Daily Report

Jan. 4, 2011

Gorgon Stare Sees All

The Air Force is getting ready to field the Gorgon Stare airborne surveillance system. The new, podded system, which the service will mount on MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft, will be introduced “this winter” into Afghanistan, reports the Washington Post....

A Senseless Tragedy

John P. “Jack” Wheeler III, airpower advocate and a driving force behind the Vietnam Veterans Memorial, has died. Wheeler’s body was found Dec. 31 in a landfill in Wilmington, Del. Police have ruled his death a homicide, reports Wilmington’s News...

Healthy and Strong

During the second annual Office of the Secretary of Defense-led Global Positioning System enterprise review, or AGER, Air Force space officials achieved significant GPS milestones, according to a release from the Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB,...

JTACs in High Demand

The Air Force more than doubled the number of joint terminal attack controllers in Afghanistan from 2009 to last year. The spike from 53 of these airmen to 134 is attributable to the increase in the use of bombs, missiles...

Cheers to a Successful Year

The 451st Air Expeditionary Wing at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, accomplished much in 2010 during its first full calendar year in existence, said the wing’s commander, Brig. Gen. Paul Johnson. The unit, which stood up on July 2, 2009, supports a...

Silver Flag Teaches Airmen Base Sustainment

Airmen from across the globe in specialties such as civil engineering and communications gathered at Ramstein AB, Germany, for a weeklong contingency operations training exercise. Silver Flag included five days of academic training followed by one day of practical application...

Building Up the Iraqi Infrastructure

Iraqi air force officials have opened a new communications building, communications equipment facility, and medical clinic at New Al Muthana AB, Iraq. These buildings offer vastly improved capabilities for Iraqi airmen. “Seeing the Iraqi air force being built up, if...

Airmen Retrieve Injured Hiker

Braving high winds and rugged terrain, an HH-60 crew with Air Force Reserve Command’s 943rd Rescue Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., helped save a badly injured hiker. Using night-vision equipment, they maneuvered their Pave Hawk helicopter within the jagged topography...

Kadena Gets Prescription-Dispensing Robot

Airmen at Kadena AB, Japan, don’t have to wait as long to get a prescription thanks to a new robot that has reduced the workload on medical personnel. PharmASSIST ROBOTx is a machine that stores, counts, and dispenses medications. When...

Air Sorties from SWA 121910

Air Sorties in Southwest Asia, Dec. 18, 2010 Sortie Type OND OEF OND/OEF Total YTD ISR 21 73 94 27,446 CAS/Armed Recon 14 81 95 34,616 Airlift 186 186 61,085 Air refueling 38 38 17,032 Rescue 27 27 8,042 Total...