The Texas Air National Guard set up overnight a temporary medical facility—called Task Force Compassion—at Ellington Field in the facility’s abandoned base exchange—right near a sign that still advertises Toy Land. The 10-bed unit comprises 47 medics from the 147th FW and the 136th AW, as well as ANG’s 149th FW, Kelly Field, Tex., and the Army National Guard Support Medical Battalion, San Antonio. They opened for business Monday, treating Hurricane Rita evacuees and helping relieve local civilian hospitals of non-critical patients.
The Air Force still needs more than 300 combat squadrons, but the biggest priority is not number of squadrons but capability, Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. said Sept. 22. He also suggested the records set by the Next Generation Air Dominance prototype likely have more to do…