Soldiers Home from War

Three hundred airmen at Moody Air Force Base are back on Georgia soil after serving a six-month deployment in Afghanistan. The airmen are assigned to the 75th Fighter Squadron and the 75th Aircraft Maintenance Unit. They returned Monday to major homecoming celebration at the military base in Valdosta. The Air Force says the unit's mission involved flying the new aircraft in combat missions over Afghanistan.

(Associated Press)

Georgia new home to fighter jets

A-10 Thunderbolt. (Strategic Air Command)

Three A-10 Thunderbolt attack jets are now home in Georgia. The A-10s arrived Wednesday at Moody Air Force Base near Valdosta. It’s part of the relocation of the 23rd Fighter Group to Moody from Pope Air Force Base in North Carolina. Pope is set to become an Army air field run by an Air Force unit.

Chambliss proposes military housing bill

Today Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss introduce legislation that could impact a military housing project in Georgia. The bill enhances oversight of military housing privatization projects. Chambliss says because the U.S. Air Force failed to oversee a contractor building homes at Moody Air Force Base near Valdosta, only two of 400 homes are finished and millions of dollars have been wasted. Chambliss says bases around the county have similar problems.

Chambliss attacks Air Force over housing problems

Prompted by a military housing scandal in Georgia Georgia Senator Saxby Chambliss is joining the fight to fix the problem. Chambliss is among eight U.S. Senators who have sent a letter to the Air Force.

The letter criticizes the Air Force’s oversight of housing privatization projects at bases in Arkansas, Florida, Massachusetts, and at Moody Air Force base near Valdosta. The letter says poor management has led the projects to be delayed or halted for moths at time, and that they are tens of millions of dollars over budget. The Senators say local communities are “traumatized” and that military families deserve better.

At Georgia’s Moody Air Force Base, 400 homes were supposed to be built for military families, but only two are completed. Chambliss is set to co-sponsor legislation this week to enhance oversight of how the military picks private contractors for housing projects.

Sen. Chambliss takes aim at A.F.B. construction delays

Georgia's Saxby Chambliss will join another U.S. Senator next month to introduce legislation aimed at construction delays plaguing several military bases. They want to hold companies with construction contracts more accountable.

A firm out of Connecticut, partnered with one from Louisiana, is behind in private housing construction at four bases, including Moody Air Force Base near Valdosta. Of the thousands of homes scheduled to be built at the four bases, only a fraction have been completed.

The managing director for the Carabetta Enterprises and Shaw Group partnership says a variety of factors, such as Florida hurricanes, have contributed to delays. The Air Force is looking for another developer.

Fed investigate project at Moody AFB

The federal government is investigating a housing construction project at Moody Air Force Base in Valdosta that is behind schedule and millions of dollars over-budget. The ‘Magnolia Grove’ project was supposed to provide about 600 new or renovated homes for an additional 1-thousand troops on the way to the base in 2009. Of the 600 homes planned, only 2 have been built, and work is on hold. The contractor, American Eagle Communities, is 25-million dollars over budget. The legislation for the investigation was sponsored by U.S. Senators Saxby Chambliss and Johnny Isakson.

Moody AFB retires 479th

Today a flying training group started during World War II was deactivated. The 479th Flying Training Group came to an end at a ceremony at Moody Air Force Base near Valdosta. The 479th was activated in 1943 by the Army Air Corps to provide support for daylight bombing of German targets. The group went through various changes over the years before being re-designated the Flying Training Group at Moody.