The 2013 firefighting season was one of the busiest in more than four decades, said Col. Al Wimmer, director of operations for Continental US NORAD Region-1st Air Force, during an after action review held at Tyndall AFB, Fla. “This meeting is really needed because this is such an important mission,” said Lt. Gen. William Etter, region commander, in a base release. During the three-day meeting, which began Dec. 3, participants studied and discussed lessons learned from the recent season, including how the Air Force uses incident awareness and assessment assets and AFNORTH oeprational order, and training requirements, states the Dec. 18 release. This “review is a vital step in closing out the season for MAFFS,” said Wimmer.
Expanded production of the B-21 bomber can be accomplished at Northrop Grumman's existing Palmdale, Calif., facilities, the Air Force said. It also said test aircraft will be so simular to the production version that early examples could be used in combat if called for.