Air Combat Command has declared initial operational capability six months earlier than anticipated for Boeing’s Small Diameter Bomb. Gen. Ronald Keys, ACC boss, said the 250-pound autonomous GBU-39B reached IOC on Oct. 2. It has been deployed to Southwest Asia...

If Congress has its way, the Pentagon will have to return to the tried-and-true method it used for more than 45 years to measure airlift capability—the million ton miles per day metric. The Joint Staff eschewed the MTM/D metric when...

The 2007 defense authorization legislation purports to divorce the Quadrennial Defense Review from monetary considerations, a particular hobby-horse for Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), who, as chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, declaimed often that the QDR has become a...

Speaking with airmen at Kirtland AFB, N.M., Wednesday, Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace acknowledged that one of the questions he gets most often when he visits deployed troops has to do with tour-length differences from service to service. Pace says...

Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, JCS Chairman, thinks that the US military scores well when it come to intent to transform, but its way down the scale on follow-through. At Kirtland AFB, N.M., Wednesday, Pace said that on a 10-point...

The Air Force plans to reactivate 3rd Air Force—it was just a year ago that US Air Forces in Europe deactivated it. The news is seeping out, as you can see from this biography of Lt. Gen. Robert Bishop Jr.,...

The 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron played a key role in Operation Mountain Fury by delivering essential supplies to troops on the ground, a story told in detail in the Desert Eagle. The C-130 aircrews with the 746th EAS delivered meals-ready-to-eat, potable water, ammunition, and other supplies to US forces fighting Taliban extremists in the Afghan mountains. Lt. Col. Kevin White, an Air Force Reserve Command C-130 aircraft commander, told the Eagle, that the C-130 was made for this type of flying, adding, though, that the “mountainous terrain is challenging, especially at night.” The 746th EAS flew a four-day mission that included flying multiple sorties in the combat zone from Jalalabad on the Pakistani border to outlying bases Salerno and Farah. “The supplies we delivered helped these guys survive and fight the enemy,” said veteran AFRC loadmaster MSgt. John Eichenberg.

Airmen at Hickam AFB, Hawaii are using a new kind of simulator designed to prepare them for emergency egress situations—when they must eject from their aircraft and use their parachute to land. Called Parasim, the simulator uses new computer programs...

Air Force Reserve Command plans to change the way its groups Reserve colonels to meet promotion selection boards, beginning Oct. 16. It will merge selected reserve and participating individual ready reserve lieutenant colonels being considered for colonel. The head of...

Deploy five of USAF’s metal technicians from various US home stations, arm them at Balad AB, Iraq with welding irons, drill presses and other tools, then, step back. Tapping a hefty dose of resourcefulness, the airmen of the 332nd Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron not only fix aircraft parts to keep F-16s flying, but also manufacture “must have” blast plating for bomb disposal technicians, and brackets for Army helicopter blades, reports the Red Tail Flyer. They can make workstations for radar approach and control, and fabricate parts needed for all USAF aircraft in the combat zone. “The different kinds of customers we have definitely keeps us busy,” said SrA. Daniel Lindsay, a South Dakota Air National Guardsman.

The National Museum of the US Air Force has decided to save a Massachusetts Air National Guard F-15A from the boneyard because of its role as a first responder following the 9/11 attacks. The 102nd Fighter Wing at Otis ANGB,...

Air Force Research Lab scientists have proved that chemical lasers can use recycled fuel during a test at Kirtland AFB, NM. A chemical laser was fueled with recycled hydrogen peroxide and chlorine waste from previous laser tests and then successfully...

Seventy-one percent of Iraqi citizens want the US to withdraw troops within a year, according to a recent World Public Opinion poll. An “overwhelming majority believes that the US military presence in Iraq is provoking more conflict than it is...

USAF has again topped the list of the Environmental Protection Agency’s “Green Power” purchasers, besting even the EPA, which placed 4th in the listing of 25 top environmentally friendly purchasers. The list recognizes the top government agencies, corporations, cities, and...

Oct. 4, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 14 10 24 CAS/Armed Recon 46 35 81 Airlift 130 130 Air refueling 33 33 Total 60 45 163 268 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance