Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz on Wednesday announced that New York City and Cocoa Beach, Fla., will host the two “Air Force Weeks” this year. This is the fifth year that the service is sponsoring these festivities, which are meant to celebrate the Air Force and its airmen and connect more closely with local communities. New York City will be home to Air Force Week Aug. 25-29. The events will culminate with the two-day Coney Island Air Show featuring the Thunderbirds aerial demonstration squadron. Air Force Week at Cocoa Beach will take place Oct. 27-31. As in New York, this celebration will conclude with the two-day Cocoa Beach Air Show with performances by the Thunderbirds. The first-ever Air Force Week was held in St. Louis in August 2006. In 2009, they were held in Hampton Roads, Va., Sacramento, Calif., and Salt Lake City. (USAF release)
A recent seven-day exercise sent Air Force F-22s—along with other USAF aircraft—to austere, challenging environments across Guam and the Northern Mariana Islands. Agile Reaper, taking place for the second time after its inaugural edition last year, featured 800 Airmen and 29 aircraft across five different locations from April 10-16, training…