The Air Force last month honored the history office of the 3rd Wing at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, as winner of the John R. Burton Award, the biennial honor that recognizes the best multiperson history office across the service. “It means a lot to get recognition like this,” said Doug Beckstead, one of the office historians. The 3rd Wing historians track and write annual histories not only for the wing, but also 11th Air Force, Alaskan NORAD Region, Alaskan Command, and Joint Task Force-Alaska. One of these reports is the “equivalent to writing a Ph.D. dissertation every year,” said Joe Orr of the office. (Elmendorf June 11 report by A1C Christopher Gross)
The Air Force is launching an effort to develop a new stand-off missile with a range of 1,000 nautical miles, or 1,150 miles, that would eventually be used for both air-to-air and air-to-surface missions.