Speaking at the AFA Los Angeles Space Symposium Friday, Maj. Gen. Roger Burg covered, briefly, the sensitive topic of providing offensive capabilities to defend national security assets in space. Burg, who is director of strategic security for USAF air and...

Burg went on to say that he is working hard on Capitol Hill and in other places to dispel the myth that non-deployed service members are not active participants in the Global War on Terror. “That’s absolutely wrong,” Burg says...

The Air Force’s long-awaited—and long-delayed—tanker analysis of alternatives is set to be released around Dec. 16. However, it is likely to be a slim document. The RAND study includes proprietary information from Boeing, Airbus, and other companies that cannot be...

For C-17 Backers, a Cold Giambastiani Shower: Those who want to expand USAF’s C-17 fleet have been giddy recently, given newfound support in the Senate (DR 11/11/05) and Defense Science Board (DR 11/15/05). They are more sober now, deflated by...

Without orders for additional C-17s, Boeing’s Long Beach, Calif., line could well close in 2008, after the 180th airplane is built. Giambastiani, though negative about the idea, left the door to production slightly ajar. He noted that the C-17 matter...

Debate on the Iraq war is in a new and inflamed phase today, kicked into overdrive by the hawkish Rep. John Murtha. The Pennsylvania lawmaker, a senior Democratic voice on defense, abandoned his former support of the war. In a...

Retired Gen. John P. Jumper believes the Air Force could shrink further. The former Chief of Staff was quoted in an Enid (Okla.) News & Eagle story as saying he expects USAF will have to become leaner and more flexible....

Is the Joint Strike Fighter really in QDR trouble, or is talk of major cuts some kind of evil Pentagon negotiating ploy? These days, you can get arguments for either position. One straw in the wind, however, is a recent...

A new Pentagon directive bars the public affairs shops of the armed forces from taking about, or answering any questions concerning, the ongoing Quadrennial Defense Review. Until recently, a service could, if it wished, sketch out the “context” of QDR...

US Air Force and Indian Air Force wrap up their major air-combat exercise this week, having been going at it more or less non-stop since Nov. 7. Cope India has featured USAF F-16s against a variety of IAF hardware, including...

The man who runs US Special Operations Command, Gen. Bryan Brown, hopes to expand at least one specific Air Force SOF unit—the 120-member 6th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla. It provides America’s only foreign aviation defense capability, said...

The Misty FACs of the Vietnam War were a legendary bunch—only 144 in all. Those with an abiding interest in this famous unit should be on the lookout for a new book now circulating in galleys. “Bury Us Upside Down:...

The President of Romania says he and the US have struck a deal for a US military presence in his country. According to Reuters news service, Traian Basescu has agreed to let the American military use sites on the Black...

The Bush Administration has been talking with officials in Poland about stationing a missile defense site in Poland to defend Europe against long-range ballistic missiles. Poland, however, is not exactly jumping at the chance to be first in Europe to...

Army Maj. Gen. William Webster says the push by US lawmakers to establish a definite departure date is “a recipe for disaster.” According to the Washington Post, Webster, who commands 3rd Infantry Division in Iraq, told reporters that setting a...

The House passed its measure to protect the financial rights of US service members in June. The Senate, on the other hand, has been waiting for the just released Government Accountability report that basically says it is high time to safeguard troops from deceptive financial practices. (Read our coverage of the House action here.) The Senate Committee on Banking, Housing, and Urban Affairs took up the matter at a hearing Nov. 17.

China plans to up the height limit for its future pilots, according to Xinhuanet news service. Are Chinese growing taller? Maybe, but not by much overall, despite the occasional American basketball recruit. The proposed height increase is only 0.07 meters,...

No More Murderer’s Row: Tucked into the Senate’s 2006 defense authorization bill is an amendment that puts paid to burial in a national cemetery of anyone who’s convicted of a capital offense. (DR 09/26/05) And, wherever such an individual is...

The charge by North Dakota Democratic Sen. Kent Conrad to “save” the 500-strong Minuteman missile force received unanimous support from the Senate. (DR 09/23/05) Conrad and friends included an amendment in the 2006 defense authorization measure that states: “It is...

Pentagon officials say anyone who is considering the new Medicare prescription drug plan should “weight the facts.” They do not believe it is “the most prudent” plan for everyone. Medicare-eligible people can sign up now for the new program, which...

November 16, 2005 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 8 3 – 11 CAS/Armed Recon 60 23 – 83 Airlift – – 135 135 Air refueling – – 37 37 Total 68 26 172 266 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...