The elections in Afghanistan last week went rather well, aided by the watchful eyes of USAF A-10 fighters and EC-130H Compass Call and Navy EA-6B electronic jammers. The Warthogs from Pope AFB, N.C. and Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., flew close air...

The split of the National Reconnaissance Office from the purview of the undersecretary of the Air Force—which became public in late July—still puzzles many defense watchers. Responding to a question Tuesday, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters the split offered...

USAF Gen. Richard Myers, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, had a few sharp words for anyone harping about ongoing problems with new space programs: “There’s a lot of blame to go around there.” From a new weather satellite...

The joint nuclear operations doctrine that was posted in draft form on the Joint Chiefs of Staff Web page did not change the fundamentals on use of nuclear weapons, Myers told reporters. (See DR, 9/14/05) It is “not at all...

Analysts at the Congressional Budget Office assert that there is no way “to completely eliminate the adverse effects” faced by firms when their reserve employees are activated. The CBO proffers four options “for mitigating the effects,” but a CBO official...

Just winding down from its command and control function following Hurricane Katrina, officials at US Northern Command say they are gearing for requests for assistance for Hurricane Rita. NORTHCOM’s Joint Operations Center at Colorado Springs, Colo., is still in 24-hour...

The Air Force wants Raytheon and Northrop Grumman to compete for a contract to upgrade the Boeing F-15E Strike Eagle radar system with an active electronically scanned array, according to Flight International. Raytheon upgraded 18 of USAF’s F-15Cs with the...

Speaking at a San Francisco conference on Tuesday, Boeing Chief Financial Officer James Bell proclaimed optimism that the proposed merger of Boeing and Lockheed Martin space launch services would go through. The Air Force and the Federal Trade Commission recently...

According to Joint Forces Command officials, a program they created a year ago to place military members with a service different from their own at the three-star warfighting component level is paying off. In fact, they claim it has gotten...

The Pentagon said Tuesday that several personnel involved in the Able Danger data-mining operation would not testify during open session Wednesday of the Senate Judiciary Committee. Considering the Pentagon already made so much public during a briefing earlier this month,...

Talk around the Beltway never strays far from spending puzzles—the latest, of course, how to pay for Katrina. Analysts project the cost for recovery efforts at nearly $200 billion. Thoughts naturally turn to cuts. Questioned if the Pentagon would have...

Where’s My Posse?: The President has this idea that the military should have a domestic role in restoring order after disasters—natural or otherwise. Lawmakers are pursuing the idea as well. Republican Sen. John Warner of Virginia has asked the Pentagon...

The obvious question for many is whether handling such homeland defense duties would limit the capacity of the military to fight and win a war? The answer, says Rumsfeld, is that DOD officials have a system in place to “review...

Following the bombastic outpourings of Iranian President Mahmoud Ahmadinejad, Secretary of State Condoleezza Rice confirmed Monday that US concerns about the Iranian nuclear program now are shared across the globe. (DR, 9/20/05) Rice said that the concerns about Iran “have...

Members of Air Force Reserve Command’s 920th Rescue Wing flew fully a third of their Hurricane Katrina sorties in the dark in an area peppered with power lines and buildings, not to mention other aircraft. The Patrick AFB, Fla., airmen...

September 20, 2005 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 12 7 – 19 CAS/Armed Recon 46 26 – 72 Airlift – – 165 165 Air refueling – – 31 31 Total 58 33 196 287 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...