Officials at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, say they have drilled 302 airmen in basic combat skills, preparing them for deployment in Air and Space Expeditionary Forces (AEF) 9 and 10. The Air Force now expects all airmen deploying in AEFs to get rudimentary—about 19 hours worth—of training in convoy operations, rifle fighting, and dealing with improvised explosive devices.
The rate of building B-21 bombers would speed up if the fiscal 2026 defense budget passes. But it remains unclear how much capacity would be added, and whether the Air Force would simply build the bombers faster, or buy more.