Several hundred airmen at opposite ends of the country deploy to Southwest Asia for USAF’s Air and Space Expeditionary Force (AEF) 7 and 8. Base officials say that about 700 airmen—some on their second or third time in three years—will deploy from Eglin AFB, Fla. Another smaller group of airmen headed out from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska. The airmen include civil engineers, logisticians, and communications specialists, making up what USAF calls expeditionary combat support forces.
Lloyd Austin, President-elect Joe Biden’s pick to lead the Pentagon, spent his Senate confirmation hearing on Jan. 19 pressing his civilian bona fides to lawmakers, with some pledging opposition to the waiver Austin would need to become the nation’s first Black Defense Secretary. Austin spent 40 years in the military…