The 3rd Space Operations Squadron and Boeing technicians at Schriever AFB, Colo. are running early-orbit operations of the first Wideband Global SATCOM launched last week. SSgt. Don Branum reports that the 3rd SOPS team took charge from Boeing’s El Segundo, Calif., satellite operations facility about 30 minutes after the satellite launched. The arrangement gives airmen of 3rd SOPS “hands-on experience” in the initial stages of operation, said Col. Clinton Crosier, 50th Operations Group commander at Schriever. In about 90 days, after a series of tests and maneuvers to position the satellite into its final geosynchronous orbit, Boeing will turn over control authority to 3rd SOPS.
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.