Daily Report

The Air Force’s test program for the KC-46A tanker “is not executable” in its present form, states Michael Gilmore, the Pentagon’s director of operational test and evaluation, in his office’s Fiscal 2011 annual report. Gilmore cite deficiencies in the KC-46...

The Air Force accepted a land grant of 11,000 acres from the State of New Mexico that will allow Air Force Special Operations Command to expand live-fire ranges and desert and urban warfare training on the Melrose Air Force Range...

The 1st Reconnaissance Squadron at Beale AFB, Calif., welcomed the Air Force’s first two RQ-4 Global Hawk operators specifically trained as remotely piloted aircraft pilots under the service’s new 18X specialty code. “It’s a privilege to be the first in...

The last of 20 T-38C trainer aircraft arrived at Randolph AFB, Tex., completing their shift from Laughlin Air Force Base, also in the Lone Star state, as part of the Air Force’s consolidation of its Introduction to Fighter Fundamentals training....

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta lifted the “two-year probation” imposed last year on the Marine Corps’ F-35B short-takeoff and vertical-landing variant, citing “real progress” made by the government-industry team developing the aircraft since then “towards fixing” the technical issues that surfaced...

Air Force officials expect to have the results of the “should cost” analysis of the F-22 improvement program this October, USAF spokeswoman Jennifer Cassidy told the Daily Report. Service acquisition executive David Van Buren announced the review last June. It’s...

The Air Force Flight Standards Agency named Laughlin AFB, Tex., USAF’s busiest airfield and air traffic control tower in 2011, with a total of 337,439 operations. Laughlin hosts specialized undergraduate pilot training. According to AFFSA, Laughlin’s 47th Operations Support Squadron...

A specially built, deployable command trailer recently smoothed the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing’s transition from JB Balad, Iraq, to a new—undisclosed—operating location in South West Asia. The Mississippi Air National Guard provided the self-powered mobile operations trailer, which came with...

The 38th Cyberspace Engineering Installation Group simultaneously activated three new squadrons, appointing a civilian director to head each of the units in a ceremony at Tinker AFB, Okla. The newly formed 38th Contracting Squadron will oversee cyber and telecommunications contracts,...

The David Grant Medical Center at Travis AFB, Calif., recently received a portable heart and lung machine for testing that could transform the US military’s ability to evacuate severely wounded patients by air, according to researchers with Travis’ 60th Medical...