Some 43 airmen of the 939th Air Refueling Wing at Portland, Ore., are the first to complete the Air Force’s readiness safeguard command and control functional training exercise. The five-day course, which took place at Volk Field Combat Readiness Training Center in Wisconsin, provides training in problem solving for personnel manning a unit’s survival and recovery center, putting them “in a realistic environment,” said Lt. Col. Jonathan McDaniel, the program’s director.
B-52 Stratofortress bombers marked a new first in Operation Epic Fury when some of the BUFFs flew over Iran carrying JDAM-guided gravity bombs, according to people familiar with the matter. The development signals a weakening of Iranian air defenses and a new use for the venerable bomber in the nearly…