Daily Report

March 19, 2014

Two Dozen Soldiers Awarded Medal of Honor

President Barack Obama bestowed the Medal of Honor on 24 Army veterans of World War II, Korea, and Vietnam in a ceremony at the White House on Tuesday. “The presentation of our nation’s highest military decoration, the Medal of Honor,...

Big Bow Wave Coming

The Air Force recognizes that its budget plans call for across-the-board recapitalization efforts in the 2020s, and that this poses a huge financial challenge, but that only means it must start as soon as possible, top Air Force planner Maj....

Global Hawk, Ready or Not

The Air Force’s Fiscal 2015 budget proposal calls for all U-2s to be retired in fiscal year ’16, whether the Global Hawk Block 30 has reached technical “parity” with it or not, Maj. Gen. James Jones, USAF’s top planner, said...

Two Commanders at RAF Croughton Fired

Two commanders at RAF Croughton, United Kingdom, were relieved of command last week following the results of a command-directed investigation. Col. Angela Cadwell, commander of the 501st Combat Support Wing, fired Col. Charles Hamilton, commander of the 422nd Air Base...

Russian Fighters to Counter NATO Deployments

Russia is considering deploying additional fighter jets to Belarus to counter Air Force F-15s and F-16s sent to reassure NATO allies in Poland and Lithuania, reported state-run RIA Novosti. Russian President Vladimir Putin said he opposes NATO's presence "on our historic territories," apparently referencing NATO's Eastern European member states, in a separate state-run media report released March 18. Russia already deployed six Su-27 fighters to a base just over the Polish and Lithuanian border where US fighters are currently stationed in response to Russian military incursions in Ukraine, a separate press report stated. "There is in fact an escalation of the situation near our borders . . . We will respond to it appropriately," said Belarusian President Alexander Lukashenko, explaining his request for more fighters. As many as 15 additional Russian fighters could be dispatched under the two countries’ mutual defense agreement, RIA Novsti noted. Ukraine's independent government in Kiev said it will not seek NATO membership, in a bid to calm tensions following Russia's annexation of the country’s Crimea region on Tuesday, reported the Washington Post. NATO once again called on Russia to de-escalate and cease military hostilities against Ukraine in a statement earlier this week.

China Expanding Market Share in Global Arms Sales

Conventional arms sales across the globe have expanded 14 percent in the last five years, according to a newly released report by the Sweden-based Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI). Although Europe has slowed its buying, India and Pakistan in...

Heithold Tapped to Lead AFSOC

President Barack Obama has nominated Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold to be commander of Air Force Special Operations Command at Hurlburt Field, Fla., according to a March 18 Defense Department release. Heithold currently serves as the vice commander of US Special...

Air Force Leaders Look to Reinvigorate Core Values

The Air Force’s top leaders issued a joint statement to airmen last week emphasizing the importance of the service’s core values. “When airmen fail to live up to our core values, the reputation of all who serve is tarnished,” wrote...

RAAF Officer Posthumously Awarded Silver Star

Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Hawk Carlisle posthumously awarded Royal Australian Air Force Flying Officer Edward Mobsby the Silver Star—the Defense Department’s third highest award for valor in combat—at a ceremony at the Australian War Memorial in Canberra last week,...

Hill Aerospace Museum to Cut Back Aircraft

The Hill Aerospace Museum at Hill AFB, Utah, must cut 18 aircraft from its collection because “the museum no longer has the manpower, funding, or means necessary to give these aircraft the care they need,” said acting museum director Aaron...