The Air Force has awarded the Bronze Star medal to Air Force Office of Special Investigations Special Agent Brent Howell for his actions while deployed to Bagram AB, Afghanistan. During one mission on his seven-month deployment, Howell, who serves with OSI Det. 422 at Altus AFB, Okla., was wounded when his attackers struck his convoy, but he managed to identify their positions and return fire while others got his vehicle back in shape to travel with the convoy. Howell returned to his unit after medical treatment and helped process the attack scene, leading to capture of the attackers. (Altus report by Michael Fletcher)
The AIM-120 AMRAAM will likely be the complement to the AIM-260 Joint Advanced Tactical Missile, a Raytheon executive said. He characterized the JATM as an expensive, "kick-down-the-door" weapon, while he argued that AMRAAM is the more affordable missile to be used in larger quantities.