The Arnold Engineering Development Complex at Arnold AFB, Tenn., is set to take administrative command over a number of Air Force Test Center capabilities in a realignment that was approved by the Air Force on Nov. 9. The Hypersonic Combined Test Force, currently part of the 412th Test Wing at Edwards AFB, Calif.; the 96th Test Group, Holloman AFB, N.M.; and the McKinley Climatic Laboratory, Eglin AFB, Fla. will be consolidated under AEDC’s commander, according to an Air Force Test Center news release. In addition, this consolidation will include selected operations from the Federal Research Center at White Oak, Md.; Kirtland AFB, N.M.; Moffett Federal Airfield, Calif.; Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; and the Army’s White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The 96th Test Group and the 796th Test Support Squadron from Holloman will be inactivated and reactivated as the 704th Test Group and 704th Test Support Squadron. For these and all the other units, location and manpower will not change. The reorganization relates to chain of command issues only, and AFTC commander Maj. Gen. David Harris cited “efficiency” and “value” as reasons for the change, according to the release. AEDC has also requested wing-level designation from the Air Force, but a decision on that matter has yet to be made.
The Space Force should take bold, decisive steps—and soon—to develop the capabilities and architecture needed to support more flexible, dynamic operations in orbit and counter Chinese aggression and technological progress, according to a new report from AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies.
