US Strategic Command’s annual Global Thunder exercise that ended Monday included a record number of foreign participants. More than 20 representatives from the United Kingdom and Canada took part in Global Thunder 17 at Offutt AFB, Neb., according to a STRATCOM release. Their participation enhances STRATCOM’s “ability to work with our allies to anticipate change and confront uncertainty with agility and innovation,” said former STRATCOM chief Adm. Cecil D. Haney, according to the release. Gen. John Hyten took command of STRATCOM on Thursday. The weeklong exercise also tested STRATCOM’s capabilities across a range of missions—from space and cyber to global strike, according to a separate STRATCOM release. “Testing our strategic forces through a range of challenging scenarios validates their safety, security, effectiveness and readiness,” Haney said, according to the release. “While the exercise is based on a notional, classified scenario, it realistically allows my forces to exercise and train as they would fight.”
The last remaining T-1 Jayhawk at JBSA-Randolph, Texas, took its final flight to the "Boneyard" at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., on July 15. The 99th Flying Training Squadron will train pilots using T-6 and simulator until it gets T-7 Red Hawk in fiscal 2026.