Some 300 airmen and a group of B-52s from the 69th Bomb Squadron are scheduled to depart Minot AFB, N.D., this week for Andersen AFB, Guam, reported KFYR TV of Bismarck. This expeditionary force will help provide stability and security in the Asia-Pacific region for the next half year as part of the continuous bomber presence that the Air Force maintains on Guam. It will relieve an expeditionary unit of airmen and B-52s from Barksdale AFB. La., that rotated to Andersen late last August. This will be the first Guam deployment for more than one-third of the airmen from the 69th BS, said Lt. Col. Matt McDaniel, squadron commander, in KFYR’s March 2 report. Airmen from Minot’s 5th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, 5th Munitions Squadron, 5th Maintenance Squadron, and 5th Operations Support Squadron are also deploying to Andersen, reported the Minot Daily News.
Advancements in commercial space technology could make President Donald Trump’s proposed “Golden Dome” missile defense network far more likely to succeed than the failed “Star Wars” strategic umbrella initiative of the 1980s, U.S. Space Command’s top general said May 22....