The A
ir Force’s RC-135 Rivet Joint platforms continue to provide a constant presence in Southwest Asia—earlier this year they racked up 6,000 days—and fulfill both national and tactical mission requirements, reports Capt. West Ticer. Among its capabilities, Rivet Joint mission crew members can “provide threat tippers via a classified chat capability, which enables us to cross-cue with other intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance and combat platforms who might be in the area … to give our warfighters a more complete picture,” said Lt. Col. Karen Bridges, commander of the 763rd Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron.
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.