Daily Report

An F-15E crashed in Southwest Asia on May 3 during a routine training mission, announced Air Forces Central officials. “Both crew members ejected safely,” states AFCENT’s release. First responders went to the scene. AFCENT said it would release more details...

Lockheed Martin delivered the 187th F-22 production aircraft to the Air Force during a May 2 ceremony at the company’s manufacturing plant in Marietta, Ga. Handover of Raptor 4195 completed the Air Force’s order for the nation’s first fifth generation...

Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz will award two Distinguished Flying Crosses each to Col. Christopher Barnett and Maj. John Creel, both HH-60G Pave Hawk pilots, for their heroism and bravery in two battles in Afghanistan in 2009, announced Air...

The Air Force is hoping to host the head of China’s air force for a visit in July, said Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz. Discussions are under way about the possible military-to-military visit, said Schwartz on May 1 during...

The last Air Force C-130E transport assigned to an Active Duty unit flew off into the sunset from Little Rock AFB, Ark., for retirement, ending an era of a half century, said base officials. “This [air]plane represents a milestone in...

Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), House Armed Services Committee chairman, reached out to the nation's governors, seeking their "insight" into a "troubling set of defense cuts that will hit the National Guard" if the Budget Control Act's sequestration clause takes effect in January. Sequestration would result in more than 200,000 soldiers and marines getting separated from service, a 20-percent reduction in defense civilian personnel, and two additional rounds of BRAC, stated McKeon in an April 30 letter to the National Governors Association. "Of particular concern to the committee is the potential impact of sequester to the Army and Air National Guard," he wrote. The letter comes as the Pentagon, Congress, and the governors continue to work on a compromise to the Air Force leadership's proposed elimination of 5,100 Air Guard positions, along with Air Guard fighters and airlifters, in Fiscal 2013. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said he was willing to maintain some of the Air Guard C-130s targeted for retirement, a step many lawmakers believed was a move in the right direction, but not quite good enough. "You have my commitment to make sure your concerns are considered during Congress' legislative efforts this year," McKeon wrote the governors.

Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey is reportedly poised to recommend to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta that US Cyber Command’s status be elevated to a full-fledged combatant command, reported ABC News Wednesday. “We regularly review the command structure,” Pentagon spokesman...

Airmen will have the opportunity to offer their input to senior leadership and commanders at all levels during the 2012 Air Force climate survey that kicks off on May 14 and runs through June 22, announced service officials Wednesday. “This...

George Vujnovich, the World War II OSS agent who orchestrated Operation Halyard, the largest ever escape of American airmen from behind enemy lines, has died, according to press reports. He died on April 24 of natural causes at his home...

While the F-22 Raptor line is now silent, the Air Force’s sole operational fifth generation fighter has $11.7 billion in modernization and improvements booked through 2017, state Government Accountability Office auditors in a report issued May 2. The cost of...

Could the Air Force’s decision to divest its brand-new fleet of Global Hawk Block 30 remotely piloted aircraft in Fiscal 2013 be the first step toward a partial shift in the intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance mission from the Air Force...

The Air Force has awarded Lockheed Martin a $156 million contract for 24 new C-130J training devices and associated services. “These new devices will support multiple C-130J communities as they receive their new aircraft,” said Col. Peter Eide, USAF’s simulators...