Daily Report

May 13, 2009

Air Strikes and Afghanistan

Defense Secretary Robert Gates on Monday reiterated his stance that the US must do a better job in preventing civilian casualties in Afghanistan. Despite US efforts, another case has surfaced in which scores of Afghan civilians were reportedly killed in...

Shelton Tapped as Assistant Vice Chief

The Defense Department announced Tuesday that Lt. Gen. William Shelton has been nominated by the White House to be the next Air Force assistant vice chief of staff. Shelton has served since last December as chief of warfighting integration in...

Raptors Heading Back to Pacific

Contingents of F-22s from Langley AFB, Va., and Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, will be heading to Japan and Guam, respectively, this month for four-month stints as part of a normal rotation of US forces in the Pacific region. Plans call for...

Darnell Eyed for No. 2 PACOM Post

Lt. Gen. Daniel Darnell has been nominated to become deputy commander of US Pacific Command at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii, the Defense Department announced May 11. He would remain a lieutenant general in that position. Darnell has been serving as...

SADL’ Up

The California Air National Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Federal Airfield expects to have a new datalink capability on its four MC-130P rescue tankers by the end of the year, or at least before the unit becomes eligible again...

Responsiveness in Action

The Air Force is engaged in a project called ORS-1 that is putting into practice its quest to provide more responsive space capability to warfighters, says Gary Payton, USAF’s deputy under secretary for space programs. ORS-1 is an infrared imaging...

Seip Retiring

Lt. Gen. Norman Seip, who has led 12th Air Force (Air Forces Southern) since July 2006, is retiring this summer after a 35-year career in the service, a 12th AF spokesman confirmed Tuesday. There has been no formal announcement yet...

Douse Practice

About 200 airmen from California, Colorado, North Carolina, and Wyoming who operate the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command C-130s that carry aerial firefighting equipment are being recertified for the firefighting mission prior to the start of the...

Not Just a Bomber

With the addition of the Sniper targeting pod, the B-1B bomber has become a versatile, multi-role platform in the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq. Before the introduction of the Sniper on the aircraft last year, the B-1 was known primarily...

Pirates on the Horizon

The first four of 10 Republic of Singapore Air Force F-15SG fighters arrived at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, May 6, where they will be used to train Singaporean pilots under a new USAF-RSAF unit being established at the base. On...

Air Sorties from SWA

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaMay 7-9, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 76 60 136 5,115 CAS/Armed Recon 72 212 284 12,600 Airlift 440 440 17,454 Air refueling 134 134 5,680 Total 994 40,849...