: According to a Sept. 18 report by KRQE-TV in Albuquerque, N.M., the agreement New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson announced Sept. 17 between the Air Force and Air National Guard that would make the New Mexico Air Guard’s 150th Fighter Wing an associate of the active duty 58th Special Operations Wing when the 150th FW loses its F-16 fighters next year is not final—it rests on a “handshake,” per Richardson. State officials have been working to find a mission since the Air Force issued its 2010 fighter cut list this spring, leaving the 150th out in the cold. Per KRQE, Richardson said such handshake agreements are “usually honored.” A Pentagon spokesman told the news station that details of the agreement are “predecisional.”
The Air Force achieved its goal of recruiting 32,750 Active-Duty enlisted Airmen for 2026 five months ahead of schedule, military officials said this week—its biggest recruiting year in more than two decades.