T
he Air Force unleashed a firepower demonstration last week at Nellis AFB, Nev., showing the public—and assorted Capitol Hill staffers—the type of action rarely seen outside a war zone, reports A1C Oleksandra Manko. For more than an hour, airmen on the ground and in the air went through combat scenarios. Fighter, bombers, gunships, and helicopters flew simulated combat sorties for 60 minutes, preceded by a two-hour video presentation in which the participating pilots explained their maneuvers. The event also showcased desert warfare simulations and a downed-pilot rescue.
Special-ops aviators, a physicist from the intelligence community, and an enlisted Marine with decades of deployments: U.S. Space Command’s military and civilian leaders who spoke May 7 were as likely to come from strictly space backgrounds as not. These are some of the day’s insights from inside the command, which…