Air Force Special Operations Command’s enlisted force nominated Lt. Gen. Eric Fiel, AFSOC commander, for its highest honor: induction into the command’s Order of the Sword. Enlisted air commandos on Dec. 13 surprised Fiel with the nomination as they gathered on the flight line at Hurlburt Field, Fla., according to a base release. “I know I cannot do my job without the enlisted folks,” said Fiel, whose induction ceremony is slated for April 18, 2014. “Everything we do, we try to do for you guys. [The airmen here] have the highest ops tempo in the United States Air Force and you never say no,” he said. Fiel, who has led AFSOC since June 2011, oversees some 16,000 Active Duty, Air National Guard, Air Force Reserve, and civilian personnel. He will be the ninth inductee into the command’s Order of the Sword, states the release. (Hurlburt report by SrA. Michelle Vickers)
There is a new entrant in the highly competitive field of collaborative combat aircraft—semi-autonomous drones meant to fly alongside manned combat aircraft. Northrop Grumman unveiled its new Project Talon aircraft to a small group of reporters at the facilities of its subsidiary Scaled Composites.
