Airmen at McConnell AFB, Kan., on Monday began to undergo a mock on-site inspection like those mandated under the Chemical Weapons Convention. This exercise is the first base-wide event of its kind for Air Mobility Command. It is meant to help train USAF base assistance teams, said Dave Graves, AMC treaty compliance officer. Those BATs consist of personnel knowledgeable of the treaty who will accompany approximately 100 McConnell airmen through Friday as inspectors put the base through the rigorous mock inspection. The inspectors will be searching for CWC “violations,” such as aircraft transporting chemical weapons or facilities housing chemical weapons. The CWC aims to eliminate the production, stockpiling, and use of chemical weapons. All but a small handful of nations are signatories to the pact. The United States ratified it in 1997. (McConnell report by A1C Armando A. Schwier-Morales)
Unit commanders are being told to separate service members who can’t shave their cheeks and chin for medical reasons for more than a year, according to new guidance from Secretary of War Pete Hegseth.
