Air battle managers with the Hawaiian Air National Guard’s 169th Air Control and Warning Squadron were able to train virtually for the first time at home at Wheeler Army Airfield with fighter units in the continental United States. Thanks to Air Forces Northern’s Distributed Mission Operations network, these Air Guardsmen practiced air defense intercept procedures for homeland defense with fighter pilots flying in simulators at the Distributed Training Operations Center in Des Moines, Iowa, according to AFNORTH’s Jan. 23 release. The battle managers were tied to the pilots via the DMO network’s interconnected command, control, communications, and computer equipment during the Jan. 15 exercise. “The DMO capability will have a great impact for our members’ training and for our unit’s combat mission readiness,” said Maj. Blane Viloria, 169th ACWS director of operations. The distributed network obviates the need for the Hawaiian Air Guardsmen to travel to temporary-duty locations to train and maintain their currency, states the release. (Tyndall report by Mary McHale)
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
