Two senior Air Force officials told members of the House Armed Services Committee last night that the service needs to start soon to replace its Eisenhower-era aerial refueling aircraft because the war on terror is taking its toll on the...

At the Projection Forces Subcommittee hearing last night, Rep. Jim Marshall (D-Ga.) asked whether the Air Force would prefer to buy more C-17s or recapitalize its tanker fleet. Lt. Gen. Donald Hoffman, military deputy for acquisition, said the service is...

Lt. Gen. Christopher Kelly told members of the House Armed Services Committee last night that USAF could buy 50 new tankers with the $6.1 billion the service would save through 2030 simply by retiring the oldest KC-135Es by 2010. It...

The governors have had their National Guard concerns mollified by their conversations with President Bush, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld, and Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, JCS Chairman—at least for now. Bush told them his Administration planned to maintain the strength...

The National Guard cut seen in the Administration’s 2007 defense budget proposal targets the Army Guard. Did the governors in their Washington meeting also take exception to the Air Force plan to trim the Air National Guard or did they...

A. Ernest Fitzgerald, Pentagon scold and press darling, is retiring in March after 42 years in government service, reports the San Francisco Chronicle. Fitzgerald, 79, a Navy veteran and Air Force financial management civilian employee, is perhaps most known for...

The Latest USAF Vision Is Out: The Air Force has released its new vision document, titled “Lasting Heritage … Limitless Horizons: A Warfighter’s Vision.” It’s a 28-page document with not much text. It replaces the 1997 document “Vision 2020,” but...

According to its just released vision statement (see above), the Air Force plans to create a new “cyber command” to expand upon the service’s leading role in cyberspace. We quote: “The Air Force will stand up a “cyber command” to...

Despite a presidential coup attempt in the Philippines and public unrest that led to declaration of a state of emergency, the 36th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, deployed from Yokota AB, Japan, continued to fly personnel and relief supplies to locations devastated...

Vehicle operators with the 92nd Logistics Readiness Squadron have returned home to Fairchild AFB, Wash., after serving in Iraq as the last contingent of Air Force gun-truck operators. The Fairchild airmen turned the gun-truck security mission over to the Army....

The Gallup Poll says Americans have changed their view since 2001 about which country poses the greatest threat—Iran has supplanted Iraq. When questioned in early February, 31 percent of Americans named Iran as the nation’s largest threat, while 22 percent...

Another probe of American consensus, taken by CBS News last week, shows that the war in Iraq is the most important problem facing the country today by a wide margin. Of those surveyed, 24 percent considered the Iraq war the...

In a new paper, the Congressional Research Service is unwavering in its view that a conventional ICBM would be of little value. As it did last fall, CRS notes that lawmakers and others maintain skepticism due to the historic association...

Iran’s decision to proceed with the development of its nuclear program has raised concerns across the world about its intentions. In a draft of a new report being prepared by the Center for Strategic and International Studies, Anthony Cordesman and...

February 27, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 13 4 – 17 CAS/Armed Recon 48 20 – 68 Airlift – – 170 170 Air refueling – – 32 32 Total 61 24 202 287 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...