The Army has spoken now so there must be an agreement in the offing for Air Force-Army cooperation on a Light/Future Cargo Aircraft. Army Brig. Gen. Stephen Mundt, head of the Army’s Aviation Task Force, said late last week, according...

It is true that the Pentagon wants to develop another satellite to compete (or augment) the Space Based Infrared System; it has a name—the Alternative Infrared Satellite System (AIRSS), according to the Space and Missile Systems Center. SMC officials also...

The Air Force put on a special ceremony at Andrews AFB, Md., to welcome its new Secretary—Michael Wynne—back into the “blue.” Wynne is a West Point graduate, but he transferred to the Air Force, serving seven years on active duty....

Capt. Greg Jones and A1C Ian Hughes, both assigned to the 37th Airlift Squadron, Ramstein AB, Germany, received Air Medals for their combat service in Southwest Asia. Jones piloted a C-130E on 20 missions, transporting critical cargo, distinguished visitors, and...

As weapons advance so must the pylons that carry and connect them to the aircraft. The 309th Commodities Maintenance Squadron at Ogden Air Logistics Center, Utah, is upgrading the pylons for F-16 fighters. The 309th maintainers remove the existing wiring...

Competing interests that escalated size and cost have derailed the Aerial Common Sensor aircraft under contract with Lockheed Martin. The Army-led effort got the chop last week. Army and Navy officials envisioned the ACS as a replacement aircraft for the...

Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld has confirmed that shortly before L. Paul Bremer III left his post as top US official in Iraq in June 2004, Bremer sent him a memo calling for more troops to confront the insurgency. The issue...

Lt. Gen. Walter E. Buchanan III, commander of US Central Command Air Forces, praised the work of coalition forces at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, during a last trip through his area of responsibility. “Bagram has continued to evolve and has become...

After Hurricane Katrina devastated Keesler AFB, Miss., last summer, the base suspended its normal training mission but joined in humanitarian operations, even as it began tackling hurricane damage at the base. Keesler officials say that, as of mid-December, base efforts...

The head of Air Force Reserve Command, Lt. Gen. John Bradley, flew a new C-17 transport aircraft named after the late President Ronald Reagan to its home at March ARB, Calif., on Jan. 13. Upon its arrival, former First Lady...

The Eastern Range, operated by the 45th Space Wing, Patrick AFB, Fla., is the beneficiary of a $40 million communications upgrade, courtesy of the Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif. The new Post Detection Telemetry Subsystem digitizes,...

The 653rd Combat Logistics Support Squadron’s Aircraft Battle Damage Repair Team from Robins AFB, Ga., literally helped write the book in dealing with a severely damaged C-17 stuck in the sand at Bagram AB, Afghanistan. The Robins team joined forces with what’s called the Recovery and Modification Services Team—comprising contractors and Air Force personnel from C-17 bases—to dig the airlifter out of eight cubic feet of sand and make extensive repairs—“the most damage” ever seen on the new airlifter, said MSgt. Phillip Williams, team chief on this job, describing the feat to the Robins Rev-Up recently. The C-17 was “so badly damaged that we had to basically rebuild the whole belly section … and the pod by hand,” to get it in condition to fly back to the Boeing aircraft plant in Long Beach, Calif., said MSgt. David Calbillo, assistant CLSS team chief. It took them only two months—instead of an estimated three or four—working around the clock.

Pundits increasingly question whether the insurgency within Iraq has foreign roots, as some Administration officials have claimed. The National Review’s Michael Ledeen argues that question is not easy to answer. Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld recently tried to disassociate the word...

There is a new article by Stephen Hayes in the Weekly Standard that could help quash the now oft cited “fact” that there was no link between Saddam Hussein and terrorists. Hayes says Bush Administration critics have based their claim...

The Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments, a Washington defense think tank, offers its own “highly speculative” estimate for the cost of operations in Iraq and Afghanistan and Operation Noble Eagle at home, positing a total cost of $337 billion...

Boeing has signed a lease to construct three hangars at the Maintenance, Repair & Overhaul Technology Center (MROTC) across from the Oklahoma Air Logistics Center at Tinker AFB, Okla. This is the first major development for the MROTC, a joint...

January 12-14, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 29 9 – 38 CAS/Armed Recon 148 57 – 205 Airlift – – 535 535 Air refueling – – 85 85 Total 177 66 620 863 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...