On a review of Royal Air Force RC-135 Rivet Joint training with USAF’s 55th Wing, Britain’s ranking air power development officer visited Offutt AFB, Neb. “Seeing the training first-hand leaves me very, very excited” for delivery of Britain’s RC-135 aircraft, said Air Chief Marshal Simon Bryant during his Nov. 28 visit. In preparation, RAF airmen are conducting initial training and joint-manning operations with Offutt’s 55th WG. Since arriving in January, 60 RAF operators have finished training, with some of them flying combat missions with USAF crews over Afghanistan and Libya. “It’s great to have this RC-135 partnership with our best allies,” summed Brig. Gen. Donald Bacon, 55th WG commander. “We’ve learned a lot working with them and so it’s been a mutually beneficial relationship.” RAF RC-135s will replace the Nimrod R.1, retired earlier this year, by late 2013. (Offutt report by Ryan Hansen)
The total number of reported sexual assaults in the Department of the Air Force ticked up about two percent in 2024 while still trailing the total from 2022, as Pentagon officials say a hiring freeze on federal government civilian employees limits their ability to fill critical sexual assault prevention and…