For the first tim
e in more than four years, B-52H bombers and their crews from the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot AFB, N.D., and 2nd BW at Barksdale AFB, La., came together Oct. 28 at Minot to participate in a combined, rapid-launch training drill. A total of seven B-52s from the wings gathered for the event, which occurred under the auspices of Minot’s Prairie Vigilance 09-2, a week-long series of aircraft generation/employment and aircrew testing/certification exercises to validate the 5th BW’s ability to execute its emergency war order mission. “We were able to mass rapid and decisive firepower,” Lt. Col. Rolando Diaz Jr., chief of 5th BW plans and programs, said of the joint drill. He continued, “Our combined forces successfully integrated to perform this important mission. It was definitely a team success.” (Minot report by Maj. Elizabeth Ortiz)
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.