F-15Es of the 494th Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, England, pounded simulated targets on the Italian island of Sardinia in the Mediterranean, giving NATO joint terminal attack controller trainees their first experience handling live aircraft. “Students need to have practice talking to actual aircraft, pilots, and aircrew,” said Lt. Col. Allen Roberts, commander of US Air Forces in Europe’s Air Ground Operations School. Field training capped USAFE’s five-week JTAC qualification course, certifying Croatian, Estonian, Norwegian, Swedish, and USAF airmen. “Northern Europe tends not to favor our training. We need clear skies and solid ranges to drop weapons on,” said Roberts, noting that conditions at Decimomannu Air Base on Sardinia offered ideal conditions for both aircrews and JTACS. “We are building partnerships that will be long lasting as we continue to forge through and defeat our enemies downrange,” he said of the training event. (Decimomannu report by SSgt. Megan Lyon)
A record investment in research and development by the Department of the Air Force will help the United States win the long-term technology race with China, even while shrinking the fleet size before a possible mid-decade Taiwan contingency, Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall said May 17. “With the Air Force,…