Sitting in an isolated, small facility on Balad AB, Iraq, are airmen of the Combined Enroute Radar Approach (CERAP) who maintain air traffic—military and civilian—in central Iraq. The enlisted controllers man their radar scopes on two-hour shifts, handling more than 500 operations per day. They monitor altitude, direction, and separation of all aircraft. Each member of a six-person crew may handle 10 to 30 operations at a time. The work gets more complicated when they have to “weave air traffic” around an activated tactical battle airspace, controller SSgt. Brandon Oyen told Balad’s Red Tail Flyer.
B-21 Raider First Flight Now Postponed to 2023
May 20, 2022
The Air Force says the B-21 Raider won't make its first flight until 2023; about a six-month delay from the last official estimates. No reason was given for the delay. While other programs have recently chalked up schedule slips to supply chain and labor shortages, the Air Force has said…