Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.) has taken issue with the Air Force’s 2007 budget proposal to retire some B-52 bombers because, he says, “Right now deep strike largely resides on the back of these ancient B-52s.” Hunter pointed out during an...

Responding to questioning by House Armed Services Committee Chairman Duncan Hunter, the Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Michael Moseley, acknowledged that a new long-range strike platform is “a long time” away. Hunter believes the Air Force move to retire...

When it comes right down to it, the Air Force Chief of Staff, Gen. Michael Moseley, says he believes “the C-17 is a much more valuable asset than the C-5A.” Note that he specifically said the “A” model; that’s the...

The Bell-Boeing team has delivered the first combat-configured CV-22 tilt-rotor aircraft to Air Force Special Operations Command. Getting the keys to the new Osprey was Lt. Col. Jim Cardoso, commander of 71st Special Operations Squadron, which will use the new...

Officials at Little Rock AFB, Ark., say that training of C-130 aircrews is falling behind because too many older C-130 Hercules are grounded or restricted for wing-box fractures. The base has 33 of the 82 C-130s currently grounded by Air...

Lt. Col. Dirk Smith, commander of the 94th Fighter Squadron at Langley AFB, Va., and Maj. Kevin Dolata, flew the squadron’s first two new F-22A stealth fighters to the Air Combat Command base from Lockheed Martin’s Marietta, Ga., production facility...

Sixty members of the Virginia Air National Guard’s 192nd Fighter Wing are working with their active duty counterparts in the 1st Fighter Wing at Langley AFB, Va., to learn how to operate and maintain the new F-22A fighters. The Air...

Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told the House Armed Services Committee that canceling the alternate engine program for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter was “a very tough call,” involving long-term reliability statistics and economics. He granted that the service needed...

Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told lawmakers last week that he believes the service needs to set up “another special program office” right next to the National Reconnaissance Office’s Chantilly, Va., headquarters so the Air Force and NRO can “share...

Testifying before the House Budget Committee, Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England asked Congress for help in the Pentagon effort to increase Tricare fees for military retirees. “We have a lot of laws enacted by the Congress that increase benefits,” said...

A group of Senators from Georgia, Oklahoma, and Utah recently went out to the depots to see how things are shaking out. They liked what they saw, Sen. Jim Inhofe (R-Okla.), told Air Force leaders at a budget hearing last...

The Air Force officially has released its 2006 Posture Statement in a glossy 52-page document. (Service leaders provided a text only version during their testimony before the House and Senate Armed Services Committees last week. (See it at right under...

March 2, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 12 3 – 15 CAS/Armed Recon 56 20 – 76 Airlift – – 175 175 Air refueling – – 31 31 Total 68 23 206 297 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...