Officials at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., inactivated Air Force Reserve Command’s 45th Fighter Squadron, passing it’s A-10 pilot training duties to AFRC’s 47th Fighter Squadron, which was transplanted from Barksdale AFB, La. “During the last five-plus years, members of the 45th FS have trained A-10 mission-ready pilots alongside our regular Air Force team,” said Col. John Russell, 924th Fighter Group commander, at the March 8 ceremony. Davis-Monthan inactivated the Active Duty 358th Fighter Squadron last month and rolled it together with the Reserve 45th FS as the 47th FS, according to a release. The reformed 47th FS is now the Air Force’s only “combined classic and Active association,” according to a separate March 20 release. Under the arrangement, AFRC pilots will fly with the 347th FS—one of D-M’s two remaining Active Duty A-10 training squadrons, while Active Duty pilots will in return fly with the Reserve unit.
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.