Air 
National Guard KC-135 tanker units in six states recently swapped aircraft as part of a maintenance plan implemented by the Air Guard and Air Mobility Command, according to Air Guard officials. This initiative has two main goals: to arrange programmed depot maintenance schedules better so that one base isn’t short of airplanes for an extended period, and to prevent corrosion of the tankers by rotating them to other geographic regions, according to a Dec. 7 release from McGhee Tyson ANGB, Tenn., near Knoxville. Under the swap, the 134th Air Refueling Wing at McGhee Tyson and KC-135 units in Birmingham, Ala.; Phoenix, Ariz.; Topeka, Kan.; JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J.; and Milwaukee, Wisc., rotated one, and, in a few cases, two of their tankers to other units in this group. At the new home, maintainers repaint each KC-135’s nose art, localize its tail flash, and inspect it before it begins flying again, according to the release. (McGhee Tyson report by 2nd Lt. Nathan Wallin)
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.