Residents near the memorial site of a B-52 bomber that crashed on Elephant Mountain in Greenville, Maine, on Jan. 24, 1963, are banding together with local members of the Air National Guard and Civil Air Patrol to improve the site. They want the crash scene—where aircraft wreckage is still visible—to continue to stand as a lasting reminder to the seven airmen who died in the mishap. The Bangor Daily News reported that efforts are focused on diverting water from the crash scene, improving the trail to the site, and on moving the bomber’s tail section to a more secure location. Project organizers hope to have the work completed in 2013, the 50th anniversary year of the crash, if not sooner. Several years ago, the site faced another challenge: metal scavengers were stealing pieces of wreckage.
The Air Force is on track to reach its annual goal of graduating 1,500 new pilots that had proved elusive to this point, one year after the service launched a sweeping overhaul of its undergraduate pilot training program, Air Education and Training Command said Sept. 14.
