Daily Report

Oct. 2, 2008

Another Tanker Redux?

Not only is the Air Force facing great difficulty in fielding new tankers, its efforts to task a contractor to help maintain its current refueling fleet may be derailed once again based on a federal court decision announced yesterday. Indeed...

New Chief Scientist Steps In

Dr. Werner Dahm, a University of Michigan professor of aerospace engineering, became the chief scientist of the Air Force yesterday, replacing Dr. Mark Lewis who had served in that role since 2004. Dahm returns to the Air Force after having...

Pentagon Spending Bill Becomes Law

President Bush on Sept. 30 signed into law H.R. 2638, an omnibus appropriations act for Fiscal 2009, that includes $488 billion for the Department of Defense. Included in its earmarks are $27 billion for Air Force research and development and...

AFRICOM Reaches Full Operations

US Africa Command, the Department of Defense’s sixth global geographic command, assumed full operations yesterday. Headed by Army Gen. William Ward, AFRICOM began initial operations last October as a sub-unified command under US European Command. Now it is a unified...

Kadena Airmen Make Big Splash to Aid Injured

Rescue personnel from Kadena AB, Japan, provided medical assistance to two injured mariners aboard a Panamanian freighter Sept. 27 located about 750 nautical miles north of the island of Saipan. “I’m glad that we were able to respond and provide...

New York Unit Wins Spaatz Trophy

The 109th Airlift Wing from Stratton ANGB, N.Y., the sole operator of ski-equipped LC-130 transports in the US military, has won the prestigious National Guard Association of the United States’ Spaatz Trophy for being the overall outstanding flying unit in...

WASPs Gather One Last Time

The final reunion of the Women’s Airforce Service Pilots took place Sept. 25-28 in Irving, Tex., bringing together women aviators from different generations to pay tribute to the courage and dedication of these female pilots of World War II. “It’s...

Missing Pilot’s Remains Identified

The remains of Col. David H. Zook, Jr., a pilot from West Liberty, Ohio, missing since the Vietnam War, have been identified, the Department of Defense announced Sept. 30. Zook was carrying out a psychological warfare mission in a U-10B...

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest Asia

Sept. 30, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 24 13 37 9,828 CAS/Armed Recon 40 48 88 27,979 Airlift 120 120 35,368 Air refueling 50 50 13,831 Total 295 87,006 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance...