Air Force Reserve Command’s 920th Rescue Wing and the active duty 45th Space Wing, both headquartered at Patrick AFB, Fla., officially merged their two command posts into a single joint operation on May 20. The union, for which officials from both organizations began preparing in October 2007, will serve as a test case for combined active duty-Reserve command post operations across the service. “Personnel and equipment are expensive to maintain,” said Lt. Col. Rex Meyers, 920th RW command post superintendent. “Ultimately, it’s more advantageous to the government to create one command post at each installation.” (Patrick report by SSgt. Heather Kelly)
Lt. Gen. Dan Caine, nominee to be chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Senate Armed Services Committee that the Defense Department needs to upgrade its electronic warfare capability and its EW training ranges; just as his predecessor said at his own confirmation hearing.