Adm. Michael Mullen says the decision to terminate the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter’s alternate engine program—a decision that prompted Congress to hold special hearings this week—was a joint decision between the Navy and the Air Force. (OK, but according to Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne, the idea originated with the Navy.) Mullen believes that technological advances obviate the need for an alternate engine source. He maintains that the reliability and economics added up to a savings of approximately $2 billion—the amount awarded to the alternate team of GE-Rolls Royce.
Clearing jungle and laying asphalt in tropical heat may not sound like fun to most people, but it’s a way of life for Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers (RED HORSE) Airmen, who have spent the past year or so restoring World War II-era airfields on the Pacific…