Security forces at Little Rock AFB, Ark., shot a man who was brandishing a gun while attempting to gain unauthorized access to the base on Monday morning, according to a base release. The suspect, whom Little Rock spokeswoman Deb Green identified as Larry McElroy, was taken into custody and transported to the hospital, where he remains in critical condition. Explosive ordnance disposal airmen searched McElroy’s maroon sports utility vehicle and the Little Rock Fire Department Bomb Squad assisted in the search of his home, but no explosives were found. “There were no apparent motives [or] any ties to terrorism,” according to a June 16 base release. The temporary lockdown has since been lifted, according to a separate base release. “Our airmen and families are safe, and there is no additional threat to Little Rock Air Force Base,” said Col. Charles Brown Jr., 19th Airlift Wing and installation commander, during a June 15 press conference. The Little Rock Air Force Office of Special Investigations is working with the Jacksonville Police Department, Pulaski County Sheriff’s Office, the Bureau of Alcohol, Tobacco, Firearms, and Explosives, and the FBI on the investigation.
The Air Force awarded a $13.08 billion contract to the Sierra Nevada Corporation on April 26 for its Survivable Airborne Operations Center aircraft, the successor to the service’s E-4B “Doomsday” plane. Like the E-4B, officially called the National Airborne Operations Center, the SAOC will be meant to withstand a nuclear attack and keep…