October 2, 2006 | Air & Space Forces Magazine

Multiyear OK for Raptors:

In the 2007 defense spending bill, just signed into law by President Bush, Congress approved the Air Force’s controversial multiyear procurement plan for the F-22A Raptor. According to the conference report, House and Senate appropriators agreed to an MYP for...

Selling to Foreigners a No Go:

The 2007 defense appropriations bill specifically prohibits the sale of the F-22A to “any foreign government.” The House had approved a foreign sales provision, but the House-Senate conferees stripped it from the bill. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael...

Labor Scores over NSPS:

Congress has sided with labor unions against the Pentagon over the National Security Personnel System, prohibiting use of 2007 funds for NSPS labor relations actions. The House-Senate conference report for the 2007 defense spending bill would remove this limitation should...

Got to Keep Them Going:

The Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $1.4 billion contract for F-117 Nighthawk weapon system sustainment. According to the contract, individual delivery orders may also be issued for aircraft modification, change proposal activities, supplemental sustainment support, tailored depot work packages,...

And the Real Story Is?:

According to the Korean newspaper Hankyoreh, Washington and Seoul are talking about creating something called the “Korean Peninsular Air Force Post Command,” which would take command of air forces on the peninsula, eclipsing 7th Air Force at Osan AB, South...

Never Enough:

Lt. Gen. Roger Brady, head of USAF manpower and personnel, says Air Force efforts to recruit and keep scientists and engineers are ongoing. “We are always short of engineers and people of a scientific bent,” Brady told attendees at AFA’s...

NATO to Shepherd all Afghan Provinces:

NATO will take control of some 12,000 American troops based in eastern Afghanistan, a decision agreed upon by the alliance’s defense ministers and US military officials. A NATO statement said the International Security Assistance Force would expand to include another...

EMP-irical Knowledge:

Vehemently discounting the latest national intelligence estimates that Iran won’t develop nuclear weapons for 10 years, Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) says, “The Israelis count it as one, and I’d say two.” Speaking at AFA’s Air & Space Conference last week,...

The Dutch to the Rescue?:

The BRAC Commission wouldn’t do it, but the Dutch may be responsible for the Air National Guard unit in Springfield, Ohio, retaining a flying mission. Lt. Gen. Craig McKinley, the new ANG chief, said at AFA’s Air & Space Conference...

Advancing an African Command:

A proposal for a new African Command is in the final stages and will be sent to Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld by the end of October, an unnamed military official told Voice of America News. Time Magazine online reported in...

Airmen Fly with Africans:

Airmen from Ramstein AB, Germany deployed with a Botswana C-130 aircrew to the Darfur region in support of an African Union peacekeeping effort. US airmen from the 86th Operations Support Squadron, 86th Air Mobility Squadron, and 786th Security Forces Squadron...

Mx Trainer to Smooth Transition:

To help maintainers learn the new avionics modernization program upgrades on the C-5 Galaxy aircraft they will be fixing, Air Mobility Command and Air Education and Training Command commissioned a special simulator to train them. Called the Combined Avionics Systems...

Missing Major Investigation Still On-Going:

What happened the night Maj. Jill Metzger disappeared from the department store in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan is still a mystery—and will be for an unknown period of time. “We’re plugging ahead with the investigation as fast as we can,” MSgt. Carolyn...

Radar Activated in Japan:

According to Associated Press news service, the US military has activated a high powered X-band radar outpost in Aomori Prefecture, Japan to protect against ballistic missiles, amid growing concerns of North Korean weapons programs. It is part of the joint...