A 21-ship C-130 formation launched from Dyess AFB, Texas, during a late June joint forcible entry exercise was the largest such formation to launch from the base since 1981, 7th Bomb Wing spokeswoman A1C Kedesha Pennant told Air Force Magazine Tuesday. USAF’s Weapons School class 14-A joined with Army paratroopers from the 82nd Airborne Division to successfully carry out the largest Air Force-led rehearsal of a global response force JFE, helping to improve airborne insertion tactics, techniques, and procedures in anti-access scenarios, said Pennant. Hercules from the 317th Airlift Group, and units from eight other bases, launched from Dyess after six weeks of preparation, according to Dyess officials.
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
