An Alaskan Air National Guard C-130 aircrew just kept flying and trying their radio to reach ground forces, determined not to leave before airdropping a load of ammunition to US Army soldiers in Afghanistan. A change in frequency got them...

The Air Force’s long-standing Corona, a gathering of four-star generals, has a wider-reaching companion, the “Blue Summit.” Service leaders just finished their second such meeting—this one in St. Louis—bringing together all general officers of all three components plus all senior...

Georgia lawmakers have entered the fray caused by the Air Force proposal to shift critical civilian personnel positions from several Air Force Materiel Command bases to the central personnel center in Texas. Folks at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center have...

The Air Force has decided to reduce award fees to Boeing because the company’s work on next-generation Global Positioning System satellites—GPS IIF—reportedly is more than $260 million over budget and three years behind schedule. USAF announced earlier this week that...

In a lengthy letter to airmen, Chief of Staff Michael Moseley writes that after taking a 40-percent post-Cold War personnel reduction, the Air Force “has been driven to sacrifice its future to keep manpower constant,” leading to a “decades-old decline of investment accounts.” To wit, by not cutting more people, the service has not been able to buy new aircraft and new space systems. To remedy this situation, Moseley and Secretary Michael Wynne embarked on the current plan to cut 40,000 full-time equivalent positions over the next five years. People—presumably unnecessary people—must go. Moseley explains: “To stay within our allocated budgets and to increase our investment accounts, the reality is we have to draw the force down.” Moseley writes also that the service’s remaining personnel should “work smarter, not harder.”

The Pentagon is poised to make another change to the Unified Command Plan, this time establishing a separate command to handle Africa, reports Time Magazine online. The “African Command” would relieve three other regional commands that share responsibility for operations...

The Air Force has increased the size of its deployment of combat search and rescue forces in Iraq, making the 64th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron the largest CSAR outfit since the Vietnam War, reports the Red Tail Flyer. The squadron is larger than rescue squadrons in the US. Recently the 64th ERQS added five additional HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters, nearly tripling the unit’s aircraft. The number of aircrew, pararescue jumpers, and combat rescue officers has grown as well to sustain a 24/7 operation. Their mission also expanded to cover not just downed aircrews but also special operations missions.

The House Permanent Select Committee on Intelligence has released into the August Congressional doldrums a new report on Iran. The main thrust of the unclassified report is that the threat posed by Iran is high and growing higher, but the...

The airmen of the 55th Fighter Squadron from Shaw AFB, S.C., participating in Combat Hammer at Hill AFB, Utah, are experiencing some rare fighter pilot thrills, according to Lt. Col. Tom Littleton. The 55th FS director of operations says the...

Pacific Air Forces plans to deactivate its 607th Combat Communications Squadron in South Korea as part of a command-wide restructuring of its communications capability that will culminate with establishment of a regional unit at Andersen AFB, Guam, reports Stars and...

Air National Guardsmen of the 199th Fighter Squadron at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, got the chance to fly their F-15s against reserve brethren flying F-16s from Air Force Reserve Command’s 93rd Fighter Squadron at Homestead ARB, Fla., in a dissimilar aircraft...

Boeing issued a news release last week to ensure the Air Force knows the company plans to “compete aggressively” to be able to continue working KC-135 and KC-10 maintenance, repair, overhaul, and logistics in San Antonio, at the site of...

A new Gallup poll shows that the American view on who is winning the war on terror did not improve despite the London-Washington et al success against the recent airliner bombing plot. Currently about 35 percent of respondents believe the...

Aug. 24, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 15 8 23 CAS/Armed Recon 45 27 72 Airlift 160 160 Air refueling 37 37 Total 60 35 197 292 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance