Brig. Gen. Richard Devereaux, commander of the Air Force Expeditionary Center at JB McGuire, N.J., recently visited locations within US Central Command’s area of responsibility. One of the purposes of the trip was to solicit feedback on the quality of deployed airman working in joint positions. “The comment I kept getting was, ‘We love your airmen. . . . They’re bright. . . . They’re innovative,'” said Devereaux in relaying the comments he received from sister service commanders. Meeting with deployed airmen during his stops, Devereaux said the impression he got was that they felt prepared to do their jobs based on their pre-deployment training. “Most said the training was ‘spot on’ and helped them spin up more quickly to do their job, or simply helped relieve the stress associated with the uncertainty of their deployment,” he said. (JB McGuire report by SSgt. Zachary Wilson)
General Atomics, the maker of one of the Air Force’s first Collaborative Combat Aircraft, has ambitious plans for its family of semi-autonomous drones beyond the FQ-42, including a flying-wing aircraft capable of carrying out both reconnaissance and strike missions. Meanwhile, the Air Force Research Laboratory announced a new program to…