The Air Force last month honored the history office of the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, as winner of the John R. Burton Award, the biennial honor that recognizes the best multiperson history office across the service. “It means a lot to get recognition like this,” said Doug Beckstead, one of the office historians. The 3rd Wing historians track and write annual histories not only for the wing, but also 11th Air Force, Alaskan NORAD Region, Alaskan Command, and Joint Task Force-Alaska. One of these reports is the “equivalent to writing a Ph.D. dissertation every year,” said Joe Orr of the office. (Elmendorf June 11 report by A1C Christopher Gross)
In Part 2 of a series exploring the Software Acquisition Pathway that Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth recently made mandatory, we look back at how the acquisition reform has its origins in problems with the F-35.