BRAC commissioners voted Friday to preserve Ellsworth AFB, S.D. The big B-1B bomber base now will stay open, as will a second B-1B facility, Dyess AFB, Tex. This decision essentially destroys USAF’s plans for consolidating all of the Air Force’s Lancers in a single location—Dyess. Commissioners said closing the base would not save any money, contrary to DOD assertions. They also believe that consolidation of the B-1 fleet would hurt mission readiness. The two bases are both “very, very good,” said commissioner Harold Gehman, a retired Navy admiral.
Air Force Gen. Jacqueline D. Van Ovost—a trailblazer and one of the first 10 women to reach a four-star rank across the U.S. military—retired and passed control of U.S. Transportation Command to Air Force Gen. Randall Reed on Oct. 4, finishing an eventful tenure at TRANSCOM.