The Nati
onal Aviation Hall of Fame on July 18 enshrined three USAF airmen among the four names selected for its class of 2009. The USAF inductees are: the late Brig. Gen. Jimmy Stewart, World War II bomber pilot and one of the early officers of the Air Force Association, as well as Academy Award winning actor; ret. Col. Eileen Collins, USAF test pilot and the first woman to command a space shuttle; and the late Lt. Col. Edward White III, who died in the 1967 Apollo I fire on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. NAHF also inducted Russell Meyer Jr., former chairman and CEO of Cessna Aircraft Company. (NAHF release)
Three of four congressional committees with influence over defense policy have voted to change the official name of the Department of Defense to the Department of War—but final approval of the Pentagon rebrand is months away and not yet assured.