Active Fighter Unit Takes up Noble Eagle Duty: Because members of the Louisiana Air National Guard’s 159th Fighter Wing, based at New Orleans airport, have been dealing with the damage caused by Hurricane Katrina in their personal lives and to their Guard facilities, USAF tapped the active duty 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB, Fla., to begin flying Operation Noble Eagle missions normally handled by the ANG unit. The 33rd’s 60th Fighter Squadron will be covering Noble Eagle for “an undetermined amount of time,” said USAF officials.
Air Force Secretary Frank Kendall doesn’t see great value in trying to break the Sentinel ICBM program off as a separate budget item the way the Navy has with its ballistic-missile submarine program, saying such a move wouldn’t create any new money for the Air Force to spend on other…