Two F-16s from the 20th Fighter Wing at Shaw AFB, S.C., last week flew the milestone 50,000th sortie for the Continental US NORAD Region portion of Operation Noble Eagle. CONR and 1st Air Force boss Maj. Gen. Hank Morrow called the 50,000 flights “a symbol to the nation of the service, dedication, and talent of the men and women” that support the CONR mission. When the CONR sorties are lumped together with flights flown over Alaska and Hawaii, the ONE count totals more than 51,500 sorties. (601st Air Operations Center report)
Aircraft readiness will suffer if Congress does not approve some $1.5 billion worth of spare parts the Air Force requested in its annual Unfunded Priorities List, sent to Capitol Hill last week, Chief of Staff Gen. David W. Allvin said.