A retired Bo
eing KC-135 aircraft, known as Speckled Trout, that was once used to transport the Air Force Chief of Staff was towed Feb. 15 through the streets of San Antonio from Kelly Field Annex, Tex. to its new home at the training annex of Lackland Air Force Base. There, the 344th Training Squadron will use it to train boom operators, airborne mission specialists, Air Force flight attendants, and loadmasters. “We’re going to use it indefinitely as a premier trainer for these career enlisted aviators,” said Lt. Col. Marc Caudill, commander of the training unit. Prior to the move, workers from Worldwide Recovery, a contractor from Omaha, Neb., spent about two weeks removing the aircraft’s engines, wings, and tail section. Roughly the same amount of time will be needed for reassembly. (Lackland report by Mike Joseph)
As the threat of Iranian-made drones grew, the Air Force rushed last year to equip F-15E Strike Eagles in the Middle East with a cheap, cost-effective way of defeating them. The service fielded the new capability in roughly a week.
