Keeping the B-2 Mission a Missouri Affair: Missouri’s Congressional delegation announced Monday that the Air Force has decided to pair the Air National Guardsmen of the 131st Fighter Wing, currently stationed at Lambert Airport in St. Louis, with the active...

The commander of Air Mobility Command agreed with other military leaders about the utility and high usage of the C-17 strategic airlifter, saying the nation is using the new cargo jet at an “unprecedented rate.” Gen. Duncan McNabb told legislators...

Gen. Duncan McNabb, AMC commander, says he views a new tanker—with floors, doors, and defensive systems—that he can use for either aerial refueling or cargo-hauling missions “to hedge” those cargo missions that the Civil Reserve Air Fleet cannot fly, specifically...

The Air Force added purchase and installation of defensive systems for C-130s and C-37s to its 2007 unfunded list, prompting lawmakers to ask about the level of vulnerability for these tactical airlifters. USAF Gen. Norton Schwartz, head of US Transportation...

Supreme Court Derails Law School Challenge to Military Recruiters: In a unanimous ruling, the Supreme Court said Monday that universities and colleges that take federal money have to allow military recruiters on campus, regardless of objections to DOD policies by...

Pacific Air Forces has deployed more than 70 airmen from Kunsan AB, South Korea, for a month-long exercise dubbed Operation Commando Sling with the Republic of Singapore’s armed forces. The primary focus of the exercise—in its 16th year—will be air-to-air...

According to Air Education and Training Command, AB Joshua M. Rolfe, who died on Oct. 29, 2005, after he collapsed during the second lap of a six-lap physical fitness readiness run at Lackland AFB, Tex., had a rare, pre-existing heart...

Members of the Canadian Air Force flew to Homestead ARB, Fla., to participate with Air Force Reserve Command in a joint exercise known as “ChumEx”—a war game with fighter units from allied nations that hones aerial dog fighting skills, said...

New Reserve Commission Starts Work: A 13-member commission created by Congress to independently assess the strength of the National Guard and Reserves kicked off its work March 6 at a press conference in Washington, D.C. Highlighting the change of the...

China Boosts Defense Spending by 15 Percent: China announced at its annual National People’s Congress this past weekend that it would raise military spending this year by 15 percent—to $35.1 billion, according to the Wall Street Journal. Remember last year,...

The Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass., is meeting the Air Force acquisition initiative “Going Green” with what it terms “Blue Teams.” The term “Going Green” refers to the color-coding usually associated with a program that is in good shape. The Air Force wants to have at least nine out of 10 of its acquisition programs in the green by 2010. At ESC, officials decided they needed to replace the Red Team approach, where a team will “swoop in” to fix a troubled program, with a preventative one in which Blue Teams identify and solve problems that may happen. They try to anticipate complaints “two years down the road” and attempt to engineer the system to address them before they can materialize, said Rich Byrne, technical director for ESC’s Engineering Directorate.

The Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin “more than $50 million” on March 3 for a contract to perform launch and range operations on the East and West Coast, mission integration, systems engineering and program management, subcontract work, factory support engineering,...

USAF has been training the new Iraqi Air Force, which officials say has made “significant progress” in only a few months. “We are starting over, “ the head of the Iraqi Air Force, Maj. Gen. Kamal Barzanjy, told USAF journalist...

Officials with the Air Force and the St. Louis County Port Authority have reached agreement on the transfer of 39 acres of land to the port authority. The National Imagery Mapping Agency once used the property that the federal government...

Eighteen Delaware Air National Guardsmen from the 142nd Airlift Squadron of the 166th Airlift Wing have reached an incredible milestone—one rarely attained by active duty aircrews—more than 5,000 hours of flying time in the C-130H. “These crews are among the...

March 3-5, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 38 11 – 49 CAS/Armed Recon 142 35 – 177 Airlift – – 515 515 Air refueling – – 89 89 Total 180 46 604 830 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...