Airmen at RAF Milde
nhall, England, have been dismantling the five MH-53M Pave Low helicopters that are destined for the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz. The former 21st Special Operations Squadron helicopters took their last flights on Sept. 13 and will be at the boneyard by the end of November, reports TSgt. Tracy DeMarco. Air Force Special Operations Command deactivated the 21st SOS at Mildenhall last month and plans to activate it at Cannon AFB, N.M., as a CV-22 Osprey unit. For the Pave Low tear down, the maintenance airmen first remove the helicopter blades, which takes an 11-person team about an hour. They then spend a couple of days for the remainder of the tear down for shipment.
The 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth, Texas, became the first standalone Reserve unit in the Air Force to get its own F-35s, welcoming the first fighter Nov. 5.