Daily Report

Oct. 20, 2008

Donley Is Officially Secretary

On Friday afternoon, Michael B. Donley shed his “acting” label to become the 22nd Secretary of the Air Force. The official swearing-in ceremony took place at the Air Force Memorial where Defense Secretary Robert Gates administered the oath of office....

Eglin Releases Final EIS on BRAC 2005 Actions

The Air Force has released the final Environmental Impact Statement addressing the BRAC 2005 actions that include the beddown of the F-35 joint training facility and relocation of the Army’s 7th Special Forces Group (Airborne) to the Eglin AFB, Fla.,...

Deaths Up From Aircraft Accidents

During Fiscal 2008, the Air Force lost 13 airmen to aircraft accidents. (See Data Points: Flying Accidents Take Heavy Toll) Year end data show that the service had the same number of Class A mishaps—27 in both 2007 and 2008—but...

Army Guard Gets First JCA

The Air Force and the Army will share the honors for the initial military tests of the first C-27J Joint Cargo Aircraft delivered to the Army last week during a ceremony at an L-3 Integrated Systems facility in Waco, Tex.,...

Defense Bill Becomes Law

President Bush on Oct. 14 signed into law S. 3001, the defense authorization act for Fiscal 2009. The legislation includes $542.5 billion for DOD’s baseline budget as well as an additional $68 billion representing the first iteration of supplemental war...

Ring-Side Seat

The year-long planning that went into the just-concluded Hawgsmoke 2008, the biennial A-10 bombing and gunnery competition, included a provision for civilian spectators—news media and community leaders—to view the weapons portion of the event from a hilltop at the Kansas...

Industrial Base Isn’t Broken, But

The Cold War drove the creation of the first “peacetime defense industry of significant proportions” and ushered in a period of “long-term strategic advantage” for the US, according to a new Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessment report by senior...

Weather Unit Switch

The Air Force Weather Agency has turned over its former Special Support Operations Flight to Air Force Special Operations Command. Initially the unit will operate as Det. 1 to the 623rd Air and Space Operations Center at Hurlburt Field, Fla.,...

Standing on Their Own

The California Air National Guard’s 163rd Maintenance Group at March ARB, Calif., now oversees a fully functioning training operation to prepare mechanics for Predator unmanned aerial vehicles. The group’s Det. 26 initially trained under the tutelage of UAV trainers at...

California Air Guard Still Lacks Firefighting Add-on

According to an Associated Press report (via The Mercury News), California is still waiting for the Administration to make good on its vow to equip state Air National Guard aircraft with an aerial fire-fighting capability. As we last reported, the...

Air Sorties from SWA

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaOct. 15, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 25 16 41 10,469 CAS/Armed Recon 35 70 105 29,599 Airlift 120 120 37,394 Air refueling 57 57 14,615 Total 323 92,077...