Nine Killed When Puerto Rico WC-130 Crashes near Savannah, Ga.

A WC-130H from the Puerto Rico Air National Guard’s 198th Airlift Squadron, 156th Airlift Wing crashed near Savannah, Ga., on Wednesday morning with nine personnel on board. All were killed in the crash. Read the full story by Brian Everstine.

Dyess B-1 Makes Emergency Landing in Texas?

A B-1B from Dyess AFB, Texas, experienced an in-flight emergency and landed at Midland International Air & Space Port in Midland, Texas, Tuesday afternoon. The B-1 was flying a training mission when it experienced the emergency at about 1:30 p.m., according to a 7th Bomb Wing release. The base did not state what the emergency was, and there were no munitions on the aircraft. All four crew members were unharmed. The B-1 is still at the airport until it can be safely returned to Dyess. —Brian Everstine

Missile Defense Review Coming “Very Soon”

The Trump Administration’s planned Missile Defense Review will come out “very soon,” a senior Defense Department official said Wednesday, telling a Washington gathering that the administration’s separation of its missile, national security, and defense reviews will not diminish the “continuity” among them. David Trachtenberg, the deputy undersecretary of defense for policy, told an AFA Mitchell Institute event on Capitol Hill that the administration has, from the start, tried to “get it right rather than fast,” adding that “we have taken the time to make sure that we get it right, so, stay tuned, more to follow on that one.” His remarks follow Pentagon officials’ statements in March that the review would be issued in the spring and would examine threats from hypersonics and cruise missiles, as well as from ballistic missiles. He also said he expected common threads to be visible between the missile review and the administration’s Nuclear Posture Review and National Defense Strategy, despite the three having been released separately. He said he did not expect that the issuance of separate documents “will in any way impact the continuity in thinking that you see from one to another.” —Steve Hirsch

House Proposal Would Require Intercept Test for Redesigned Kill Vehicle

Proposed defense authorization language would hold off approval of Boeing’s Redesigned Kill Vehicle until it completes a successful flight intercept test. The language is contained in the House Armed Services Subcommittee on Strategic Forces “mark,” or portion of the proposed Fiscal 2019 National Defense Authorization Act. The subcommittee approved the language last week, and it will be considered by the full committee next week, along with other subcommittee marks. Boeing received a $1.1 billion contract modification in May for Redesigned Kill Vehicle development. The subcommittee mark would bar the Missile Defense Agency from making a lot production decision for the vehicle unless it goes through at least one successful flight intercept test that sufficiently assesses the performance of the vehicle and shows that it will be effective and accomplish its mission. The Pentagon could waive the provision in the interests of national security, in light of advancing missile threats, or on the basis of an assessment on the risks of making a production decision before a successful flight intercept test. —Steve Hirsch

USAF Building Capacity of Critical Care Teams
The Air Force is moving to increase its capacity of Critical Care Air Transport Teams by streamlining training and building up the training infrastructure in a move to meet needs of service members in combat downrange. The Air Force’s CCATT training system is broken into two classes—one at the US Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, and a follow-on course at the Center for Sustainment of Trauma and Readiness Skills at the University of Cincinnati—with each running two weeks. Now, the two classes take place back to back, requiring first time trainees to move through them in quick succession to speed up the process, according to an Air Force release. Additionally, the school at Wright-Patterson is building new trainers, which already consist of one C-17 and two C-130 training airframes. “To surge our CCATT capacity, we streamlined the existing CCATT courses,” said Col. Colin Smyth, the director of expeditionary medical policy and operations for the Air Force Surgeon General, in the release. “All our new teams are staffed with existing resources. It was just a matter of training more efficiently.” CCATTs augment an Air Force aeromedical evacuation team with three more members—a critical care nurse, a critical care physician, and a respiratory therapist. All CCATT trainees must be experienced in their field, performing critical care in their regular practice. —Brian Everstine

RADAR SWEEP

—The White House is “reviewing” an Obama-era executive order that required an annual report on civilians and enemy fighters killed by US airstrikes. The report was due May 1, but could be either modified or rescinded: The Washington Post.

—The Pentagon on Tuesday identified the soldier killed in western Afghanistan on April 30 as Spc. Gabriel D. Conde, 22, of Loveland, Colo. Conde was assigned to 3rd Battalion, 509th Infantry Regiment, 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, at JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska: DOD release.

—The first female pilot in the Afghan Air Force, who fled training inside the US in 2015, has been granted asylum by the US and now wants to return to service: The Wall Street Journal.

—USAF Maj. Gen. Barre R. Seguin took over command of NATO Air Command and the 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force in Afghanistan during a Wednesday ceremony. Seguin assumes command from Maj. Gen. James Hecker: Stars and Stripes.

—The Defense Department has ordered military exchanges to stop selling cell phones made by Chinese manufacturers Huawei and ZTE because of security risks: Stars and Stripes.

—South Korea’s government said on Wednesday that it wants US troops stationed in the country to remain, and the basing of US forces is not related to any peace treaty negotiations with North Korea: Reuters.