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.
As with previous stealth aircraft unveilings, the Air Force’s imagery of the F-47 Next-Generation Air Dominance fighter has been doctored to keep adversaries guessing about its true shaping and design philosophy.