A Texas B-1B Munition Sparked Range Fire: A training munition released by a B-1B bomber on the Melrose Bombing Range near Cannon AFB, N.M., on November 30, 2005, started a fire that eventually burned 26,000 acres of grazing and farmland, according to an Air Combat Command accident report released Tuesday. The bomber was on a training mission from Dyess AFB, Tex., when it released a dummy bomb with a spotting charge that sparked the fire. The report indicated that Cannon officials failed to recognize the level of fire danger at the time and implement reasonable safety measures.
Five hundred more U.S. personnel will be based in Germany starting later this year, in a reversal from previous Pentagon plans to draw troops out of the country under the Trump administration. Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III announced the increase during a visit to Germany’s Ministry of Defense on…