The tactical air controllers of the 25th Air Support Operations Squadron are practicing their basic close-combat skills at Wheeler Army Air Field, Hawaii, in preparation for an upcoming deployment to Southwest Asia. Air Force Tactical Air Control Party airmen serve with Army forces, where they may need this type training, which provides a “basis for all combative skills,” said SMSgt. John Knipe, 25th ASOS superintendent. According to SSgt. George Earhart—a TACP who definitely is in the right job—called the training “fun,” saying it “keeps you physically active.”
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall doesn’t see great value in trying to break the Sentinel ICBM program off as a separate budget item the way the Navy has with its ballistic-missile submarine program, saying such a move wouldn’t create any new money for the Air Force to spend on other…