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Dakota’s governor, Congressional delegation, and other state officials met with top Air Force leaders on Sept. 17 to press the case for the Air National Guard’s 119th Wing to get more aircraft—additional new cargo planes and more advanced remotely piloted vehicles. The Happy Hooligans, which shed their F-16s two years ago, are on tap to receive four C-27J Spartans, but the state really wants the Air Force to agree to eight. The Air Force, Army, and National Guard have yet to release their plan for the reduced Joint Cargo Aircraft buy—the Pentagon cut the number from 78 to only 38 in the Fiscal 2010 budget. Gov. John Hoeven said in a Sept. 17 statement, “The Hooligans are ready and willing to take on larger missions, and would welcome additional aircraft to do so.“ Continue
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.