VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. — An unarmed Minuteman 3 intercontinental ballistic missile was launched from California early Tuesday on a test flight to a target in the Pacific Ocean, the Air Force Global Strike Command said.
The missile blasted off at 12:21 a.m. from Vandenberg Air Force Base and its three reentry vehicles traveled 4,200 miles (6,759 kilometers) to the Kwajalein Atoll in the Marshall Islands as part of a developmental test, the command said from Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana.
Test launches are essential to sustaining the aging Minuteman 3 nuclear weapon system, Col. Omar Colbert, the 576th Flight Test Squadron commander, said in a statement.
The Air Force said test launches are not a reaction to world events.
The launch calendars are developed three to five years in advance, and planning for individual launches takes six months to a year.
Military officials won’t answer whether they’ve found the problem on any planes.
Residents said the Little League tournament flyover seemed louder and lower than usual and shook their homes.
Tech. Sgt. David Wayne Dezwaan Jr., is accused of several violations of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
The trio have a September court date.
The Air Force Reserve is functioning like the "New England Patriots on a high school team’s budget,” Lt. Gen. John Healy said.
The new aid includes additional rockets for the High Mobility Artillery Rocket Systems, or HIMARS, as well as other ammunition and equipment.
“You are using the military to create fear in the minds of the people," Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Mark Milley wrote in a never-sent resignation letter.
China said it is extending threatening military exercises surrounding Taiwan that have disrupted shipping and air traffic and substantially raised concerns.
Sharon Harmon attained the rank of colonel at a promotion ceremony Saturday at Camp Fogarty.
Army Pfc. David Owens will be buried at Arlington National Cemetery at a date to be determined, according to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
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