With the “flagging” this week of a new 200-person detachment at Mansfield, Ohio, the Ohio Air National Guard’s 200th RED HORSE formally recognized that it no longer has to merge with another state to form a fully manned 400-airman RED HORSE unit. The 200th has operated for some 37 years out of its Port Clinton base, working with the 201st RHS in Pennsylvania. Both units got the go-ahead to plus-up under BRAC 2005. The 200th actually activated its Det. 1 in April, but the detachment’s airmen had deployed for Operation Jump Start along the US-Mexico border, so the squadron delayed unfurling the flag. (National Guard Bureau report by MSgt. Mike Smith)
The Pentagon awarded a contract worth over $2 billion for the next batch of F-35 engines to Pratt & Whitney on June 5. The deal for Lot 17 F135 engines, totaling $2.02 billion, is expected to be completed by December 2025.