Dedicated crew chief SSgt. Benjamin Norton and assistant crew chief A1C Jason Edwards earlier this week delivered a B-52 bomber with “no known discrepancies,” a very rare occurrence for an aircraft of its vintage—about 48 years old. Col. Steven Shinkle, 2nd Maintenance Group commander, called the feat by the two Barksdale AFB, La., airmen “an amazing testament” to their work. “Having absolutely no write ups on an aircraft of this age is no easy task,” he said. Norton and Edwards took charge of this particular bomber about nine months ago, when it had more than 1,600 maintenance discrepancies that needed fixing. Veteran maintainer SMSgt. Jeff Williams said, “I know of only seven other cases in my 12 years of B-52 experience where a crew chief launched a perfect jet.” (Barksdale report)
Canadian-based CAE announced plans to buy L3Harris Technologies’ Military Training business for $1.05 billion, saying the acquisition broadens its training and simulation portfolio and doubles its U.S. defense presence. The proposed acquisition, which is slated to close in the second half of 2021, “accelerates our growth strategy in defense and…