The Space Force spent its first year in business transforming how the military is organized, trained, and equipped to wield satellites, radars, and more in combat. It will spend its second year proving whether those changes can work. As the newest service turns 1 year old on Dec. 20, it is preparing to welcome in thousands more recently selected Airmen in fields like intelligence and acquisition next year. It plans to grow to 6,400 Active-duty members by the end of September, and total about 16,000 employees including civilians and members assigned from other branches. “There certainly is a sense of urgency, there's a sense of excitement. We want to make sure that we can move as quickly as practical,” Chief Master Sergeant Roger A. Towberman, the Space Force’s Senior Enlisted Adviser, said.
JOINT BASE MCGUIRE-DIX-LAKEHURST, N.J.—When the coronavirus pandemic hit the U.S. and much of the country entered lockdown earlier this year, the Air Force still needed to deploy with ready Airmen. That posed a challenge for the Air Force Expeditionary Center here: How could the Expeditionary Operations School and the 421st Combat Training Squadron take on the growing demand for prepared Airmen while keeping people safe? “The expeditionary mission never went away," Maj. Gen. Mark D. Camerer, commander of the Expeditionary Center, said in a Dec. 8 interview.
Dynetics and its partners are planning next steps for the Gremlins drone swarming program after the aircraft failed to dock with a C-130 in recent flight tests. A third round of demonstrations began Oct. 28 at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. The three X-61As individually tried out “rendezvous” and “station-keeping” maneuvers, about 125 feet away from the C-130. Then they crept to within 50 feet of the docking “bullet” that is designed to clamp onto the drone in midair. Over the course of nine tries, the aircraft came “within inches” of capture but fell short each time.
Dozens of Airmen and four KC-135s from the 914th Air Refueling Wing returned home to Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station, N.Y., this month from the wing’s first combat deployment with the tankers. The wing switched from flying C-130s to KC-135s beginning in 2017, became fully mission-ready in April, and four months later deployed to Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, as part of Operations Freedom’s Sentinel and Resolute Support. The New York-based Airmen have also flown training missions with partner countries in the region. They returned home on Dec. 12-13 after four months in the Middle East.
