Three members of the Texas Congressional delegation—Sen. Kay Bailey Hutchinson (R), Sen. John Cornyn (R), and Rep. Mac Thornberry (R)—sent a letter Tuesday to Gen. Norton Schwartz, Chief of Staff, urging him to assign the service’s cyber training activities to Sheppard Air Force Base. “The imminent departure of Air Force medical training courses currently located at Sheppard presents a golden opportunity,” the three members write in their Jan. 6 missive. They added that the training facility now begin vacated is “well-suited to house the new cyber training programs.” Sheppard is in the running, along with Keesler AFB, Miss., for the Air Force Education and Training Command mission, which could bring nearly 1,400 new personnel to the selected installation, according to Cornyn’s office. “This letter should serve as an important vote of confidence from the Texas Congressional delegation for Sheppard’s first-rate capabilities to carry out this and future missions,” Cornyn told the Daily Report yesterday in a written statement. He continued, “I am hopeful the Air Force will select Sheppard Air Force Base to reinforce the base’s footing for the long run.” (For more, read yesterday’s report from the Times Record News of Wichita Falls.)
Anduril and General Atomics will develop their Collaborative Combat Aircraft for the Air Force, beating out Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Northrop Grumman, the service announced on April 24. But any of the non-selected companies can compete to actually manufacture the eventual design, the Air Force said.