Radar Sweep
Study Indicates Higher Rate of Rare Childhood Brain Cancer at New Mexico Air Force Base
A new Air Force study has found what appears to be a higher rate of a rare brain and spinal cord cancer among children of service members stationed at Cannon Air Force Base in New Mexico. The nearly two-year study examined pediatric brain cancers at the base after concerns about a possible cancer cluster were raised in 2022.
Defying Niger Exit Order Leaves US Troops Vulnerable, Whistleblower Says
A senior U.S. Air Force leader deployed in Niger is raising an alarm over the Biden administration’s reluctance to heed an eviction notice from the military junta that last year overthrew the West African nation’s democratically elected government.
HASC Chair Backs Air Force Plan on Space Guard Units
House Armed Services Chairman Mike Rogers is backing an Air Force proposal to transfer Guard units tasked with space missions into the Space Force, warning that the Guard advocates should not “waste their time” lobbying against the move, he told Breaking Defense on April 17. “I’m fully supportive,” of the proposal, said Rogers, R-Ala., following a HASC hearing on the Air Force and Space Force fiscal year 2025 budget requests.
US Air Force Still Not Flying V-22s, But US Navy, USMC Are
While the U.S. Marine Corps and U.S. Navy are actively flying and deploying their Bell Boeing V-22 tiltrotors following the three-month grounding that was lifted in March, the U.S. Air Force has not yet returned the aircraft to flight.
WATCH: Aerospace Nation: Lt. Gen. David A. Harris
Lt. Gen. David A. Harris, deputy chief of staff, Air Force Futures, shared his thoughts on developing Air Force strategy and concepts, delivering an integrated force design, conducting strategic assessments of the operating environment through wargames and workshops, and achieving timely and effective operational capabilities required for tomorrow’s Airmen to fight and win.
Supreme Court Sides with Army Veteran in Overlapping GI Bill Benefits Case
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled April 16 that veterans with overlapping military service periods can use the benefits they earned from two different GI bills. Lawyers representing the Army veteran who brought the case, James Rudisill, said the decision could impact as many as 1.7 million veterans and allow them to receive education benefits from the Department of Veterans Affairs.
European Air Forces to Train Across Indo-Pacific This Summer
Four European countries will deploy air forces to the Indo-Pacific this summer to train alongside the United States and other nations. Pacific Skies, a series of exercises between mid-June and mid-August, will involve 1,800 airmen and aircraft from Germany, France, Spain, and the United Kingdom, Germany’s air force said in a news release April 16.
CYBERCOM Establishes AI Task Force
U.S. Cyber Command has created an artificial intelligence task force to help it identify technologies that have great promise for full adoption. The effort is born out of an AI roadmap that the command developed, which was mandated by Congress as part of the fiscal 2023 annual defense policy bill.
Last Surviving Tuskegee Airman Visits Academy for Ceremony
The lone surviving documented original Tuskegee Airman returned with other family members of the famed African American aviators to help rededicate the statue that honors their legacy. Retired U.S. Air Force Col. James H. Harvey and Peggy Shivers, the wife of the late Tuskegee Airman Lt. Col. Clarence Shivers, attended the U.S. Air Force Academy’s Tuskegee Airmen statue rededication and wreath-laying ceremony in the Honor Court April 12.