Daily Report

Aug. 18, 2008

Good to Go

Air Combat Command on Friday (Aug. 15) declared that the 5th Bomb Wing at Minot AFB, N.D. had passed its last hurdle by completing a “successful re-inspection” from Aug. 10-15, of its ability to conduct its nuclear mission. The wing...

Osprey Deployment Nears

Air Force Special Operations Command has “put a marker on the table” and anticipates sending the first of its CV-22 Osprey tiltrotor aircraft into Southwest Asia by late September or early October, the command’s requirements chief tells the Daily Report....

Airlift Will Continue to Georgia

In his weekly radio address (transcript) Aug. 16, President Bush noted the use of US military flights to “help the Georgian people recover from the trauma they have suffered” and said “more will be arriving in the days ahead.” USAF...

No Distance At All

A couple of US Air Force B-2 bombers from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo., transited the Atlantic last week making a stopover at RAF Fairford, England, in one of the unit’s routine Global Power training missions, reports...

A Wrinkle in New Total Force Missions

Despite the fact that the FAA has cleared USAF MQ-1 and MQ-9 unmanned aerial vehicles to assist with domestic disaster relief operations, there appears to still be some concern about their operation within US airspace on a continuing basis. As...

Eagles Land in Montana

The Montana Air National Guard’s 120th Fighter Wing has received the first of the F-15s slated to replace its F-16s, courtesy of BRAC 2005. According to an Aug. 16 report from the Great Falls Tribune, the first F-15s were flown...

Would Overhaul Retirement System

That is the position taken by the 10th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation. The Volume 2 report, released earlier this month, covered deferred and non-cash compensation, while Volume 1, released in the spring, reviewed cash compensation. The QMRC recommends that...

Would Increase Tricare Fees

That is another position taken by the 10th Quadrennial Review of Military Compensation (see above). Like Pentagon officials, who have tried in vain, so far (thanks to a reluctant Congress), to boost the Tricare Prime fees paid by military retirees...