Daily Report

July 20, 2009

F-15E Crashes, Crew Killed

Air Force Central announced July 18 that an F-15E supporting operations in eastern Afghanistan crashed that morning at about 3:15 a.m Kabul time, killing the two USAF crew members. The Defense Department announced July 19 that the two officers were...

Limiting F-22 Force to 187 Is “Real Mistake”

Retired Gen. Merrill McPeak, USAF Chief Chief of Staff during Desert Storm and an unabashed and early supporter of Barack Obama’s presidential candidacy, says the President is wrong to try to stop production of the F-22. “I think it’s a...

What Cockpit?

The Air Force's new Unmanned Aerial Systems Flight Plan 2009-2047 forecasts a future where unmanned drones replace manned aircraft as the dominant airpower capability USAF provides the joint military force. The service issued a brief release on its new plan last week, and, when queried, a spokesman told Daily Report there would be a rollout briefing July 23. In the plan's executive summary, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley and Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz write of a USAF vision that would "harness increasingly automated, modular, globally connected, and sustainable multi-mission unmanned systems resulting in a leaner, more adaptable, and efficient air force that maximizes our contribution to the Joint Force." The plan centers on development of a "family of unmanned aircraft" that range from small, man-portable vehicles to "medium 'fighter-sized' vehicles" and "large 'tanker-sized' vehicles," and ultimately these vehicles would have "autonomous-capable operations." One of the plan's key assumptions is that "the range, reach, and lethality of 2047 combat operations will necessitate an unmanned system-of-systems to mitigate risk to mission and force, and provide perceive-act line execution." That "perceive-act" is key, for the plan later states: "Future UAS able to perceive the situation and act independently with limited or little human input will greatly shorten decision time," in effect, compressing airpower's OODA loop—observe, orient, decide, and act. This shift to a UAV-centric force depends, of course, on requisite advances in technology, per one of the plan's other key assumptions. (Air Force UAS Flight Plan)

Ogden Does Get UAV Work

The Utah Congressional delegation has announced that the Ogden Air Logistics Center at Hill AFB, Utah, will handle depot maintenance for key components of the MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles. An earlier announcement about winning this work...

Randolph Gears Up for UAV Sensor Ops Training

The first class of enlisted sensor operators (SO) for MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles should begin training at Randolph AFB, Tex., next month. This first group will comprise cross-trainees from other career fields, as USAF tries to...

USAFE Adds AGOW

US Air Forces in Europe officials launched the command’s first air ground operations wing last week when it activated the 435th AGOW at Ramstein AB, Germany. Air Combat Command was first to establish this new type of wing solely dedicated...

And, Another Year

The firefighters of the Illinois Air National Guard’s 183rd Fighter Wing who were supposed to be out of a job when the wing gave up its F-16s last fall but received a one-year reprieve to stay through September are now...

NSPS Do-Over Not Enough, Says Union

A Pentagon task force is recommending that the Defense Department go back to work on its National Security Personnel System, but the union which represents the bulk of federal employees says that is not the solution. According to a July...

Eighth Air Force AOC Now Eaker Center

The 8th Air Force Air and Space Operations Center at Barksdale AFB, La., formally changed its name last week to the Eaker Air and Space Operations Center, honoring one of the USAF’s airpower legends, Gen. Ira Eaker, who guided the...

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest Asia

July 15-16, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 51 47 98 8,186 CAS/Armed Recon 46 147 193 18,803 Airlift 187 187 26,638 Air refueling 107 107 9,009 Total 585 62,636 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance...