Air Force Material Command, as part of its command-wide reorganization, inactivated the Air Armament Center at Eglin AFB, Fla., consolidating Eglin’s 46th Test Wing and 96th Air Base Wing. Redesignated the 96th Test Wing during a ceremony on July 18, the unit’s testers now report to the newly renamed Air Force Test Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., said AFMC officials in a July 19 release. Its development and acquisition missions are now aligned under the new Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. “Our mission to develop, test, and produce war-winning weapons remains vital . . . and it must continue,” said Maj. Gen. Kenneth Merchant, outgoing AAC commander. AFMC eliminated the center, but retained its functions at Eglin to cut staff costs. A measure in the still-to-be-finalized Fiscal 2013 defense authorization legislation, however, could reverse the consolidation, reports Florida’s Emerald Coast Daily News. “My pending legislation is explicit. . . . When it becomes law, the Air Force will be required to re-establish and restore the Air Armament Center,” said Rep. Jeff Miller, who represents the Eglin community.
The Pentagon is significantly bolstering airpower near Venezuela, dispatching the USS Gerald R. Ford Carrier Strike Group to Latin America, it said in an Oct. 24 statement. The announcement came just hours after U.S. Air Force B-1 bombers and other U.S. assets flew near the Venezuelan coast on Oct. 23.
