The Maryland Air National Guard’s 175th Wing christened its new headquarters building in a ribbon-cutting ceremony at Warfield ANG Base. The new 33,700-square-foot building “gives us operable space that we have needed for quite a few years,” said 175th WG Commander Brig. Gen. Scott Kelly at the March 8 ceremony. The $14 million facility will house the wing’s command section, mission support group, and medical group, according to a March 9 unit release. Some of the wing’s airmen are transferring from a 1960s-era building to the new facility, which features energy-saving materials and systems, states the release. Warfield is “huge to eastern Baltimore County” and the modernized facility demonstrates the Guard’s commitment to the area, said Baltimore County Councilwoman Cathy Bevins at the ceremony. (Maryland report by TSgt. David Speicher)
The Air Force plans to add external weapons pylons on the B-1B bomber, both to increase the number of aircraft that can test hypersonic missiles and expand the Lancer’s loadout as USAF transitions to the B-21 bomber.