The U.S. Air Force’s Air Combat Command has restarted flying operations of training aircraft after civilian defense employees returned to work, Defense News reported Tuesday.Aaron Mehta writes the command also intends to maintain the mission readiness of combat-coded aircraft as those units remain grounded.
“All formal training units, which spin up pilots who are new to a particular aircraft, were able to resume operations once civilians returned to duty, but we still have combat-coded units that are stood down,†Lt. Col. Tadd Sholtis, ACC spokesman, told Defense News.
Nine of the ACC’s combat-coded squadrons and 26 training and test units stopped flying when the government shut down.
Nearly 7,500 ACC employees returned to work Oct. 7.
