The last
F-15 assigned to JB Elmendorf, Alaska, has left the base for good, flying to its new assignment with the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 104th Fighter Wing in Westfield. This departure completed Elmendorf’s divestiture of its 24 F-15s as part of USAF’s combat air forces restructuring plan. F-15s had operated from Elmendorf since 1982, but with the departure of the 19th Fighter Squadron’s last F-15 on Sept. 24, Elmendorf’s fighter force now comprises exclusively F-22s. Under the CAF restructuring plan, the service is retiring approximately 250 of its oldest legacy fighters in Fiscal 2010. Just last week, the 325th Fighter Wing at Tyndall AFB, Fla., completed its F-15 drawdown. Similarly, the 1st FW at Langley AFB, Va., shed its last F-15s on Sept. 1. (Air Force photo release by A1C Christopher Gross) (See also Elmendorf report by SrA. Cynthia Spalding.)
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.

