The Pentagon has commissioned RAND Corp to conduct a cost/benefits study of Defense Department elementary and secondary schools, according to a Dec. 3 Air Force release. The $905,000 study—slated for completion in mid-2014— will consider a variety of options ranging from keeping operations as they are to closing schools and transferring children to local district schools, states the release. “There are no pre-conceived outcomes for this study,” said Marilee Fitzgerald, DOD education activity director. “The input of commands, parents, teachers, students, and community members is essential and will be actively sought and taken into consideration.” RAND will review 60 schools at 15 North American military installations as part of the study, reported Stars and Stripes. All together, those schools educate 23,000 students at a cost of nearly $376 million per year, according to the article.
Members of the Air Force Reserve’s 920th Rescue Wing helped save 11 airplane crash survivors off the coast of Florida on May 12. The Reserve Airmen were flying an HC-130J Combat King II and an HH-60W Jolly Green II on a routine training flight when a Coast Guard call diverted…