The 8th Air Force staff moved into a freshly renovated 77,000 square-foot headquarters building at Barksdale AFB, La., following a ribbon-cutting ceremony with community officials on base last week. “Our distinguished visitors represent our long-term relationship with Shreveport and Bossier City that makes the Eighth Air Force successful,” said 8th AF boss Maj. Gen. Scott Vander Hamm, during the July 2 rededication of the building. The French colonial, revival-style building now houses the state-of-the art 608th Air Operations Center as well as US Strategic Command’s Task Force 204, which oversees strategic bombing and reconnaissance aircraft. Civil engineers began refurbishing the building, which is on the National Register of Historic Places, in 2010, reported local TV station KTAL News. The numbered air force, which oversees Air Force Global Strike Command’s strategic bomber force, has made its home at Barksdale since 1975, according to the base release.
F-15s, F-16s, C-130s Deploy for Exercise in Poland
April 19, 2021
USAF F-15s, F-16s, and C-130s are training in Poland in an agile combat employment exercise that comes as Russia has executed a massive buildup on the border with neighboring Ukraine, though U.S. officials say the exercise was long-planned. F-15Es from the 492nd Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, England; F-16s from…