Air Force Reserve Command plans to establish a new associate unit at Beale AFB, Calif., working with Air Combat Command’s 548th Intelligence Group. The Reservists will operate under a “classic” associate arrangement, sharing the load in operating and maintaining active duty equipment. AFRC plans to shift authorizations from the 940th Air Refueling Wing at Beale, which loses its KC-135 tankers under BRAC 2005, to form the core of the new Beale unit by 2008.
The first flight of the secretive B-21 bomber has slipped to mid-2022, but the program is moving along well, Air Force Rapid Capabilities Office director Randall Walden said in an exclusive interview. The second copy of the B-21, which will be used for structural testing, is now on the production…