Daily Report

March 25, 2009

F-22 Crashes Near Edwards

An F-22 stealth fighter crashed about 10 a.m. Wednesday near Edwards AFB, Calif., where the aircraft was assigned for test purposes. The Air Force said it did not know the condition of the pilot when it released the news Wednesday afternoon around 3 p.m. (EDT). The aircraft went down about 35 miles northeast of the base.

Herks Ready for Work, Mostly

Officials at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia say all the C-130 Hercules transports—save one being converted as a ground trainer—have been inspected for cracked wing-joint barrel nuts. Overall the Air Force has returned to flight about two-thirds of...

Another GPS on Orbit, Another Successful Delta Launch

Airmen at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., worked with United Launch Alliance to launch a Delta II rocket that boosted Lockheed Martin Global Positioning Satellite IIR-20(M) into orbit at 4:34 a.m. (EDT) Tuesday. ULA noted that the event marked the 47th successful GPS launch for the Delta II booster over its 20-year career. "One third of the 140 successful Delta II launches have been dedicated to GPS satellites," Jim Sponnick, ULA's vice president for the Delta Product Line, said in a ULA release, noting, too, that the ULA team is "extremely proud" to have played a role in launching this "incredible constellation." The GPS sat launched this week is the seventh of eight modernized satellites developed by Lockheed that has enhanced military and civil signal performance. It also includes a demonstration payload comprising a third civil signal that complies with international radio frequency spectrum requirements that Don DeGryse, Lockheed's VP for navigation systems, said in a company release is "an innovative, low-risk, low-cost demonstration payload that will pave the way for the new operational third civil signal."

Air, Army Guard Fight Flood

Air National Guardsmen were among the 500 National Guard members from two states who worked over last weekend to help fight the Red River floodwaters near Fargo, N.D. Some 200 Minnesota and North Dakota Air and Army Guardsmen joined forces...

Shorthanded at Misawa

F-16 mechanics from Air National Guard units in California, Indiana, New York, and South Carolina are deployed to Misawa AB, Japan, to assist the active duty F-16 force, which has deployed many of its Viper maintainers to South Korea and...

Officers Receive Bronze Stars

The Air Force has awarded Bronze Star medals to Lt. Col. James Boles Jr. and 1st Lt. Brian Rutt for their exceptional service while deployed to Iraq. Boles is chief of the Electronic Warfare Contracting Division of the 542nd Combat...

Carter Confirmation This Week

The confirmation hearing is set for March 26 on the nomination of Ashton Carter, Harvard physicist and former Clinton Administration assistant secretary of defense for international security policy, to become the new Pentagon weapons czar, replacing John Young. President Obama...

Some Do, Some Don’t

Utah legislators passed a measure last month that would allow the Air Force to construct a morale-welfare-recreation resort hotel complex near Park City but some folks in the designated area are crying foul. According to an Associated Press report (via...

A Change of Focus

The Air Force has sent its first class of intelligence analysts through a new formal training unit course at the US Air Force Expeditionary Center at Ft. Dix, N.J., where they engaged not in analyzing air threats but those on...

Air Sorties from SWA

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaMarch 21-22, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 52 20 72 3,215 CAS/Armed Recon 56 148 204 8,045 Airlift 325 325 10,750 Air refueling 85 85 3,678 Total 686 25,668...