The Air Force plans to open a deployment transition center in July at Ramstein AB, Germany, to help airmen returning to home station after a combat tour, Gen. Howie Chandler, Air Force vice chief of staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee Tuesday. This is one of the service’s numerous initiatives to bolster the resiliency and coping skills of airmen exposed to traumatic situations in combat and to put them in touch with the service’s support mechanisms. The DTC will help facilitate a graduated transition home and reintegration with family through two days of training. Chandler said the center will initially focus on those who faced significant risk of combat-related death during their deployment: convoy operators, explosive ordinance disposal personnel, and security forces personnel. As the center matures, these services may be extended to additional airmen, he said. (Chandler prepared statement)
The Space Development Agency says it’s on track to issue its next batch of missile warning and tracking satellite contracts this month after those awards were delayed by the Pentagon’s decision to divert funds from the agency to pay troops during this fall’s prolonged government shutdown.
