The Air Force is one step closer to bringing its hazards-response training in house instead of contracting it out, according to officials at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. Along with Fairchild AFB, Wash., and Travis AFB, Calif., Davis-Monthan is validating the Response Training and Assessment Program before Air Force headquarters approves it, states an Oct. 24 base release. The Arizona installation hosted a headquarters-level evaluation team Oct. 17-19 to demonstrate the base’s integrated installation emergency-response training. “The RTAP visit allows D-M to showcase the capabilities of our emergency management programs and the dedicated personnel that support these programs,” said MSgt. Adam Hernandez, 355th Fighter Wing inspector general superintendent. According to the release, the training touches upon a wide range of base communities including: command and control, fire and emergency services, explosive ordinance disposal, security forces, the public health emergency officer, bioenvironmental engineering, clinical and public health, search and recovery, and mortuary affairs. (Davis-Monthan report by SrA. Brittany Dowdle)
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…