Lt. Col. Drew English, test director for the 59th Test and Evaluation Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nev., reached his 3,000th flight hour in an A-10 cockpit on March 26 during a force development mission to the Nevada Test and Training Range. “I consider it a privilege that I’ve been able to fly this airplane non-stop for over 15 years,” said English, a career operational test and instructor pilot, who flew his first A-10 sortie in June 1993. Maj. Neal Sheeran, 59th TES project manager for the A-10, said of English, “His complete dedication to making the A-10 the best possible [close air support] platform, both for the A-10 community and the Air Force as a whole, is unmatched.” (Nellis report by Minty Knighton)
A three-month continuing resolution that ended in December inflicted less pain on the Department of the Air Force than it had expected, as procurement and construction continue in the new year. The federal government operated under a stopgap spending measure that stretched from the beginning of the fiscal year on…