Plans are progressing well toward the standup of the National Guard’s first two homeland response force units in this fiscal year, according to Gen. Craig McKinley, the Guard’s top boss. “I was briefed by my team last week, and this effort is on track,” stated McKinley during a speech this week at the 2011 National Guard Bureau domestic operations workshop in National Harbor, Md. He added, “I’ve heard from the states involved. They’re confident and ready to perform.” These first two HRFs will be in Ohio and Washington. The Guard announced these plans last June. An HRF unit will provide a self-deployable capability to respond domestically to chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear, and high-yield-explosive incidents. The Defense Department intends to establish one unit for each of FEMA’s 10 regions nationwide. (NGB release by TSgt. John Orrell)
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.