Two B-2 pilots with the Missouri Air National Guard’s 131st Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo., joined the elite group of pilots who have accumulated 1,000 flying hours in the cockpit of the stealth bomber. Both airmen, Lt. Col. Dave Thompson and Maj. Geoffrey Billingsley, reached the milestone in June in separate training sorties, according to a Whiteman release. Thompson, who commands the 110th Bomb Squadron, hit the flight-hour mark on June 27. Billingsley reached 1,000 flight hours on June 13. “This is a unique aircraft with a unique mission,” he said. “I’m privileged to fly it.” Members of the 131st BW operate and maintain the Air Force’s B-2s alongside the airmen of Whiteman’s Active Duty 509th BW. Of the 31 B-2 pilots who have amassed 1,000 flight hours, 13 still fly the airplane. Seven of those 13 are Air Guardsmen with the 131st BW, according to Whiteman’s June 28 release. (Whiteman report by SMSgt. Mary-Dale Amison)
Amid NATO’s continued push to ramp up air defenses in Eastern Europe, Secretary of the Air Force Frank Kendall swung by seven allied countries to boost relations last week, including those on Russia’s and Ukraine’s doorstep.