Perfect Score

B-52 bomber maintenance crews deployed from Minot AFB, N.D., to Andersen AFB, Guam, have sustained a 100 percent mission effectiveness rate and 100 percent weapons release rate for every sortie their six bombers flew during the past month—50 sorties and...

C-17 Projects Expand Dover:

Officials from Dover AFB, Del., recently detailed current and planned construction on the base for the state’s Congressional delegation and area civic and business leaders. Six of the nine current projects will aid the beddown of C-17 airlifters at the...

A Brighter 2006 Recruiting Picture Overall

The active military services all achieved 100 percent or better on their Fiscal 2006 recruiting goals, and, unlike last year when the Army came up short by some 6,700 bodies, the land service recorded 635 more new recruits than its...

Air Force Looks at “Whole Person”

When searching for new recruits, the Air Force uses a “whole person concept” and may administer waivers on a case by case basis, Brig. Gen. Suzanne Vautrinot, commander of Air Force Recruiting Service at Randolph AFB, Tex., told reporters Tuesday...

Walking a Fine Line

A new Congressional Budget Office report analyzes the potential recruiting and retention factors affecting each of the services through 2011 of the Future Years Defense Program. For the Air Force, the CBO looks at the coming personnel reductions that will...

F135 Engine Hits 6K

Pratt & Whitney’s F135 engine for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter has amassed more than 6,000 hours of testing system development and demonstration ground testing, in addition to the more than 3,600 hours logged during the concept demonstration...

A New Guy at 19th

Air Education and Training Command installed Maj. Gen. Irving Halter Jr. as commander of 19th Air Force last week during a ceremony at Randolph AFB, Tex. AETC chief, Gen. William Looney, oversaw the flag transfer from Maj. Gen. Marc Rogers...

Lockheed Gets Imagery Contract

The Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin a $3.5 million contract to “expedite imagery and intelligence report sharing” by early fielding of the Distributed Common Ground System integration backbone (DIB) at five Air Force sites, according to a company statement. Lockheed...

A New Tail at Dover

Officials at Dover AFB, Del., decided to revamp the tail flash used to identify base mobility aircraft. The new design, they say, represents the wings and the state. The eagle’s head represents the 436th Airlift Wing, known as the “Eagle...

Going Back to Serial Numbers?:

Congress has gotten slightly more serious about attempting to safeguard social security numbers for military members. The issue surfaced earlier this year during the data theft debacle at Veterans Affairs. Buried in the just passed 2007 defense authorization bill is...

Weighing in on Religion:

The 2007 defense authorization bill, passed late before the Congressional recess and sent to the President on Oct. 5, has two directives related to religion, one to the Air Force and one to the Navy. The Air Force, lawmakers say,...

A UAV for Gunships?:

The Air Force’s UAV Battlelab, working with the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and the Navy Research Lab, is attempting to demonstrate the potential for an expendable unmanned aerial vehicle to provide sensor and target data to AC-130 gunships and the...

Missing Airman Found:

Full military honors accompanied the Oct. 10 burial at Arlington National Cemetery of the remains of 1st Lt. Shannon E. Estill, Army Air Forces airman killed in World War II. The Cedar Rapids, Iowa, native, was lost during a mission...

Facility Named for Air Commando:

In a ceremony Oct. 6, 9th Special Operations Squadron airmen at Eglin AFB, Fla., dedicated the unit’s auditorium to the late Brig. Gen. Benjamin H. King, the first commander of the nascent 1st Air Commando Wing at Hurlburt Field, Fla....

Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism

Oct. 9, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 20 11 31 CAS/Armed Recon 44 45 89 Airlift 165 165 Air refueling 41 41 Total 64 56 206 326 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance