The last two decades of war and continuous operations have taken a significant toll on airmen, their families, and equipment, Secretary Michael Donley said in his speech on the state of the Air Force at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in...

The President’s Fiscal 2014 budget request will be sent to Congress in the next few weeks, but officials at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., last week said it’s basically a house of cards. There is still too much...

The furloughs expected for Defense Department civilian employees under budget sequestration have the potential to severely disrupt activity inside Air Force Materiel Command, since civilians comprise 77 percent of the command’s workforce, said AFMC head Gen. Janet Wolfenbarger. “So, clearly...

The F-35 joint program office last week suspended all F-35 flight operations as a precautionary measure. The move came after a routine engine inspection revealed a crack on a blade of an F-135 engine installed on AF-2, an Air Force...

The Air Force soon will release the findings of its Intra-Theater Airlift Working Group, said Secretary Michael Donley last week at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla. The working group is charged with determining from where the Air Force...

The Air Force has cut back on “non-mission critical” temporary duty assignments as part of its sequestration mitigation efforts. That could mean delays to professional military education courses, such as the NCO Academy and mission-readiness training, said Air Force Secretary...

Sequestration and the contracting chaos attending it represent a “double whammy,” said Air Force Secretary Michael Donley. Speaking with reporters at AFA’s Air Warfare Symposium in Orlando, Fla., on Feb. 22, Donley observed that the sequester is “making a lot...

With dwindling work for contractors in a time of shrinking funds, the Air Force is keenly aware that industrial base concerns have to be a component in any procurement decisions, said Secretary Michael Donley. “The fewer the resources available, the...

While the Quadrennial Defense Review has long been characterized as a “political football,” the review’s upcoming iteration is a chance for the Air Force to take a serious look at its mission and how it can bring solutions to the...

Maj. Gen. Steven Kwast, the Air Force’s representative to the upcoming Quadrennial Defense Review, said the QDR should force the Air Force to do some soul searching on how it prosecutes its core missions, regardless of the resolution of budget...

A strategic planning council is mulling what Air Force Reserve Command needs to look like in 2025 so that it “remains viable for national defense,” said Lt. Gen. Jim Jackson, Air Force Reserve chief. The goal is to remain a...

A team of 100 US military personnel, mostly airmen, is operating unarmed remotely piloted aircraft out of Niamey, Niger, in support of intelligence-gathering efforts in the region, announced Defense Department officials. President Obama on Feb. 22 notified Congress that the...

Air Education and Training Command is still striving to boost the number of total military training instructors at JBSA-Lackland, Tex., to 508, with 25 percent of all instructors female, said Gen. Edward Rice, head of Air Education and Training Command....

Although members of industry descended upon Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, in late January to discuss the options available for the T-X trainer, Air Education and Training Command boss Gen. Edward Rice said it’s still not clear when or if the Air...

Pratt & Whitney F117 engines recently surpassed their 10 millionth flight hour on the C-17 transport, announced the company. “This milestone is a testament to the reliability of the F117 engine,” said Beverly Deachin, the company’s vice president for military...