The Air Force announced that JBSA-Lackland, Tex., is the preferred location to host the service’s Tactical Air Control Party school, while Keesler AFB, Miss., is the reasonable alternative. Service officials selected Lackland “because of its favorable weather conditions, training efficiencies, and beddown costs,” said Timothy Bridges, the Air Force’s deputy assistant secretary for installations, in the service’s Jan. 9 release. “Based on our criteria-based analysis and the application of military judgment, we feel JBSA-Lackland is the best location for this mission,” he added. The Air Force leadership made the decision based on the results of detailed site surveys of Lackland and Keesler, states the release. The Air Force last May identified them as the candidate sites. The final basing decision will come once the mandatory environmental impact study is complete, states the release. The Air Force is relocating TACP training from Hurlburt Field, Fla., since the high demand for tactical air control in theater has outpaced the capacity of Hurlburt’s schoolhouse.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.