Airmen at Creech AFB, Nev., held a ribbon-cutting ceremony to mark the opening of the base’s new remotely piloted aircraft simulator facility. The 13,500 square-foot building currently has four simulators, but has room for an additional six units to support the training needs of the airmen at Creech, who control many of the Air Force’s RPA that operate in the skies of Afghanistan and elsewhere around the globe. “This [facility] will allow us to accomplish one of our priorities, and that’s to normalize our mission,” said Col. James Hecker, Creech’s 432nd Wing/432nd Air Expeditionary Wing commander. He added, “More simulators will help us become more combat capable. In the future, we’ll also have the ability to do distributed mission operations, which will help us work with other units.” Construction of the $6.7 million facility began in June 2009. It replaces the old 5,000 square-foot simulator building. The ribbon cutting took place on Dec. 19. (Creech release)
The emphasis on speed in the Pentagon’s newly unveiled slate of acquisition reforms may come with increased near-term cost increases, analysts say. But according to U.S. defense officials, the new weapons-buying construct provides the military with enough flexibility to prevent runaway budget overruns in major programs.
