Get Ready, Get Set, Almost

Sometime this fall, according to Kenneth Krieg, DOD’s point man on acquisition, the Pentagon may issue a request for information from contractors interested in providing a tanker replacement for USAF’s elderly KC-135s. In responding to questions after a speech last...

The Mississippi ANG and Friends

Seasoned by years of hurricane response, the Mississippi Air National Guard was on the move within the first 24 hours after the storm hit land. A C-17 from the 172nd Airlift Wing at Jackson, Miss., flew 90,000 pounds of food...

Deep in the Heart of Texas–Aeromed Central

Nine Reservists, most from the 433rd Airlift Wing at Lackland AFB, Tex., stepped up to coordinate the unprecedented aeromedical evacuation efforts following Hurricane Katrina. The Air Force Reserve Command personnel shepherded 125 military and civilian airplanes, making runs from New...

There’s More to Old Hueys Than Just Top Cover

The eight UH-1 helicopters and 83 pilots, maintainers, and support personnel dispatched from Air Force Space Command units to Columbus AFB, Miss., over a two-day period flew 41 search-and-rescue sorties and delivered almost 23,000 pounds of supplies along the Gulf...

Calling In the Big Dog

The Katrina search-and-rescue aircraft got some help from an E-3 Sentry AWACS and its crew from the 552nd Air Control Wing, Tinker AFB, Okla., beginning Sept. 3. The E-3 has taken over quarterback duty for SAR aircraft and relays communications...

TRANSCOM Mantle Passes, An Era Ends

TRANSCOM Mantle Passes; an Era Ends: It’s official: The dual command of both US Transportation Command and USAF’s Air Mobility Command ended Sept. 7 when Air Force Gen. Norton A. Schwartz took command of US Transportation Command, replacing Gen. John...

Looking For More UAVs

The Air Force wants to buy 51 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicles and more than 100 of the original Predator UAVs, plus an untold number of the newer, upgraded B model Predators. That from USAF Lt. Gen. (sel.) Donald J....

Skinning the Cat

New Mexico politicos are out to get a mission for Cannon Air Force Base and plan to require the Pentagon to find one by tacking a provision on to the 2006 defense appropriations bill that has yet to pass thru...

Making Hay While the Sun Don’t Shine

It was an opportunity not to be missed, so the flight test experts of the 418th Flight Test Squadron, Edwards AFB, Calif., sent AFRC’s Hurricane Hunters of the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron, Keesler AFB, Miss., into Hurricanes Irene and Katrina...

Weldon on the Warpath

Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) is promising fireworks at an upcoming Senate Judiciary Committee hearing on the Able Danger operation that, in 2000, purportedly fingered al Qaeda cells—including key 9/11 hijacker Mohammed Atta. Weldon told Congressional Quarterly that a DOD employee...

Space Weather Guys See Spots

The solar flares being tracked by space weather technicians of the Air Force Weather Agency, Offutt AFB, Neb., could, over the next two weeks, lead to geomagnetic storms that would interfere with high-frequency communication, satellite UHF communications, and GPS satellite...

Warner Robins Wins Nobel—for Manufacturing

Air Force Materiel Command’s Warner Robins Air Logistics Center, Robins AFB, Ga., is the first public sector depot to receive what is considered the Nobel prize in manufacturing—the Shingo Prize, reports the Macon (Ga.) Telegraph. The award has gone to...

Counting Heads

The Air Force needs to know “who’s on first” among military and family members evacuated from the devastation of Hurricane Katrina. The service is asking them to call the Air Force Personnel Center (866-299-0596) 24-hours-a-day to check in and report...

Airstrikes Target Terrorist Sites

Coalition air forces conducted an air strike against a terrorist safe house in the vicinity of Husaybah, Iraq, shortly after 1 a.m. on Sept. 8—targeting Abu Mohammed, a known bomb-maker and cell leader. Mohammed had been linked to other al...