Construction in now complete of the new Ellison Onizuka Satellite Operations Facility at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The $40 million facility will house the 21st Space Operations Squadron. The unit is a geographically-separated component of the 50th Space Wing at Schriever AFB, Colo. The squadron manages the Air Force satellite control network. Vandenberg officials held the facility’s dedication and ribbon-cutting ceremony on July 30. Prior to relocating to Vandenberg, the 21st SOS operated at Onizuka AFS, Calif., which was officially shuttered on July 28. Vandy’s new facility is named after Col. Ellison Onizuka, an Air Force astronaut who died aboard Space Shuttle Challenger on Jan. 28, 1986. Onizuka’s widow, Lorna, spoke at the dedication ceremony. (Vandenberg report by SrA. Steve Bauer)
The Air Force has finished resurrecting a B-1B Lancer, completing a yearslong process to transform a bomber that had been stored for parts in the Arizona desert into the new flagship of the 7th Bomb Wing at Dyess Air Force Base, Texas.