The 49th Wing at Holloman AFB, N.M., recently completed an MQ-9 surge designed to test the limits of the volume and speed of possible operations. The wing completed 45 Reaper sorties totaling more than 465 flight hours within five days. In addition to the RPA pilots, the exercise involved air traffic controllers, maintainers, schedulers, munitions specialists, and range control operators. “While we are conducting surge operations you can see a flurry of activity that is happening across the base, and that is when we realize how integral of a team we are,” said Lt. Col. Timothy Monroe, commander of the 9th Attack Squadron, according to a press release. “There are a number of things happening on the flight line and in the flying squadrons; you can even see the broader impact around Holloman with our various mission support elements who are enabling pilots, sensor operators, and maintainers to launch all of these aircraft.”
The top Air Force commander on on the Japanese island of Okinawa has clamped down alcohol and issued a curfew for junior enlisted Airmen and Guardians at Kadena Air Base for the next month. The order came roughly two weeks after a U.S. Marine was arrested for allegedly robbing and…