The head of the Massachusetts National Guard, Brig. Gen. Oliver Mason Jr. has confirmed that the Air National Guard unit at Otis ANGB, Mass., will transition from fighter aircraft to intelligence processing. Reports had been circulating for months that Otis would be the site for one of USAF’s new distributed ground stations. The ANG’s 102nd Fighter Wing will lose its F-15s under BRAC 2005 and transition to its new mission—and be renamed—sometime in 2008.
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.