Oklahoma lawmakers are warning Air Pressure officers in opposition to making an attempt to slash the E-3 Sentry fleet that has lengthy been primarily based at Tinker Air Pressure Base, until the timetable is accelerated for substitute plane.
Oklahoma Sen. Jim Inhofe, the highest Republican on the Senate Armed Providers Committee and extremely protecting of Oklahoma army bases, praised the Air Pressure for taking steps final week to purchase higher planes for the Airborne Warning and Management System (AWACS) fleet however stated they should be delivered sooner.
“I’m in communication with the Secretary and Chief of Employees of the Air Pressure and I’m assured we’ll find yourself at a spot that may get this crucial E-7 fielded years earlier,” Inhofe stated in an announcement to The Oklahoman.
“I recognize their determination to pursue a sole-source method for E-7, and I’ll proceed working with them to maneuver sooner. Backside line — I can’t permit the Air Pressure to divest of Tinker’s E-3s with out having this crucial functionality hole addressed.”
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Rep. Stephanie Bice, R-Oklahoma Metropolis, who pressed high Air Pressure officers at a Home Armed Providers Committee listening to final week on the timetable for Boeing’s E-7, echoed Inhofe’s remarks.
“Whereas I used to be happy by the Air Pressure’s determination this week to carry the E-7 Wedgetail into the fleet, I stay involved by the president’s funds proposal to chop half of the E-3 Sentry plane at Tinker AFB in Fiscal 12 months 2023 — a full 4 years earlier than the primary E-7 is scheduled to come back on-line in Fiscal 12 months 2027,” she instructed the Oklahoman.
“At a time once we are seeing elevated aggression and army manufacturing from our near-peer adversaries like China, this four-year hole in fight functionality is extraordinarily worrying.”
Bice stated she would work with different members on the committee “to harmonize the divestiture and procurement timelines of those two plane in a method that prioritizes our nationwide safety and protects the extremely expert workforce at Tinker AFB.”
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Rep. Tom Cole, R-Moore, whose district contains Tinker and who sits on the subcommittee that funds the Protection Division, stated, “As tensions around the globe proceed to construct, I’m dissatisfied by the Air Pressure’s determination to scale back the variety of important E-3 plane with out well timed replacements. This isn’t the appropriate determination at a time when we have to preserve our army robust to shortly reply to threats in opposition to america and our allies. When the Obama Administration tried to scale back the scale of AWACS fleets in 2014, Congress stopped that from taking place. It’s my hope that we are going to do the identical this 12 months.”
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The Air Pressure really helpful in its newest funds that 15 of the 27 E-3s at Tinker be divested. The Air Pressure has a complete of 31 E-3s, with two every in Alaska and Japan that may stay lively.
Tinker acquired the primary E-3 Sentry planes, identified for his or her distinctive rotating radar dome, in 1977. They’re extremely modified Boeing 707 passenger planes able to “monitoring and controlling plane from floor stage to the stratosphere in a 250 mile circle,” in keeping with the Air Pressure.
The planes additionally act “as half of a bigger Command and Management Battle Administration factor within the Theater Air Management System by passing data to different gamers reminiscent of fighters for intercepts and floor primarily based property for monitoring and interrogation.”
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Tinker hosts coaching and flight operations, whereas the large restore depot on the base maintains and upgrades the planes.
It isn’t clear what number of personnel on the Oklahoma County base can be affected by the Air Pressure advice.
“We now have 27 E-3 Sentry plane and roughly 4,000 personnel assigned to the 552 Air Management Wing at Tinker AFB,” Tinker spokesperson Ron Mullan stated final week.
“The affect of the E-3 divestment on the personnel accountable for executing the AWACS mission is being actively thought of by the Air Pressure and we’re dedicated to protecting our workforce and native companions knowledgeable all through the method.”
Ageing planes
Inhofe and Cole headed off an try in 2014 to chop E-3s at Tinker, as Inhofe secured authorization for the total fleet within the annual protection invoice and Cole bought the funding.
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However the getting old planes remained on the Air Pressure hit record.
Chatting with reporters on the Nationwide Press Membership not too long ago, Air Pressure Secretary Frank Kendall III described intimately the modernization wanted to arrange for battle with China within the Pacific.
“We now have to get battle administration command and management proper,” Kendall stated. “You’ve heard quite a bit lately about Joint All-Area Command and Management. That work must be targeted on the modernization that we actually want, that might be most cost-effective. And as I’ve realized after a number of months on the job, we’ve a must recapitalize and modernize our structure for C3 (command, management and communications) in any occasion.
“However the first step is to essentially outline what that work is and what essentially the most environment friendly path ahead is. That C3 battle administration structure relies upon at first on the acquisition of targets by sensors, ideally space-based however typically air-based or with different means. Our current techniques (counting on) AWACS and J-Stars (the E-8C Joint Surveillance Goal Assault Radar System) are getting old and will not be as succesful or as survivable as we would like them to be.”
Kendall stated the Air Pressure would favor to do the job on a world foundation, from house.
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“Within the interim, due to the age of AWACS particularly, we’re shifting ahead with a extra momentary substitute for AWACS that may fulfill some mission wants with larger functionality till we are able to transition to house.”
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Inhofe has not argued about the necessity to exchange the E-3s; the aircraft should fly too near battle, making it weak, however he has been ready for the Air Pressure to determine whether or not to hunt bids from contractors or simply choose a sole supply contractor.
Final week, the Air Pressure introduced that it could exchange a portion of the E-3s with the E-7 Wedgetail, one other Boeing aircraft with a system designed by the Australian army.
“The Boeing E-7 is the one platform able to assembly the necessities for the Protection Division’s tactical battle administration, command and management and shifting goal indication capabilities inside the timeframe wanted to exchange the getting old E-3,” the Air Pressure stated.
