Daily Report

Aug. 2, 2011

Vigilant Eagle, Take Two

NORAD and the Russian air force will conduct their second cooperative Vigilant Eagle air defense exercise starting Sunday, announced US and Canadian officials. As with the first-ever Vigilant Eagle held last August, the three-day exercise will focus on both sides...

Altus Triumphant at Rodeo

Members of the 97th Air Mobility Wing at Altus AFB, Okla., claimed top title as “Best Air Mobility Wing” at the Air Mobility Rodeo at JB Lewis-McChord, Wash. The wing operates C-17s and KC-135s as part of Air Education and...

Air Force has its First F-35 Instructor Pilot

Lt. Col. Eric Smith is the first Air Force pilot certified to fly the F-35 strike fighter. He’s also USAF’s first F-35 instructor pilot. The former A-10 and F-16 test pilot is now assigned to Eglin AFB, Fla., where he...

Luke Hits F-16 Training Milestone

A1C Drake Shoup became the 10,000th student to graduate F-16 crew chief school at Luke AFB, Ariz. “Becoming a crew chief and to be entrusted with working on a multi-million-dollar jet is an amazing opportunity for a young airman like...

Air Force Day in the Big Apple

New York Mayor Michael Bloomberg (I) declared July 28 as “Air Force Day” in the Big Apple through a proclamation read at the 50th Anniversary luncheon of the Air Force Association’s Iron Gate Chapter. “The Air Force’s patriotism and courage...

Eagles Gather in the Skies of South Korea

F-15Es from the 494th Fighter Squadron at RAF Lakenheath, Britain, flew to Kunsan AB, South Korea, last month for “buddy” training with South Korean air force F-15Ks. “I am amazed at how seamlessly we integrated the F-15Es and the F-15Ks...

Barksdale’s Hybrid Drill

Hundreds of airmen at Barksdale AFB, La., coupled a two-day, simulated-deployment exercise with an actual overseas deployment. This was the first time that base officials had ever combined such an exercise with a real-world deployment, according to Barksdale officials. “This...

Blinded by Capability Gaps

By 2016, seven of NASA’s 13 Earth-monitoring satellites will go dark, posing a risk to national security and US foreign policy interests, warns a Center for New American Security policy brief released Monday. Meanwhile, efforts to prevent a capability gap...

Robins Maintainers Seek C-5 Stab-ility

A depot field team from Robins AFB, Ga., flew to Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., to retrieve the horizontal stabilizer from a retired C-5A Galaxy that recently entered the service’s aircraft boneyard. Maintainers will take this stabilizer, or “stab” in their parlance,...

March Refits First KC-135

Air Force Reserve Command’s 452nd Maintenance Group at March ARB, Calif., recently completed the first full interior refurbishment of a KC-135 tanker assigned to the base. “We’re doing this to make our airplanes last longer and look better,” stated MSgt....