With the growing demand for battlefield airmen—from tactical air controllers to pararescuers—Gen. William Looney, head of Air Education and Training Command, said AETC plans to stand up a common schoolhouse by Fiscal 2011. The first class, which will develop basic military skills and common battlefield airmen skills, will comprise combat weathermen, explosive ordnance technicians, and tactical air controllers. The size of the program will expand incrementally, pending the completion of construction projects, and will go from 1,700 airmen in 2011 to 7,000 in 2012. Eventually, around 14,000 airmen will hone their skills at the center. The Air Force currently is surveying three potential sites: Arnold AFB, Tenn., Barksdale AFB, La., and Moody AFB, Ga.
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.