Officials with the 28th Bomb Wing at Ellsworth AFB, S.D., will shut down the base’s runway on Aug. 1 for repairs. During the shutdown, several of the wing’s B-1B bombers will temporarily operate out of Dyess AFB, Tex., the Air Force’s other B-1 installation. “The B-1s are scheduled to be diverted to Dyess at the end of July,” said MSgt. Gerald Gilchrist, 28th Operations Support Squadron deputy airfield manager. “This is nothing out of the ordinary and is common practice when repairs are being made on an installation runway. Ellsworth hosted B-1s from Dyess when the runway there was being renovated.” The B-1s are expected to return when portions of the runway reopen in mid September. The entire airfield is scheduled to reopen by the end of October. The Rapid City Journal reported that about 200 Ellsworth airmen will travel to Dyess with the bombers. (Ellsworth report by SrA. Jarad A. Denton)
Advancements in commercial space technology could make President Donald Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense network far more likely to succeed than the failed “Star Wars” strategic umbrella initiative of the 1980s, U.S. Space Command’s top general said May 22....