Master Sgt. John Grimesey, the flight chief of the 21st Special Tactics Squadron at Pope Field, N.C., on Aug. 14 received the military's Silver Star medal for his actions during a 2013 firefight in Afghanistan. He saved the life of one Soldier and killed more than 30 enemy fighters. Grimesey initially received the Bronze Star medal for the battle, but the Air Force later upgraded the award as part of a service review of valor medals. “I think about it every day. I even dream about it,” Grimesey said of the battle, according to an Aug. 14 Air Force release.

The Air Force will put its F-15EX schoolhouse in the location where the Air National Guard now trains F-15C/D Eagle pilots, at Kingsley Field, Ore., the service announced Aug. 14. Oregon will also receive the first operational F-15EXs, but other Guard units giving up aging F-15C/Ds will either get F-15EX or F-35As, USAF said. So far, the service hasn't announced any Active-duty units that will receive the updated Eagles.

Pentagon researchers this week will pit man against machine in an aerial dogfighting tournament to see if artificial intelligence algorithms can outsmart each other and a human F-16 pilot in combat. The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency’s AlphaDogfight Trials will host eight teams that have developed advanced AI that can simulate up-close combat maneuvers in flight. The program bolsters the technology needed for DARPA’s Air Combat Evolution (ACE) program, which wants to automate air-to-air combat and build human trust in machines that can act on their own. “Autonomy in air combat is certainly not new,” ACE Program Manager Col. Daniel Javorsek said in a recent interview. “The fact that it can be performed at human levels is something that's a bit more new.”

The U.S. Air Force Academy must set a better example for students to discourage sexual assault, harassment, and other forms of discrimination on campus, the school's outgoing Superintendent Lt. Gen. Jay B. Silveria said on Aug. 17. His remarks come at the beginning of the first school year after protests and demonstrations calling for an end to systemic racism and police brutality roiled America earlier this summer. The discussion also follows a January 2020 Pentagon report that showed 40 sexual assaults were reported at USAFA during the 2018-2019 school year, up from 23 the year before.

The Puerto Rico Air National Guard recently received two of its own Disaster Relief Beddown Systems, the 156th Wing announced in an Aug. 14 release. The systems—which allow their owners to erect tent cities to house first responders when responding to emergencies, such as the earthquakes that plagued the territory beginning in December—were reallocated to the PRANG from the North Carolina ANG’s 145th Airlift Wing and the North Dakota ANG’s 119th Wing, according to the release. PRANG previously had to depend on other states to lend out one of 20 systems that were scattered across the United States, which made for expensive asks when natural disasters hit Puerto Rico—since C-130s are normally required to haul the systems between locations—and slowed the PRANG's response time to disasters.

On March 23, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies will host a virtual Nuclear Deterrence Series event featuring Scowcroft Group Principal Frank Miller. At a time when nuclear modernization programs are accelerating around the world, proposals to recapitalize the U.S. nuclear arsenal are at the forefront of debates over defense spending. Miller will share his insights into the prospects for U.S. nuclear modernization programs and the value of nuclear deterrence in today's competitive security environment. The think tank will post event video on its website and YouTube page after the live event.