Daily Report

May 31, 2011

Two Airmen Killed in Afghanistan

TSgt. Kristoffer M. Solesbee, 32, of Citrus Heights, Calif., and SSgt. Joseph J. Hamski, 28, of Ottumwa, Iowa, died in operations in Afghanistan, announced Defense Department officials. The two airmen were killed on May 26 in the Shorabak district of...

Dempsey Tapped to Lead Joint Chiefs

President Obama on Monday introduced the last pieces of his new national security leadership team by announcing his choice of newly minted Army Chief of Staff Gen. Martin Dempsey to be the next Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff...

Hostage Taken for Air Combat Command

The Senate has approved the nomination of Lt. Gen. Mike Hostage for promotion to the rank of general for his new assignment as head of Air Combat Command at Langley AFB, Va. Hostage has overseen the air campaigns in Afghanistan...

US, Poland Agree to Air Detachment

The United States and Poland have concluded the agreement to establish an Air Force aviation detachment in Poland next year to train with the Polish air force beginning in early 2013. “The aviation detachment will strengthen joint interoperability through regular...

Air Force Orders Five of Its Last 10 C-17s

The Air Force has let the contract with Boeing for five more C-17s, bringing its total order so far to 218, just five shy of completing its 223-aircraft program of record. Boeing earlier this month received $963 million for these...

Incrementally Incremental

Getting the most combat capability out of the F-22 is proving to be challenging. “The F-22 modernization program is a concern to us,” Pentagon acquisition executive Ash Carter acknowledged earlier this month. The issue deals with the aircraft’s software as...

GAO: Space Situational Awareness Modernization Risky

Government Accountability Office auditors warned last week that the Defense Department may be poised to move forward with immature technology and overly ambitious goals in the development of the Space Fence and the Joint Space Operations Center Mission System. These...

First Chance to Grease the Lightning

Seven aircraft maintainers from the 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB, Fla., arrived at the Navy’s test site at Patuxent River, Md., to get hands-on experience with the F-35 strike fighter. These airmen will spend 75 days at Pax River...

An Alternative to Bulky Radios

Lockheed Martin will demonstrate the MONAX communications system at Tinker AFB, Okla., in mid-June as part of the Defense Department’s annual Joint User Interoperability Communications Exercise, according to Paul Butterfoss, a Lockheed system engineer for MONAX. A line-of-sight wireless system,...