Daily Report

Nov. 7, 2011

Senate Republicans Looking for Specific Effects of Sequestration

Two members of the Senate Armed Services Committee sent a letter to Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last week, asking the Pentagon to clearly outline the potential threats of sequestration if the Joint Select Committee on Deficit Reduction (aka Super Committee)...

CHIRP’s Real Work Begins

The Air Force’s first military payload aboard a commercial satellite successfully completed performance testing on orbit and is performing to standards. Now that the commercially hosted infrared payload (CHIRP) has completed diagnostics, “the next step is calibration followed by execution...

Associate Four

Air Force officials announced plans to stand-up four new active duty associate fighter squadrons as a money saving measure. The new units, which will share aircraft and equipment with existing Air Force Reserve Command fighter squadrons, will be established at...

US Troops to be Mostly out of Iraq by Mid-December

The vast majority of US forces will be out of Iraq by mid-December, Army Maj. Gen. Thomas Spoehr, deputy commanding general of US Forces-Iraq, told reporters last week. However, officials are not releasing a more detailed breakdown of the withdrawal,...

ACC Pilot Awarded DFC

Col. Bernard Willi, Air Combat Command’s personnel recovery core function team chief, received the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroic action during aerial flight in Afghanistan last summer. Willi helped rescue almost 1,000 Afghans during a catastrophic flood in Nangahar...

Flowers to Receive Order of the Sword

Maj. Gen. Alfred Flowers, deputy assistant secretary of the Air Force for budget, has been selected for induction into the Order of the Sword, the highest honor the noncommissioned force can bestow on an officer. CMSgt. James Cody, command chief...

Air Force Restructures Civilian Workforce

Air Force officials announced plans to eliminate about 9,000 civilian positions as part of the Defense Department’s overall effort to increase efficiencies, reduce redundancies, and cut overhead. Former Defense Secretary Robert Gates issued a memo last year directing the services...

Easing the Burden on SpecOps Forces

The Air Force is trying to ease the burden on its special operators by transferring some of their duties to the regular force, Brig. Gen. Jerry Martinez, director for joint integration in the Operational Capability Requirements directorate, told House lawmakers...

New Home for Mountain Home F-15E Fuel Tanks

Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, recently opened a $2.5 million Vertical Tank Storage System to house more than 240 external fuel tanks for its F-15E Strike Eagles. Previously, the external tanks were stored outside on a cement pad, but the severe...