Although the results of the European Infrastructure Consolidation were announced in early January, there are still many details to be worked out, said US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa Commander Gen. Frank Gorenc. For example, RAF Mildenhall, England, will close in “about five to seven years,” but it’s not yet clear when the first aircraft or units will leave, Gorenc told Air Force Magazine last week at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla. “We’re working that transition right now and obviously there will be plans developed, dates determined, and all of that will be coordinated between the US and the allies involved,” he said. The base’s 15 KC-135s assigned to the 100th Air Refueling Wing—the only aerial refueling wing in the European theater—will move to Ramstein AB, Germany, and the 352nd Special Operations Wing will move to Spangdahlem AB, Germany. Gorenc said it’s still not clear where the base’s Rivet Joints will go. “That’s one of the things that are left undone. [That decision] will be handled inside the Air Force strategic basing process like all of our actions,” he added.
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more flexible, dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
