The remains of an airmen listed as missing in action from World War II have been identified as those of TSgt. Walter A. McClellan, according to a DOD POW/Missing Personnel Office April 22 release. McClellan was a gunner on a B-17 struck by enemy fighters on an April 17, 1945, mission to bomb a rail depot in Dresden, Germany. After the war, US search team could no longer search the Soviet-controlled area, so the US deemed the B-17 crew remains non-recoverable. Reports from German citizens in 1956 and 2007 led to the 2008 exhumation of a grave in Burkhardswalde, where a recovery team found human remains and artifacts that scientists determined were those of McClellan. Church records revealed he had parachuted over Biensdorf, but German SS forces captured and killed him near Burkhardswalde.
While the Space Force is still making long-term plans to establish high-fidelity live and virtual test and training ranges in the coming years, officials say they're also working with operators to identify near-term gaps and quickly field capabilities to address them.
