The Airdropping C-17

USAF’s versatile C-17 airlifter—easily switching from strategic to tactical transport—recently completed an airdrop of 50,000 pounds of ammunition to US Army units engaged in a firefight in Afghanistan. It was the first such drop for a C-17 of the 817th...

Fleeing From Major Typhoon

Those new Pacific Air Forces C-17s at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, evacuated residents off tiny Wake Island—located 2,300 miles west of Honolulu—in anticipation of Super Typhoon Ioke, which is expected to hit Wake today with 155 mph winds. All 188 residents...

The B-2s Are Done at Guam, for This Tour

The last contingent of B-2 bomber pilots, maintainers, and support staff who deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam, over the last four months to help bolster Pacific region security are returning to their home base—and taking their bombers with them—at Whiteman...

Checking Them Twice or More

The Pentagon says it will monitor military recruiters over a period of five to 10 months to gather data about military recruiting practices to confront allegations of rising wrongdoing, according to Associated Press news service. AP reported earlier this month...

They Come and They Go

The Pentagon has decided to scrap (more or less) its Force Transformation Office, which has been rudderless since the death of it first and only leader, Arthur Cebrowski, in November 2005. It is boosting the Undersecretary of Defense for Policy,...

Robert McDermott Dies

Retired Brig. Gen. Robert F. McDermott, former dean of the Air Force Academy, died Aug. 28 of a stroke at Brooke Army Medical Center in San Antonio. He was 86. A World War II combat pilot, McDermott was best known...

Intel Officer Earns Bronze Star

Capt. Loree Filizer, acting director of operations for the 11th Intelligence Squadron at Hurlburt Field, Fla., received the Bronze Star for “actions leading to an airstrike” in June that killed a known enemy, according to Air Force Special Operations Command....

Volcano Relief

Eight US Air Force medics from bases in Arizona, California, North Dakota, and Texas are working with Ecuadorian military doctors to aid victims of the Tungurahua volcano eruption earlier this month. US Southern Command asked for medical personnel in family...

The Lebanon Crew

Vice Adm. J “Boomer” Stufflebeem, appointed as commander of Joint Task Force Lebanon by US European Command, has assigned two task force commanders to aid US State Department operations in the Middle East. Stufflebeem tapped Air Force Col. Brad Webb...

Reservists Provide Aero Medevac Link

Air Force Reserve Command airmen with the 445th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, have finished their fourth four-month rotation operating from Andrews AFB, Md., as aeromed recovery and movement central. Flying on available C-17, C-130, or KC-135 aircraft,...

Fourth Generation LITENING:

Northrop Grumman says it plans to develop fourth-generation enhancements for its LITENING AT precision targeting and sensor system. Improvements in development include a more advanced forward-looking infrared laser and new two-way data links for better air-to-ground communication. The current LITENING...

Does It Work or Not?:

According to the Pentagon’s chief of health affairs, William Winkenwerder, DOD’s new digital medical record system—known as AHLTA, and it’s not an acronym—is one of the ways in which DOD is “leading the way” in medical interoperability and data sharing....

Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism

Aug. 28, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 15 7 22 CAS/Armed Recon 42 23 65 Airlift 170 170 Air refueling 36 36 Total 57 30 206 293 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance