Maintainers with the 341st Missile Wing at Malmstrom AFB, Mont., last month emplaced the last of the wing’s refurbished Minuteman III ICBMs in its silo, thereby completing the process of upgrading all of the base’s 150 missiles under the Air Force’s MM III propulsion replacement program. “When you roll this program in with the others we’ve executed as part of our broader ICBM sustainment plan, you can be very confident that the missile on alert out there today has never been more capable,” said Col. Jeffrey Frankhouser, commander of Malmstrom’s 341st Maintenance Group. With these upgrades, the Air Force says the MM III is viable out to 2020. (Malmstrom report by SrA. Dillon White)
The crash of a T-38 trainer jet this May—which caused a weekslong pause in flights across the fleet—was caused by an improperly installed pin for one of the jet’s horizontal stabilizers, according to a new accident report released Oct. 30. When the pin disengaged midflight, it created the slightest amount…