The 
recently reactivated 96th Air Refueling Squadron at JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, has completed its first operational mission. Airmen of this active duty KC-135 tanker unit were crewmembers aboard a tanker that refueled a B-52H bomber Tuesday over the Pacific Ocean. Also aboard were members of the Hawaii Air National Guard’s 203rd ARS. The 96th ARS is teamed with the 203rd ARS and the Air Guard’s 154th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron under an active association at Hickam to operate KC-135s owned by the Hawaii ANG. The Air Force reactivated the 96th ARS in July as part of Hickam’s 15th Wing. During Tuesday’s mission, the Hickam KC-135 flew in a two-ship formation with an Iowa ANG KC-135 to refuel two B-52s en route to Guam. (Hickam photo caption by SSgt. Nathan Allen)
NASA Boss: Race to Moon Has National Security Stakes
Sept. 15, 2026
NASA is pushing hard to get astronauts back to the moon by 2028—and the urgency is driven in no small part by the national security implications of doing so before China does, Administrator Jared Isaacman said Sept. 15.
