Daily Report

Aug. 30, 2011

Surviving Irene

Air Force bases along the US East Coast remained relatively unscathed by Hurricane Irene’s wrath after the storm reached the US East Coast Aug. 27 and worked its way from North Carolina up to New England. At JB Langley-Eustis, Va.,...

Unmonitored Operations Resume for Some F-35 Flights

The F-35 joint program office has authorized the F-35 fleet to return to unmonitored flight operations for acceptance and ferried flights from Lockheed Martin’s production facility in Fort Worth, Tex., to the schoolhouse at Eglin AFB, Fla., JPO spokesman Joe...

Air Operations As Critical as Ever in Iraq

The Air Force’s role in Iraq is only going to get bigger as the United States pulls all its troops and equipment out of the country by year’s end, said Maj. Gen. Russell Handy, 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task...

F-35A Officially Unveiled at Eglin

Air Force officials formally unveiled the F-35A Lightning II strike fighter during a ceremony with the 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB, Fla. More than 400 guests watched the unveiling, which took place on Aug. 26 inside the newly constructed...

US Hands Over More Airspace to Iraqi Control

Air Force officials transferred the final sector of northern Iraq’s airspace to the Iraq Civil Aviation Authority in Baghdad, leaving only one sector of Iraqi airspace still outside of Iraqi control. The ICAA received control of airspace in Kirkuk from...

Reservists Provide Airlift Support in Puerto Rico

Hurricane Irene couldn’t keep the members of Air Force Reserve Command’s 908th Airlift Wing at Maxwell AFB, Ala., from deploying to Muniz ANGB, in San Juan, Puerto Rico, for their regular airlift support contributions in Central and South America. The...

Farewell Walter Reed

The last patient left Walter Reed Army Medical Center in Washington, D.C., ending the hospital’s century of service. The patient, evacuated via ambulance on Aug. 27, moved to the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda, Md. The two medical facilities...

Dining Halls Get Refresh

Starting in September, airmen will have more variety and availability of nutritious meals at appropriated fund dining facilities, according to Air Force Services Agency officials. Under a new program called "Operation Refresh," the agency is adding new items to its dining facility menus on a regular basis, they said. It is also incorporating additional fresh ingredients, improving methods for preparing existing entrees, and enhancing the culinary skills of Air Force food service professionals through new cooking techniques. "Operation Refresh allows us to better serve our customers by adding fresh, new choices to the core menus for all [appropriated fund] dining facilities," said Bill Spencer, AFSVA appropriated fund food operations branch chief. "Starting in September, a new menu item will be added each month." The first new item will be a pork chop with warm pineapple Asian glaze sauce. (San Antonio report by Erin Tindell)