The first KC-135 tanker aircraft with the 939th Air Refueling Wing to depart its home base at Portland, Ore., for the last time took wing July 14, marking the first step toward fulfillment of the unit’s BRAC 2005 obligation. The 939th ARW will lose all eight of its aircraft and 900 authorized positions, most by September 2007. The wing’s executive staff and mission support personnel are expected to remain in Portland until Sept. 30, 2010. Air Force Reserve Command plans to secure a new space mission for the 939th and move it to Vandenberg AFB, Calif., beginning in October 2010.
Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, nominee to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Defense Department needs to upgrade its electronic warfare capability and its EW training ranges; just as his predecessor said at his own confirmation hearing.