This Realignment Includes Seven Aircraft And 372 Positions

The Air Force selected Kirtland Air Force Base, New Mexico as the preferred location for the relocation of the AC-130J Ghostrider Formal Training Unit from Hurlburt Field, Florida. This action allows for Air Force Special Operations Command to realign its training mission under Air Education and Training Command and consolidate AC-130 initial and mission qualification training at Kirtland AFB. This realignment includes seven aircraft and 372 positions.

Specially-Equipped Dehavilland Twin Otter UV-18a Aircraft Utilized

As the recent Monterey county wildfires burned more than 150,000 acres, Naval Postgraduate School (NPS) researchers took to the local skies in a specially-equipped DeHavilland Twin Otter UV-18A aircraft, basically a flying laboratory full of scientific instruments, to research the effects that smoke has on the atmosphere to help better understand how smoke can affect optical and infrared sensor performance, and to test how well Navy aerosol models do in predicting smoke conditions. Since the COVID-19 pandemic began in March, NPS’ aerial researchers from the Department of Meteorology’s Center for Interdisciplinary Remotely Piloted Aircraft Studies (CIRPAS) and Airborne Research Facility had not flown a research mission, that is, until these wildfires presented a key opportunity for study that could lead to improved naval operations.

Will Train Pilots In Providing Security And Support For The Nation’S Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Fields

The Secretary of the Air Force selected Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama as the preferred location to host the MH-139A Grey Wolf Formal Training Unit. The MH-139 FTU’s mission is to train pilots in providing security and support for the nation’s intercontinental ballistic missile fields spanning Wyoming, Montana, North Dakota, Colorado and Nebraska. The MH-139 mission will replace the mission of the Air Force Reserve’s 908th Airlift Wing’s aging C-130Hs currently at Maxwell AFB.