Daily Report

Sept. 15, 2011

A New Low on the Horizon

The Air Force will be left with the lowest number of general officer positions in its history in several years when it completes the planned elimination of 39 billets as part of Pentagon-wide efforts to shed excess overhead, said Vice...

Hostage Assumes Command at ACC

Gen. Mike Hostage assumed command of Air Combat Command from Gen. William Fraser during a ceremony at JB Langley-Eustis, Va. Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz presided over Tuesday’s change-of-command ceremony. Hostage, who led Air Forces Central since August 2009,...

Libya Lessons

One of the biggest lessons learned from Operation Odyssey Dawn/Unified Protector is that “combatant commanders don’t get to choose their mission” and regional commands have to have the “full spectrum” of capabilities. That’s the word from Army Gen. Carter Ham,...

The Three Fears

Three unresolved situations in Libya give Army Gen. Carter Ham, US Africa Command boss, the greatest concern. The first is that Libya’s stockpile of shoulder-fired anti-aircraft missiles will find their way into the hands of terrorists or insurgents in Afghanistan...

Spotlight: SMSgt. Kathleen M. McCool

A recruiter screening team superintendent with the Air Force Recruiting Service at Randolph AFB, Tex., SMSgt. Kathleen M. McCool is one of the Air Force’s 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2011. McCool transitioned from health services management to...

Wait And See

Before the Air Force recapitalizes its fleet of HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopters, it is backfilling the current fleet to account for combat losses and heavy operations in Southwest Asia. The Air Force is purchasing new-build Sikorsky H-60M airframes under...

US, Romania Sign Missile Defense Agreement

Secretary of State Hillary Clinton and Romania’s Foreign Minister Teodor Baconschi signed the bilateral agreement that will enable the United States to establish a ballistic missile defense interceptor site on Romanian soil by mid decade. This agreement “will position Romania...

DOD Tweaks Unified Command Plan

President Obama signed off on an update to Unified Command Plan 2011 that, among its modifications, reflects the disestablishment of US Joint Forces Command that occurred in August, announced Defense Department officials Wednesday. The Pentagon in April issued UCP 2011,...

Airmen Continue Battling Wildfires

Six specially equipped C-130s belonging to the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command continued to battle raging wildfires in Idaho, Oregon, and Texas. As of early Wednesday, four Modular Airborne Firefighting System-carrying C-130s from the North Carolina ANG’s...

Security Forces Airmen Complete 9/11 Tribute March

After two months and 2,100 miles of pavement, security forces airmen completed their ruck march in honor of the victims of 9/11 and the security forces airmen who have died in the war on terror since then. “We’ve marched the...