Airmen with the 509th Logistics Readiness Squadron and Air National Guard’s 131st LRS at Whiteman AFB, Mo., pulled their resources to ship $30 million worth of batteries to a nuclear-powered Los Angeles-class attack submarine operating in the Pacific. “We support the bomber mission everyday and now we had the chance to help out our sister service by supporting another leg of the nuclear triad,” said Lt. Col. Trace Steyaert, 509th LRS commander. Whiteman is home to USAF’s nuclear-capable B-2A bombers. The airmen shipped 65 crates of batteries on DC-8 cargo aircraft in early December, with the first shipment arriving in Guam within 24 hours. “It was great to see an operation pulled off so smoothly in such a short time. Everyone involved noticed the significance of this effort and came together to get it done,” said Steyaert. (Whiteman release by A1C Cody H. Ramirez)
With key members of Congress wavering on the possibility of a $350 billion defense reconciliation bill, defense experts told Air & Space Forces Magazine that the Pentagon is likely drawing up budget backup plans—but such plans would face hard choices between high-end weapons and low-cost drones and other programs in…