Air Force Special Operations Command’s 8th Special Operations Squadron has returned to Florida after a Southwest Asia stint in which the airmen flew their last missions in the MC-130E Combat Talon I—ending 41 years of active-duty service for the aircraft....

A pair of USAF F-16s assigned to the 421st Expeditionary Fighter Squadron in Southwest Asia surpassed the 6,000 flying hour mark during two recent combat missions over Iraq. Flown by Lt. Col. Mark Cline, the 421st EFS commander, and Capt....

The Air Force Reserve Command plans to translate its traditional associate unit role—supplying airmen to fly and maintain active-duty aircraft—to the Joint Space Operations Center at Vandenberg AFB, Calif. The reserve manpower that will share in operating and maintaining equipment...

We would like to offer a summary review of the new “Air Force Doctrine Document 2, Operations and Organization,” but—contrary to a USAF claim—it is not yet posted online. An Air Force news release reports that the new doctrine—in its...

The airmen of the 40th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron that maintain the B-1B bombers flying combat mission over Afghanistan haven’t missed one of more than 165 launches during the present expeditionary rotation, according to an feature article by Air Force journalist...

NATO’s International Security Assistance Force took charge of the southern region of Afghanistan on Monday from the US-led coalition forces. NATO has slowly expanded its areas of control since assuming its initial mission in Kabul in 2003. “This is one...

The Air National Guardsman who heads up the Air Expeditionary Group for Cooperative Cope Thunder (to become a Red Flag-Alaska exercise), Col. Greg Nelson, took the opportunity to meet with senior airmen from Japan and South Korea, who are participating...

Elsewhere in the Pacific region, the early morning flights—takeoffs and unusually quick returns—by USAF F-15s flying routine training from Kadena AB, Japan, on the island of Okinawa, caused an outcry from island residents, reports Stars and Stripes. Bad weather and...

With North Korea’s 4th of July missile show still resonating politically around the globe, another foray from that region—this time from Taiwan—is likely to exacerbate the volatile situation. The Christian Science Monitor reports that Taiwan is gearing up for a...

Air Education and Training Command is deploying a mobile training team—complete with 1,400 pounds of equipment—from Keesler AFB, Miss., for a six-week stay at Camp Arifjan, Kuwait. Two trainers will offer diverse global command and control system technical training to...

A recent survey by The Gallup Poll still finds that a majority of Americans view US involvement in Iraq was and is a mistake. Over the past year, the number has waxed and waned slightly, and even drew to a...

Military Medics Advance Trauma Care: Air Force Reserve Command surgeon Col. Jay Johannigman—on his third combat tour—says that today’s military medic “has re-emerged as a leader and innovator, leaning forward and taking home important medical lessons.” One such innovation is...

July 28-30, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 49 23 72 CAS/Armed Recon 134 68 202 Airlift 520 520 Air refueling 120 120 Total 183 91 640 914 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance