Daily Report

The Air Force’s new nuclear-focused major command is provisionally named “Global Strike Command,” the Daily Report understands based on service memos now circulating on Capitol Hill and in the Pentagon. It will be led by a yet-to-be-identified three-star general. The command will encompass both the Air Force’s Minuteman III ICBMs as well as its nuclear-capable bombers, meaning the B-2As and B-52Hs. But it will not oversee the conventional-only B-1B bomber fleet. They will remain under Air Combat Command, thereby nixing the idea proposed last month by the Schlesinger nuclear task force to move all Air Force bombers under the same nuclear-centric command. The Air Force is currently working up a phased plan to stand up a provisional command for the nuclear enterprise and then incrementally work towards the more permanent solution. Already Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) has come forward and said Minot Air Force Base in his state would be a “natural fit” for the nuclear command’s headquarters. “[It] is the only air base in the nation that hosts both bombers and missiles with nuclear missions, so it should be at the top of the list of potential homes for this new command,” he said in a release yesterday. Regarding cyber, the new numbered air force that the Air Force intends to establish under Air Force Space Command is notionally designated 24th Air Force. Combining cyber and space makes sense because it puts two interdependent domains under on single command, the Air Force said. The service said it still needs to determine a headquarters for the cyber NAF, too.

The Department of Defense has no plans to establish any permanent US presence on the continent of Africa at this time, outside of the forces currently stationed at Camp Lemonier in Djibouti, Army Gen. William Ward, commander of US Africa...

The Air Force has brought in a private group to help it assess the three bids in its contest to find a new combat search and rescue helicopter. Reuters news wire service reported Oct. 7 that the Air Force has...

Activation of the NATO-led C-17 strategic airlift capability program last month with the completion of the 12-nation memorandum of understanding was “a great achievement” for the Air Force and “a true example” of building partner capacity, says Bruce Lemkin, USAF’s deputy under secretary for International Affairs. In a release issued Oct. 7, Lemkin, whose office was the lead agent for coordinating SAC activities, said the service “overcame huge obstacles in taking a vague notion for an airlift consortium and turning it into a viable multinational program in less than two years.” Indeed, he said, “the SAC team overcame many legal, financial, and policy challenges as well as competing national interests.” The experience of this precedent-setting program, he continued, “will pay dividends in establishing future cooperative efforts to build partnerships and promote burden sharing.” In the near future, Lemkin said US European Command/US Air Forces in Europe will assume lead responsibility for the SAC program’s execution phase. The SAC agreement came into effect on Sept. 23, thereby initiating the multinational process of acquiring the consortium’s three C-17s and standing up a heavy airlift wing at Papa AB, Hungary. Arrival of the first C-17 at Papa is anticipated next spring, with initial operations of the wing expected next summer. Participating are NATO members Bulgaria, Estonia, Hungary, Lithuania, Netherlands, Norway, Poland, Romania, Slovenia, and the United States as well as NATO partnership for peace nations Finland and Sweden. While Denmark, Slovakia, and Latvia withdrew from the SAC program, the Czech Republic and Italy are still considered “prospective participants" that have until Dec. 23 to formally join the consortium under the existing MOU terms, Air Force spokesman Maj Chris Hemrick tells the Daily Report.

Capt. Chad Bubanas, an AC-130H gunship commander assigned to the 18th Flight Test Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla., has won the annual Cheney Award. The Air Force bestows the honor each year upon aviators who demonstrate an act of valor,...

The Air Force has adopted special duty assignment pay for most airmen serving in the explosive ordnance disposal career field to sustain this specialized force in the face of a steep decline in retention. According to an Air Force Personnel...

Residents of Grand Forks, N.D., met with local and state officials as well as representatives from the offices of Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.) and Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) at a public scoping meeting Oct. 6 to discuss the Air Force’s...

The fiscal crisis now gripping the government will be keenly felt by the US military, predicts Rep. John Murtha (D-Penn.), chairman of the House Appropriations defense subcommittee. Appearing Oct. 5 on This Week in Defense News, a CBS TV news...

Qatar has signed a $393.6 million contract with Lockheed Martin for the purchase of four C-130J transports, plus associated training, support equipment, services and spares, the company announced Oct. 7. Deliveries of the aircraft, which will be the long variant...

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaOct. 6, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 28 14 42 10,088 CAS/Armed Recon 47 68 115 28,614 Airlift 133 133 36,197 Air refueling 55 55 14,126 Total 345 89,025...