Air Force Special Operation Command has deactivated the 21st Special Operations Squadron, an MH-53J Pave Low helicopter unit at RAF Mildenhall, UK, reports Bryan Mitchell of Stars and Stripes. The 21st SOS was part of the 352nd Special Operations Group at Mildenhall; it will now become a CV-22 Osprey unit at AFSOC’s newly acquired Cannon AFB, N.M. There was speculation earlier this year about AFSOC removing the 352nd SOG from Mildenhall now that it has a western base and room to grow. The deactivation of the 21st SOS cuts the group’s force by about a third.
Lt. Gen. Stephen L. Davis, the Department of the Air Force’s top internal watchdog, has been nominated to lead Air Force Global Strike Command, which oversees the service’s bombers and intercontinental ballistic missiles.