Basic military training graduates heading from Lackland AFB, Tex., to Keesler AFB, Miss., for follow-on technical training will now arrive by chartered commercial airliner and no longer by bus as had been the practice for decades. WLOX TV 13 of Biloxi, Miss., reported that the first crop of airmen to fly in arrived Monday at Keesler and appeared happy to have been spared the 10-hour bus ride of their predecessors. A Keesler spokesman told the Daily Report on Tuesday that Keesler was the last of the Air Force’s technical training bases to phase out the busses. (See also Keesler release)
The Air Force is renaming its traditional aviation bonus program in 2024 and continuing a new, experimental second program, ordered by Congress, aimed at getting aviators to extend their commitment sooner and for longer. While the programs can’t be doubled-up, aviators may be able to move from one to the…