Daily Report

Dec. 14, 2010

Welsh takes Command of USAFE

Gen. Mark Welsh assumed command of US Air Forces in Europe Monday during a ceremony at Ramstein AB, Germany. He replaced Gen. Roger Brady, who led the command since January 2008 and is retiring, effective Feb. 1, 2011, after 41...

Kehler Confirmed for STRATCOM’s Top Post

The Senate has approved the nomination of Gen. Robert Kehler for his new assignment as commander of US Strategic Command at Offutt AFB, Neb. Kehler has led Air Force Space Command at Peterson AFB, Colo., since October 2007. He was...

Two Million and Counting

The Air Force’s C-17 transport fleet has surpassed two million total flying hours, less than 18 years since C-17 operations began, Air Forces Central officials announced. A C-17 operating from Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, reached this flight-hour milestone for the fleet...

Obama Still pushing for New START Ratification

President Obama isn’t giving up on the Senate ratifying the New START arms control agreement with Russia during the lame-duck session of Congress. The White House even announced that the President is willing to push his vacation back until that...

X-37B Undergoing Assessment

Since its return to Earth earlier this month, engineers have been pouring over the Air Force’s X-37B orbital test vehicle (OTV-1) to glean lessons for the maiden launch of the second X-37 (OTV-2) next spring. “We’ve got to examine this...

US, South Korea Respond to Nuclear War Threat

Faced with bellicose threats of nuclear war from North Korea, the United Stated and South Korea have established an extended deterrence policy committee. UPI reported Monday that Michael Schiffer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asia and Pacific security affairs,...

Shootout over the Pacific

The Missile Defense Agency plans to conduct a major ballistic missile defense test this week over the Pacific Ocean. Bloomberg reports that the window for testing the Ground-based Midcourse Defense system begins Tuesday and runs through Friday. The test will...

Iraqi Air Force Enlisted Leader Visits US

Iraq’s first chief master sergeant of the air force toured several Air Education and Training Command bases, learning how the Air Force educates airmen of all ranks. It was his first visit to the United States. While at Maxwell AFB,...

Whiteman Airmen Support Nuclear Submarine

Airmen with the 509th Logistics Readiness Squadron and Air National Guard’s 131st LRS at Whiteman AFB, Mo., pulled their resources to ship $30 million worth of batteries to a nuclear-powered Los Angeles-class attack submarine operating in the Pacific. “We support...

Advanced Hummingbird

Boeing’s A160T Hummingbird unmanned helicopter soon will be equipped to carry signals intelligence payloads and BAE Systems’ Autonomous Real-time Ground Ubiquitous Surveillance-Imaging System, or ARGUS-IS, reports FlightGlobal. DARPA signed a $12.8 million contract with Boeing, which is expected to demonstrate...

Air Sorties from SWA 120410

Air Sorties in Southwest Asia, Dec. 4, 2010 Sortie Type OND OEF OND/OEF Total YTD ISR 22 73 95 26,184 CAS/Armed Recon 16 81 97 33,298 Airlift 147 147 58,629 Air refueling 39 39 16,412 Rescue 18 18 7,685 Total...