The End of an Era, Last Doolittle Raider Dies; USAF Still Not Accepting New KC-46s; Hyten Tapped for

[nitpicker]

http://www.airforcemag.com/DRArchive/Pages/2019/April%202019/April%2010%202019/The-End-of-an-Era-Last-Doolittle-Raider-Dies-USAF-Still-Not-Accepting-New-KC-46s-Hyten-Tapped-for-VCJCS.aspx

The End of an Era, Last Doolittle Raider Dies; USAF Still Not Accepting New KC-46s; Hyten Tapped for VCJCS

—Rachel S. Cohen, Brian Everstine, and Amy McCullough​ 4/10/2019

Final Doolittle Raider, Dick Cole, Dies at 103
Retired Lt. Col. Dick Cole, who served as co-pilot to Jimmy Doolittle on the first US offensive action against Japan in WWII, and who was the last surviving member of the Doolittle Raiders, died in Comfort, Texas, on April 9, at the age of 103. During the mission, 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers launched with 80 men aboard from the deck of the USS Hornet on April 18, 1942, toward targets in Japan. Cole, then a 26-year old lieutenant who had joined the Army before the war, was hand-picked by Doolittle, who recruited only expert, mature aviators for the mission. Cole survived the raid and served as an Air Commando in the China-Burma-India theater, flying cargo planes over “The Hump”—the Himalaya mountains. In retirement, he farmed in Texas, but was a constant presence at airshows and WWII commemorations. In 2016, the next Air Force bomber—the B-21 “Raider” was named in honor of the Doolittle flyers. Cole helped unveil the name of the aircraft at AFA’s Air, Space & Cyber symposium in Washington, D.C. Read the full story by John A. Tirpak.

KC-46 Deliveries to Resume Within Weeks
The Air Force will begin receiving KC-46s again within weeks, following a second round of inspections after more foreign object debris was discovered in the aircraft—though the service now needs to send the aircraft it has already received back to Boeing for more checks.

[Sherman A1]

1. RIP

Dick Cole. Those guys were amazing.

[gademocrat7]

2. RIP, Lt.Col. Dick Cole