The Air Force Reserve Command’s 403rd Wing at Keesler AFB, Miss., on July 11 dispatched the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron Hurricane Hunters on their first storm chase of the 2008 season. Flying a WC-130J Hercules aircraft specially configured for the Air Force’s only hurricane mission, airmen of the 53rd WRS sought out Hurricane Bertha, at the time a category 1 storm with winds up to 85 mph as it headed toward Bermuda. The National Weather Service later downgraded Bertha to a tropical storm. (Keesler report)
The $4.26 billion Small Business Innovation Research contracting program widely used by the Air Force went into hibernation as the government shut down Oct. 1, but unless lawmakers strike a deal on reforms, the program could reach an abrupt end.
