B-52s from Minot AFB, N.D., flew 40 conventional bombing sorties in four days without scrubbing a single sortie during Prairie Warrior in late November. “Just weeks after coming out of succeeding in a large-scale nuclear exercise, we accomplished our base’s largest conventional exercise of the year, and we crushed it,” said 5th Bomb Wing Commander Col. Jason Armagost in a Dec. 3 release. With 16 available B-52s, Minot’s 5th Bomb Wing flew 12 sorties the first day of Exercise Prairie Warrior, 10 sorties on both the second and third day, and eight sorties on the final day, dropping a total of 119 munitions, according to the wing. “A B-52’s normal flying rhythm is every other day,” said 69th Aircraft Maintenance Unit supervisor SMSgt. Paul Crisostomo. “Our ability to be able to fly a jet one day and turn around and fly it 12 hours later speaks volumes,” he added. Prairie Warrior ran Nov. 17-20.
NASA Boss: Race to Moon Has National Security Stakes
Sept. 15, 2026
NASA is pushing hard to get astronauts back to the moon by 2028—and the urgency is driven in no small part by the national security implications of doing so before China does, Administrator Jared Isaacman said Sept. 15.
