The Air Force has just identified the Air National Guard’s 163rd Air Refueling Wing at March ARB, Calif., as the recipient-to-be of a new MQ-1 Predator UAV unit. The 2005 BRAC sliced off the 163rd’s KC-135 aerial refueling aircraft, so...

A USAF “pre-decisional” and undated information paper reveals that the Pentagon has directed the Army and Air Force to form a joint program office to merge efforts on the Future Cargo Aircraft and Light Cargo Aircraft programs. Was there ever...

At least three news reports now say the second Joint Strike Fighter engine program—the one under contract to the General Electric-Rolls Royce team—is doomed. One by Reuters news service quotes knowledgeable defense analyst Loren Thompson, who says flatly that the...

Global Hawk Hits 5K: An Air Force’s RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle recently surpassed the 5,000 combat flying hour mark while flying a mission in the global war on terror, says Northrop Grumman. The UAV began flying combat missions...

Long Beach Steps Up C-17 Blitz: The civic leaders of Long Beach, Calif., are going on a full court press to save Boeing’s C-17 assembly line in Long Beach. They have formed a “red team” of economic development officials, Boeing...

Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne formally implemented information technology “lean” re-engineering improvements for acquisition activities last month. Currently, the Electronic Systems Center’s Operations Support Systems Wing is using the process and force-wide implementation is scheduled by May 28. Before the...

A DOD committee formed shortly after Gulf War I to oversee combat trauma surgery programs gathered at Ft. Sam Houston, Tex., last month, to review its set a new agenda. Among accomplishments from its first decade, the group has created...

The hue and cry for ouster of Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.) from the rolls of “once a marine, always a marine” may be heard anew. The longtime lawmaker and staunch military supporter—and retired Marine colonel—made headlines again, saying on ABC...

USAF and US Navy fighters provided close air support on Jan. 2 for coalition troops fighting enemy forces near Balad, Bayji, and Tikrit. A Navy F-14 fired a precision-guided munition, striking enemy forces planting an improvised explosive device near Bayji.

US Central Command Air Forces officials say that a US Air Force C-130 helped transport a child born with spina bifida and her father and grandmother on their journey to the US for treatment for the baby, which Iraqi doctors...

Faced with the Air Force’s force shaping plan to drop some 4,000 officers in 2006 (not to mention the 40,000 personnel cut coming for 2006-11), two lieutenants at Ellsworth AFB, S.D., already have opted to head out for the Army,...

Managing security operations at Ali Base and Camp Adder in Iraq is a coalition force manning what’s called the Combined Defense Operations Center. The CDOC comprises, among others, USAF controllers and camera operators, a US Army convoy and patrol tracking...

The Joint Chiefs of Staff will support the Pentagon plan to increase Tricare fees for military retirees and their families, according to Tom Philpott, contributing editor to Air Force Magazine. The planned increases, to be included in the 2007 defense...

The US Air Force Academy Association of Graduates have awarded retired Gen. Hansford T. Johnson and retired Gen. Michael E. Ryan with its 2005 Distinguished Graduate award. Johnson commanded Military Airlift Command and was the first USAFA grad to make...

For the Air Force Reserve Command C-130 aircrew from the 731st Airlift Squadron, Peterson AFB, Colo., flying into Balad AB, Iraq, on New Year’s eve, the mission was just another night sortie, one of many they have flown on this...

January 2, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 12 6 – 18 CAS/Armed Recon 58 17 – 75 Airlift – – 165 165 Air refueling – – 31 31 Total 70 23 196 289 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...