Colonel Rex T. Barber passed away at his home in Terrebonne, Oregon, on Thursday, July 26, 2001. He was 84.

Barber, a young Air Corps 2nd Lt., went to the South Pacific as a member of the 70th and later the 339th Fighter Sqdns early in WW-II has, after considerable contention, discussion, and penetrating research, been credited as the sole P-38 pilot who downed the Betty bomber in which Japan's ranking Admiral Yamamoto was flying to Bougainville on April 18, '43 - by the prestigious Fighter Aces Association.

The Air Force announced that former Air Force One aircraft, C-137, 72-7000, will be retired to the Ronald Reagan Presidential Library in Simi Valley, Calif., when the aircraft completes its service life at the end of September this year. Air Force One, 72-7000, was President Ronald Reagan's aircraft during his entire 8-year term in office from 1981-1989. The Library will build a hangar to properly maintain and display the aircraft; they will also contract with Boeing to ensure the Boeing 707, is properly maintained.

Remains believed to be those of nine American soldiers, missing in action from the Korean War, will be repatriated in formal ceremonies scheduled for Aug. 21 in Japan. The remains will be flown on a U.S. Air Force aircraft from Pyongyang, North Korea, under escort of U.S. honor guard, to Yokota Air Base, Japan, where a United Nations Command repatriation ceremony will be held.

A joint U.S.-North Korean team operating in Usan and Kujang counties and along the Chong Chon River, in the Kaechon area, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang, recovered the remains during operations that began last month. The area was the site of battles between Communist and U.S. forces in November 1950. Teams also surveyed the site for a base camp about 15 miles south of the Chosin Reservoir where excavations will be conducted in September. Two 14-person U.S. teams operating in North Korea specialists from the Army's Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI). This year's schedule in North Korea is the largest yet, with ten individual operations . 23 operations have been conducted since 1996 in North Korea, recovering 127 sets of remains believed to be of U.S. soldiers. Eight have been positively identified and returned for burial with full military honors. Another 10 are nearing the final stages of the forensic identification process.

The Department of Defense notified Congress that Weapons of Mass Destruction Civil Support Teams (WMD-CST) from California, Illinois and Pennsylvania Natl Guard are now certified. These teams are fully ready to assist civil authorities respondto a domestic weapon of mass destruction incident, and possess the requisite skills, training and equipment to be proficient in all mission requirements. They are the 9th WMD-CST Los Alamitos, Calif.; the 5th WMD-CST, Bartonville, Ill.; and the 3rd WMD-CST, Annville, Pa. Congress has authorized 32 WMD-CSTs. The three teams certified today are among the first 10 teams authorized in the National Defense Appropriations Act for fiscal 1999. 17 additional teams were authorized in fiscal 2000; five more teams wereauthorized in fiscal 2001. The department has now certified nine of the first ten teams authorized.