The Air Force on Oct. 1 activated the Air Force Civil Engineer Center at JBSA-Lackland, Tex., to oversee the service’s civil engineering functions worldwide. The new field operating agency will manage more than 1,600 personnel. Its creation reflects the merger of the Air Force Center for Engineering and the Environment and the Air Force Real Property Agency, both headquartered in San Antonio, with the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency at Tyndall AFB, Fla. The new center will execute CE activities in construction, energy, environment, housing, operations, planning, real property, and readiness and emergency management, states the release. “This is the debut of the next generation of installation and expeditionary support capabilities,” said Air Force Civil Engineer Maj. Gen. Timothy Byers. With this reorganization, “civil engineers will take a more focused and centralized approach to installation management that prioritizes requirements across the service, aligns our scarce resources with the Air Force’s highest priorities, and minimizes the risk to airmen and the mission,” he added. (Lackland report by Michael Briggs)
The 301st Fighter Wing in Fort Worth, Texas, became the first standalone Reserve unit in the Air Force to get its own F-35s, welcoming the first fighter Nov. 5.