Latest J Model Is Done With Phase 2: The newest Hercules—the C-130J—has completed Phase 2 of its operational test & evaluation program, and, officials say, the Air Force Operational Test & Evaluation Center expects to have a final report by...

The pilot of an F-15 flying an air-to-air training mission out of Okinawa bailed out of his fighter before it crashed into the Pacific Ocean about 10 a.m. on Jan. 17, 2005. About 20 minutes later, an Air Force HH-60...

The word out of the latest rotation of bomber aircrews and maintainers to shuffle off to Andersen AFB, Guam, is that the climate on the island is “damp.” Airmen from the 28th Bomb Wing, Ellsworth AFB, S.D., have replaced their...

Some Pentagon pencil pushers contend that the Air Force has a “weak” commitment to space programs, so they want, according to Defense News, to move responsibility for the highly successful Global Positioning System from the Air Force to the Assistant...

The Justice Department has filed a class-action lawsuit against American Airlines, claiming the airline illegally denied benefits to its pilots while they served in the Air National Guard and Naval Reserve. It is the first legal action taken under the...

Wing Box Problem Spreads Among Old C-130s: About one year ago, Air Mobility Command grounded 30 C-130E transport aircraft that evinced numerous, severe cracks to the center wing box structure. It placed another 60 C-130s—a mix of models—in restricted flying...

Air Armament Center officials at Eglin AFB, Fla., have completed a series of test flight demonstrations for the Weapon Data Link Network—leading ultimately to the ability to communicate with a weapon after it has left an aircraft. The WDLN defines...

Bagram Medics Move Patients: Airmen of the 455th Expeditionary Operations Group Aeromedical Evacuation Flight at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, have flown, since September 2005, more than 80 missions, evacuating more than 300 patients to facilities elsewhere in Afghanistan and in Germany....

The Air National Guard’s 183rd Fighter Wing, Springfield, Ill., loses it F-16 fighters under BRAC 2005, and, like other states that got BRACed, it wants to line up a new mission. Illinois has one advantage over many other states because...

Air Mobility Command accident investigators have concluded that a May 15, 2005, mishap in which a Wisconsin Air National Guard KC-135R suddenly dropped 400 feet while flying at 37,000 feet over the Caribbean, was caused by “unforeseen, unforecasted, and unavoidable...

SrA. Jonathan L. Calhoun and A1C Erik F. Munana of the 898th Munitions Maintenance Squadron each have received an Airman’s Medal for voluntarily risking their lives on July 2, 2004, to aid a 3-year-old child and her disabled mother from...

The Air Mobility Warfare Center is about to roll out its new 3.5 day course designed to indoctrinate colonels who are slated to deploy as expeditionary mission support group commanders. The first course is set to kick off Feb. 7...

The folks at the Shreveport (La.) Times paid tribute to the Jan. 16-17, 1991, B-52 mission officially named “Senior Surprise” in its Jan. 16 edition. (The Times, very kindly, listed the 1994 Air Force Magazine article on same at the...

January 15-16, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 21 4 – 25 CAS/Armed Recon 106 18 – 124 Airlift – – 295 295 Air refueling – – 62 62 Total 127 22 357 506 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...