Talk about a dramatic rescue. Members of the California Air National Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Federal Airfield came together with Marine Corps and Coast Guard units and the Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Tyndall AFB, Fla., from April 1-4 to save an injured man aboard a sailboat 1,400 miles out to sea from the southern California coast. The AFRCC coordinated the rescue, which saw 129th RQW pararescuemen fly April 1 on a Coast Guard HC-130 out to the sailboat and attend to the injured man. A San Diego-bound merchant ship arrived on the scene after midnight on April 2 to pick them up. Meanwhile a task force of two 129th RQW HH-60 helicopters, one MC-130P, and one Marine KC-130 took off April 3 to meet up with the merchant ship, retrieve the patient, and bring him to a San Diego hospital. (Tyndall release)
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…