government has deemed critical to its interests,” Esper said during an Aug. 26 speech at the Daniel K. Inouye Asia-Pacific Center for Security Studies in Honolulu, Hawaii. The trip comes as China is showing some of its capabilities in a large-scale exercise, which the Pentagon called “counterproductive to easing tensions and maintaining stability.”

Members of the newly created military service focused on war fighting in space will officially wear a camouflage pattern developed for war in Afghanistan. The Department of the Air Force on Aug. 24 released a memorandum stating that the Operational Camouflage Pattern is mandatory for all members of the Space Force beginning April 1, the Air Force’s date to finally phase out the Airman Battle Uniform in favor of the OCP pattern. Space Force members will wear “Space Blue” name tape, Space Force badge, and grade insignia, with a full-color U.S. flag, according to the memorandum. Space Force occupational badges are mandatory, with optional occupational and qualification badges and patches. “Our uniforms are the first visual cue of our identity as a service,” Chief Master Sgt. Roger A. Towberman, senior enlisted advisor of the Space Force, said in the release.

An Air Force Instruction published earlier this month aims to ensure that Airmen who suffer miscarriages are given time to recover and get back into fighting shape before taking their next fitness assessment. These Airmen weren’t previously guaranteed a minimum grace period before they were forced to take these tests. “The changes are intended to make sure Airmen and Space Professionals who are pregnant, recently delivered, or experience a miscarriage are taken care of and it helps standardize the process for our medical personnel,” wrote Lou Burton, a spokesperson with the Air Force Surgeon General’s Office, in an Aug. 27 email to Air Force Magazine.

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.