Daily Report

Feb. 19, 2013

Preparing to Fly over the Fiscal Cliff

Air Combat Command officials said they are continuing to take action to slow, and, within the near term, dramatically restrict Fiscal 2013 spending as the command braces for budget sequestration—set to kick in on March 1—and a projected $1.8 billion...

McKeon: Sequestration Will Hit

After countless hearings and proposed fixes and backroom horse-trading attempts that haven’t taken root, the budget sequester is likely unavoidable at this point, said House Armed Services Committee Chairman Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.). “I think it’s going to happen,” McKeon...

First the Hard Work, Then the Harder Stuff

Sequestration is only part of the challenges facing the Defense Department, said Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), House Armed Services Committee chairman. Other pressing issues include adjusting military pensions, revising DOD’s health care system, and basing, but because of the crisis...

Separate Ways

The Air Force has split the space and missile career field in order to give officers currently coded in space operations or nuclear missile operations more focused development in their respective areas, announced service officials. This move, affecting about 3,100...

Mali Support Milestones

Air Force transports have airlifted more than two million pounds of cargo from Istres, France, to Bamako, Mali, and other places since Jan. 21 in support of French military operations in northern Mali, announced service officials. Meanwhile, Air Force KC-135...

Former Military Training Instructor Sentenced

A military judge sentenced SSgt. Craig Leblanc to 30 months of confinement and a reduction in rank to airman basic, plus he will be dishonorably discharged, for sexual misconduct while he was a military training instructor at JBSA-Lackland, Tex., announced...

Camp Marmal Adds Aerial Porters to Aid in Drawdown

The 455th Expeditionary Aerial Port Squadron, Det. 3 at Camp Marmal, Afghanistan, has grown in size to handle the surge of activity at the installation as coalition forces transfer personnel and equipment out of the country. Camp Marmal is a...

At Both Ends of the Boom

F-16 pilot Lt. Col. Chris Spinelli recently qualified as a KC-135 tanker pilot to better oversee his flight test squadron’s operations at Edwards AFB, Calif., announced base officials. Dual qualifying in a fighter and a tanker is considered a rare...

Afghan Air Force Conducts First C-208 Casualty Evacuation

An Afghan air force Cessna 208 last week successfully transported a seriously injured soldier and three minor casualties from Kandahar, Afghanistan, to Kabul International Airport, marking the first time an AAF C-208 transported a litter patient, according to US air...