Earlier this month, Maj. Tammy Barlette, from the Arizona Air National Guard’s 214th Reconnaissance Group, became the first Reserve Component remotely piloted vehicle operator to graduate from the Air Force Weapons School Instructor Course at Nellis AFB, Nev. Barlette and three active-duty RPV pilots were the first RPV operators to attend the 5.5-month-long course. “I’ve been through a lot of training but nothing as difficult as this,” said Barlette, a former A-10 pilot who left active duty to fly MQ-1 Predators over Iraq and Afghanistan full time with the Guard. She is now dual-qualified in the Predator and MQ-9 Reaper. Part of her responsibility now will be to teach her fellow Guardsmen RPV operational tactics. (Nellis report by Maj. Gabe Johnson)
The Air Force has finished modifying and testing the new VC-25B Bridge aircraft that will serve as a temporary Air Force One, the service announced May 1. All that’s left now is to finish painting the jet before it starts flying this summer.