The Noncommissioned Officers Academy at Robins AFB, Ga., will officially close its doors May 20, according to a May 8 release from the base. The Robins facility is the second of at least four NCO academies that the Air Force is shutting down to trim costs and in recognition of declining end strength. USAF closed down the NCO Academy at McGuire AFB, N.J., in May 2007. The academy at Goodfellow AFB, Tex., is scheduled to close May 28, and the one at Kirtland AFB, N.M., is set to close next year. The NCO Academy at Keesler AFB, Miss., has been proposed for closure, but not yet approved, a Robins official said in a second release from May 8. Stateside NCO academies remaining open are at: Lackland AFB, Tex., Maxwell AFB, Ala., McGhee-Tyson ANGB in Alcoa, Tenn., Peterson AFB, Colo., and Tyndall AFB, Fla. There are also four academies that will remain in operation outside of the contiguous 48 states: Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, Hickam AFB, Hawaii, Kadena AB, Japan, and Kapaun AS, Germany.
An important U.S. Air Force E-3 Sentry AWACS command and control plane was among the aircraft damaged in a March 27 Iranian missile and drone attack on Prince Sultan Air Base, Saudi Arabia, people familiar with the matter told Air & Space Forces Magazine.