Daily Report

June 30, 2011

UPDATE: F-16 Pilot Did Not Survive Crash

Officials at Nellis AFB, Nev., announced Thursday that search and rescue teams have found conclusive evidence that a pilot whose F-16 crashed Tuesday in the Nevada desert did not survive the mishap. “Based on evidence recovered from the crash site,...

Search on for Pilot in Nevada Desert after F-16 Crash

A search and rescue effort was still under way Wednesday in the Nevada desert for the pilot of an F-16C that crashed during a training mission from Nellis AFB, Nev., on the previous day. The search was taking place on...

Power in Numbers

Eight Senators led by Montana's duo, Sen. Max Baucus (D) and Sen. Jon Tester (D), called on Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz and National Guard Bureau Chief Gen. Craig McKinley to reconsider the beddown plan for the C-27J transport fleet. In a letter dated Monday, the Senators assert that the current basing proposal for the planned 38-aircraft fleet "is unacceptable." The problem: basing four operational C-27s at each of nine bases (along with two dedicated trainer aircraft at one of those locations) would leave each Air Guard operational unit with just one aircraft to respond to state emergencies and for training. That's because two of the unit's aircraft likely will be deployed overseas and one will be in maintenance at any given time, they write. They propose a new scheme: increase the fleet size to 42 and assign six C-27s to each of the seven beddown locations already identified. They note that the Adjutants General of the states already getting C-27s recently advocated this alternative. If the fleet size remains at 38, the Senators have another idea: add one more C-27 to each of the seven bases. That would leave one C-27 still to assign somewhere.

ORS-1 Satellite Launched

A Minotaur I rocket on late Wednesday carried ORS-1, the Defense Department’s first Operationally Responsive Space satellite into space from NASA’s Wallops Flight Facility on Virginia’s eastern shore. The rocket lifted off at 11:09 p.m. US East Coast time. ORS-1...

Gates Bids Farewell to Troops

On the eve of his last day in office, Defense Secretary Robert Gates issued a farewell message to troops. “It has been the greatest honor of my life to serve and to lead you for the past four and a...

Still On

The Air National Guard “is still planning” for the initial deployment of its new C-27J tactical transport to happen in July, according to Maj. Tom Crosson, National Guard Bureau spokesman. The aircraft is envisioned to provide direct airlift support to...

Rescue at the Bottom of the World

The Air Force dispatched a C-17 transport on a medical flight to Antarctica to evacuate a seriously ill contractor supporting National Science Foundation research there. Departing its home station of JB Lewis-McChord, Wash., Tuesday, the aircraft landed briefly at JB...

Air Guardsmen Make Their First Formation Drop over Afghanistan

Air National Guardsmen from C-130 units in Alaska and New York dropped about 20,000 pounds of supplies to soldiers in an austere part of southern Afghanistan during their first formation airdrop. Operating with the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron from Bagram...

Twentieth Anniversary for SAASS

The School of Advanced Air and Space Studies at Maxwell AFB, Ala., marked its 20th anniversary during the graduation ceremony for this year’s class, the 20th overall. “By now, hundreds of SAASS graduates, strategic thinkers who developed and refined their...

Thunderbirds’ First Finlanding

The Air Force Thunderbirds flight demonstration team performed for the first time in Finland, headlining the Turku Air Show together with the Finnish air force Midnight Hawks demo group. “Finland is a great friend to the US, and I hope...

First Powered MALD-J Flight from B-52

Boeing announced Wednesday that it supported the Air Force earlier this month in the first powered launch of the Miniature Air Launched Decoy Jammer from a B-52 bomber. The company said it was a “successful test” over the Gulf of...