The answer is, maybe. The 2008 defense policy bill calls for a report by April 1 on the search and rescue capabilities available in the northwestern United States. Sen. Maria Cantwell and Sen. Patty Murray—Democrats from Washington—have been trying to prevent the deactivation of the 36th Rescue Flight at Fairchild AFB, Wash. The unit’s primary mission is to support the USAF Survival School at Fairchild in training thousands of aircrew members each year, but it often gets tapped to perform area rescues. Earlier this month, for instance, airmen of the 36th rescued a hiker stranded by an avalanche that killed two fellow hikers in the Snoqualmie Pass.
A legislative standoff has led to a lapse in a $4.26 billion small business innovation contracting program widely used by the Air Force and could spell the end of it entirely, industry sources warned Air & Space Forces Magazine.
