The Air Force plans to reactivate 3rd Air Force—it was just a year ago that US Air Forces in Europe deactivated it. The news is seeping out, as you can see from this biography of Lt. Gen. Robert Bishop Jr., which now notes at the top that he is “selected for reassignment as commander, 3rd Air Force.” There was also a brief announcement out of DOD on Sept. 22 (we missed it first time around). The implication of both the bio and announcement is that 3rd will be emplaced at Ramstein AB, Germany, the site of USAFE’s new warfighting headquarters, not at its old stomping ground at RAF Mildenhall, England. However, there is no official word out of USAFE yet.
Unmanned aerial vehicles are fair game for U.S. Special Operations Command’s armed overwatch platform competition, Air Force Special Operations Command boss Lt. James C. “Jim” Slife told reporters on Feb. 26. However, the MQ-9 Reaper drone might not be up to the challenge in its current form, he suggested during…