Officials with the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Va., are preparing to release two of the wing’s four groups on Jan.7 to the soon-to-be-established 633rd Air Base Wing that will oversee operations of Joint Base Langley-Eustis, the new installation construct that will consolidate Langley and the Army’s Fort Eustis under one administrative roof as BRAC 2005 directed. JB Langley-Eustis formally stands up next month and is scheduled to assume full operations by next October. As part of the process, the 1st FW will relinquish the 1st Mission Support Group and 1st Medical Group units as well as its staff agencies to the 633rd ABW. The 1st FW, which operates F-15 and F-22 fighters, will retain its 1st Operations Group and 1st Maintenance Group. (Langley report by SSgt. Heidi Davis)
The U.K. and the U.S. will continue to enjoy access to the ports, airfield, and workshops at Diego Garcia in the Indian Ocean for at least another century, under a deal inked between the U.K. and Mauritius May 22.