Daily Report

June 19, 2014

Fixing the Nuclear Enterprise

The Air Force is putting more resources into the nuclear mission to raise morale and repair organizational and cultural problems, said service Secretary Deborah Lee James. Speaking to defense reporters in Washington, D.C., on June 18, James said the Air...

Air Force Ready for Iraq

The Air Force is ready to provide a range of capabilities for military action in Iraq, if asked, service Secretary Deborah Lee James told defense writers on Wednesday. The US military is “always planning” for war contingencies and “planning is...

GPS Obituary? Not Just Yet

It’s “too early to tell” if the Air Force will eventually get out of the business of maintaining the Global Positioning System satellite constellation that provides precision navigation and timing for many millions of users around the world, said service...

Command and Control Critical to Strategic Deterrence

There is the need for investment in sensors and communications tools to enhance “appropriate and timely command and control” of the nation’s strategic nuclear triad, said US Strategic Command boss Adm. Cecil Haney on June 18. Assured and reliable command...

The Russia Report from STRATCOM

Adm. Cecil Haney, head of US Strategic Command, told a Capitol Hill audience on June 18 Russia has increased activity related to “exercising and demonstrating” its strategic nuclear forces since the crisis in Ukraine and Russia’s annexation of the Crimea....

Runway Boom in the Baltics

Riga, Latvia—Three Air Force C-130Js from the 37th Airlift Squadron at Ramstein AB, Germany, became the first Air Force airplanes to land at the newly renovated Lielvarde Air Base in Latvia. During the June 17 mission, the transport aircraft brought...

Covering the Costs of Additional Air Patrols

Tallinn, Estonia—Estonia will cover the additional support costs associated with the plus-up of NATO’s Baltic Air Policing mission through a supplemental budget, Estonian Air Force Commander Col. Jaak Tarien told Air Force Magazine. This means the NATO ally will not...

Estonian Deterrence Strategy

Tallinn, Estonia— The Estonian air force operates just four helicopters, two small transport airplanes, and is leasing two L-39 jets meant for training the country’s 12 joint terminal air controllers as well as the fighter controllers who do ground control...

Hagel, Dempsey Defend Budget Proposal

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel and Gen. Martin Dempsey, Joint Chiefs Chairman, told Senate defense appropriators on June 18 that the Pentagon crafted the $495.6 billion defense budget request for Fiscal 2015 to meet future threats, as the US war in...

Remains of Missing Personnel from 1952 Crash Recovered

Defense Department forensic scientists identified the remains of 17 US military personnel, including 12 airmen, who died in the crash of a C-124 transport in Alaska, west of Mount Gannett, in 1952, announced the Pentagon on June 18. Officials will...