Air Force Reserve Command’s B-52 bomber operations at Barksdale AFB, La., are now managed by the newly activated 307th Bomb Wing. The unit replaces the just-inactivated 917th Wing as the overseer of the Reservists’ activities, which include running USAF’s sole B-52 schoolhouse and cooperating in the maintenance and operations of Barksdale’s combat-ready, nuclear-capable B-52s that are assigned to the active duty 2nd BW. As part of the changes, the 307th BW will no longer manage AFRC’s A-10s at Barksdale as the 917th Wing did. Instead, the 442nd Fighter Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo., now oversees them. Reserve officials at Barksdale have said this reorganization will allow them to place more focus on the bomber mission. Service officials hosted a ceremony on Jan. 8 featuring Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner, Air Force Reserve chief, to mark these changes, reported the Shreveport Times.
Reduced competition, over-reliance on legacy systems, and declining funding are all contributing to a “critical inflection point” in propulsion for the Pentagon and industry members—and things are headed in the wrong direction, the director of the Air Force’s propulsion directorate warned. Speaking with reporters at the Life Cycle Industry Days…