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The plan requires spending $227 million beginning within the subsequent fiscal 12 months, with a “speedy prototype plane” deliberate for supply in Fiscal 12 months 2027.
On the Home Armed Providers Committee listening to final week, Bice stated she was happy to see the E-7 announcement however involved that the E-3s can be divested “earlier than we also have a contract signed to maneuver ahead on the E-7s.”
Kendall stated, “I wish to speed up supply if doable. I’m unsure at this level if that’s doable. We now have about $225 million if I keep in mind accurately within the funds for R&D in (Fiscal 12 months 2023) for the E-7. We’re going to need to make some adjustments to the plane to fulfill our necessities. I’m exploring choices to attempt to speed up these deliveries. I’d like to try this if we are able to. I’m simply unsure it’s doable proper now.”
St. Isidore, which aims to serve 1,500 students online within Oklahoma by its fifth year of operation, has the backing of Republican Gov. Kevin Stitt as well as former state schools superintendent Ryan Walters. Proponents of the plan say the online school would be a boon for rural Oklahoma students who do not have a Catholic school in their area.
The Oklahoma Statewide Virtual Charter School Board had in April 2023 voted unanimously to disapprove the school’s application, later in June approving the contract 3-2 after revisions to the application.
Brett Farley, executive director of the Oklahoma Catholic Conference and a board member for the proposed school, told CNA following the first disapproval that the plan’s backers were “not discouraged at all.” He said at the time he believed Oklahoma’s government presents a “favorable environment to negotiate protections for religious liberty” to ensure that the school’s Catholic identity is not threatened by the acceptance of public funds.
The Archdiocese of Oklahoma City had pushed for approval of the school after former Oklahoma Attorney General John O’Connor issued an advisory opinion in late 2022 stating that because of the Supreme Court’s recent rulings, Oklahoma’s provisions banning religious schools from accessing public funds as charters could be unconstitutional. He cautioned that this legal change would not mean that religious schools using public funds “can necessarily operate however they want.” Drummond withdrew his predecessor’s opinion on the matter.
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In a dissent to the Oklahoma Supreme Court’s majority opinion, Justice Dana Kuehn argued that St. Isidore’s would be a partner of the state, not a government entity, and thus the state denying funds to St. Isidore’s because it is religious would violate the free exercise clause of the First Amendment.
“St. Isidore would not be replacing any secular school, only adding to the options available, which is the heart of the Charter Schools Act,” she wrote.
“The state is not required to partner with private entities to provide common education. But if it does, it cannot close the door to an otherwise qualified entity simply because it is sectarian … Contracting with a private entity that has religious affiliations, by itself, does not establish a state religion, nor does it favor one religion over another.”
Jonah McKeown is a staff writer and podcast producer for Catholic News Agency. He holds a Master’s Degree from the University of Missouri School of Journalism and has worked as a writer, as a producer for public radio, and as a videographer. He is based in St. Louis.
SALLISAW, Okla. (AP) — An Alabama man accused in a string of killings in Oklahoma and Alabama has pleaded not guilty to two Oklahoma killings.
The pleas were entered on behalf of Stacy Lee Drake, 50, during a Monday court appearance, KHBS-TV reported. He faces two charges of enhanced murder.
Drake has has until Aug. 7 in the Oklahoma case to find a lawyer to represent him, or a public defender will be appointed for him, KHBS reported.
Relatives and friends of the victims packed the courtroom where Drake appeared.
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Drake was apprehended Thursday in a wooded area in the Morrilton, Arkansas, area after a search that spanned multiple southern states, Arkansas State Police said.
Drake is accused of homicides and carjackings in Oklahoma, Arkansas State Police said. They said he’s also wanted on other felony warrants from multiple jurisdictions on charges including aggravated robbery, carjacking and murder.
A man and a woman were found dead inside a business near Gans, Oklahoma, near the Arkansas state line, the Oklahoma State Bureau of Investigation said. Both had injuries consistent with homicide, and the agency said Drake is a person of interest.
In Alabama, Drake is accused of killing Russell Andrews on May 14, according to the Tuscaloosa County Sheriff’s Office. Capt. Jack Kennedy of the Tuscaloosa Violent Crimes Unit said there is a warrant for Drake on a murder charge. News outlets reported that Andrews, 62, was found dead inside the Alcoholic Anonymous building.
Tuscaloosa authorities said Andrews’ vehicle was stolen when he was killed and hours later was picked up by cameras travelling along an interstate near the Arkansas-Oklahoma border.
OKLAHOMA CITY (CBS) — Alex Caruso has returned to where his pro career began, in Oklahoma City, after being traded by the Bulls to the Thunder for Josh Giddey last week.
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Caruso was waived by the Thunder in 2016, and played for the NBA’s G-League’s Oklahoma City Blue. Now, he will join a young Thunder squad after a straight-up exchange between the Thunder and the Bulls.
But the defensive specialist’s time in Chicago won’t be forgotten.
“I loved playing my three years with Billy [Donovan]. He’s a great coach, and me and him had some really good conversations,” Caruso said. “Great memories—I’m not going to lose those relationships even though I’ve left Chicago. You know, I’ve made great relationships over three years with people in eth city, Chicago itself, and obviously, teammates and coaches.”
Caruso, an All-Defense guard who has spent the past three seasons with the Bulls after winning the 2020 championship with the Los Angeles Lakers, had been the subject of trade rumors for several years. The Bulls resisted offers built around draft picks throughout his entire time in Chicago.
But in Giddey, the Bulls land a former No. 6 overall pick who was in desperate need of a fresh start.
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Caruso is one of the best defensive perimeter players in all of basketball. He is capable of guarding
