Special Tactics Controllers from the 321st Special Tactics Squad conduct day and night iterations of fast rope and repelling out the back of a CV-22 from the 7th Special Operations Squadron on April 12th and 15th 2021. These skills are critical to mission readiness and maintain the ability to meet todays SOF challenges in a real world environment. Staff Sgt. Brandon Nelson/USA
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2021 USAF & USSF Almanac: USAF Major Commands and Air National Guard
June 30, 2021
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The Air Force has nine major commands and two Air Reserve Components. (Air Force Reserve Command is both a majcom and an ARC.) In late 2019, Air Force Space Command was redesignated U.S. Space Force, a separate military branch under the Department of the Air Force.
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Audio of this article is brought to you by the Air & Space Forces Association, honoring and supporting our Airmen, Guardians, and their families. Find out more at afa.org
The Air Force’s Experimental Operations Unit hosted a change of command ceremony recently, another sign of how the CCA concept is maturing and becoming entrenched in the Air Force’s structure, to the point where exercises have generated multiple sorties in a single day to simulate high-tempo combat operations.
The Air Force is looking for a new family of drones to serve as aerial targets for test missions, ranging from cheap, expendable quadcopters to large, reusable aircraft that can mimic fifth-generation enemy fighters.
The Air & Space Forces Association urged congressional leaders this week to fully fund the Space Force’s record-breaking $71.1 billion budget request for fiscal 2027, increase F-35 procurement, and finish revisions to troops’ Basic Allowance for Housing.
The Space Force will maintain its aging weather satellite fleet—which provides key forecasting data for military planners—until at least 2028 as it transitions to a new replacement architecture.
The Space Force's recently activated 1st Electromagnetic Warfare Squadron is its first unit to combine the Bounty Hunter system with the new Meadowlands, part of a larger push to field and operate powerful EW capabilities across the force.
Search and rescue Airmen from Nellis Air Base, Nev., flew more than 200 miles in two HH-60W Jolly Green IIs last week to rescue five of their Navy helicopter crew counterparts who were forced to land in mountainous terrain near Naval Air Weapons Station China Lake, Calif.
The Air Force said Aug. 13 it recently tested prototypes for a portable ground station for commanding and controlling semi-autonomous Collaborative Combat Aircraft.
A novel program to integrate U.S. and Japanese space capabilities was “completed” last week when a Japanese navigation satellite carrying a U.S. Space Force payload launched into orbit.
A top Pentagon tech official called on industry this week to help the military develop “lighter, more efficient” directed energy weapons designed to go on aircraft and conduct special operations missions or down drones—areas where the Air Force’s directed energy efforts have been quiet as of late.
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