After 65 years, Barrie Davis, a World War II fighter ace, later this month is set to meet the Romanian air force pilot who, flying a German-made Messerschmidt Bf-109G fighter, tore up his P-51 Mustang during an encounter over the skies of Romania and nearly shot him down. The Charlotte Observer reported Monday that Davis, now 86, and one of his sons will travel to Bucharest to meet Ion Dobran, now 90, his wartime nemesis, in a meeting arranged by a magazine writer. Neither fighter pilot harbors hard feelings. In fact, during the visit, they will stop at the graves of some of the American aviators who died in the war, according to the newspaper. “I’m just eager to see him,” Davis said of Dobran, adding, “I never saw him or his airplane the day he shot me up.”
Army Building Up New Space Operations Branch
Oct. 15, 2026
The Army has long been dependent on space capabilities to navigate terrain, communicate in hard-to-reach areas, and identify and strike targets. Now, the service wants to deepen its space operations expertise and is making plans to expand its own cadre of operators in the coming years.