Last week the Air Force activated the 911th Air Refueling Squadron at Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., where the new unit’s active duty airmen will share operation and maintenance of KC-135 aircraft “owned” by Air Force Reserve Command’s 916th Air Refueling Wing. The 911th ARS is the first active associate tanker unit in the service’s Total Force Integration plan. Last summer, the service shut down the 911th ARS at its former home at Grand Forks AFB, N.D., which has to give up its KC-135s under BRAC 2005.
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.