Air Education and Training Command has suspended parachute water survival instruction off of Pensacola, Fla., due to the effects of the oil spill in the Gulf of Mexico. David Smith, AETC spokesman, told the Daily Report Tuesday that “some tar and oil residue” was found in the bay where this training occurs under the direction of an Air Force detachment at NAS Pensacola. This discovery prompted local government health and safety officials to declare “it appropriate to do training in that water.” The training was halted on June 4 until further notice, he said. Student pilots are now being sent in the interim to Fairchild AFB, Wash., to receive some, but not all of this instruction. Smith said 55 new USAF students normally come through NAS Pensacola each week for this training, which takes place 48 weeks per year. (See CNN report)
A-10 Thunderbolt II attack planes in the Middle East are flying with fresh modifications as the Air Force looks to make the plane more versatile amid America’s ongoing blockade of Iranian ports and a tenuous ceasefire in the U.S. air war against Iran.