The Air Force released its force shaping numbers for Fiscal 2007, but it isn’t yet ready to talk about the following two years when it expects to complete a drawdown of some 40,000 “positions.” In an interview with Daily Report,...

The Air Force decided that it would not have to impose an enlisted cut for Fiscal 2007, since it believes normal attrition and a reduced recruiting goal will keep the enlisted force at its target level. During an interview, the...

The US and Japan are close to reaching an agreement about returning airspace over Yokota Air Base back to Japanese control, according to Associated Press news service. Remember that last spring US officials called such speculation “premature.” Now it would...

Air Force joint tactical air controllers received more and better training at this year’s Atlantic Strike IV exercise at Avon Park Air Force Range, Fla., according to a USAF news release. Atlantic Strike—a twice yearly close air support training event—is...

Gen. Tom Hobbins, head of US Air Forces in Europe, traveled to Mihail Kogalniceanu AB, Romania, Oct. 19-20 to visit with Romania military officials in anticipation of the new joint task force headquarters to be based at Mihail. Plans call...

Modifications to USAF KC-135 tanker aircraft at Fairchild AFB, Wash., will bring 28 new jobs and $2 million in economic impact to the Spokane area, reports the Spokesman Review.com. The workers—13 full-time Air National Guardsmen and 15 Boeing personnel—will install...

Raytheon has successfully tested separation of its miniature air launched decoy (MALD) from a USAF F-16, according to a company release dated Oct. 24. The tests, conducted from Eglin AFB, Fla., involved nine free-flight launches from the F-16 over May...

The Air Force has deployed airmen forming a centralized intermediate repair facility to Southwest Asia to speed repair—and reduce cost—of aircraft tires, brakes, propellers, and engines, reports the Red Tail Flyer. By having the intermediate repair shot in theater, USAF has reportedly saved nearly $10 million in associated costs. Maintenance crews must replace aircraft tires after about 120 landings, at which point the airmen break down the wheel assembly, sending the tire off to be rethreaded by a contractor and replacing the tire with ones on hand and reassembling the wheel on the spot. Intermediate repair shop airmen also break down brake systems, propellers, engines, and other components. Lt. Col. Kurt Kolch, 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron commander, told the Flyer, “There’s no doubt in my mind the CIRF increases mission capability in the fight against terrorism.”

An Air Force academy physicist is developing a new telescope lens that news reports say would revolutionize the spy satellite business. Instead of the current Hubble-size space telescope—with a four-foot glass lens weighing as much as a truck—the lens Geoff...

The Air Force posthumously awarded a Bronze Star to A1C LeeBernard Chavis, who was killed by sniper fire Oct. 14 while working with a military police training team in Baghdad. The Red Tail Flyer reports that airmen and soldiers at Balad AB, Iraq gathered at the base town hall for a memorial service. The Washington, D.C., native enlisted in the Air Force in March 2004. He was 21 years old.

It seems the two top American leaders in Iraq believe there is a timetable of sorts in Iraq despite protestations otherwise by Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld. US Ambassador to Iraq Zalmay Khalilzad and Army Gen. George Casey Jr. said in...

Combat weathermen at Balad AB, Iraq, find their work both rewarding and tough, reports Air Force journalist SSgt. Alice Moore. The “biggest challenge,” says MSgt. Michael Dannelly, NCOIC of Balad’s combat weather flight, is dust and sand. “It’s very difficult to predict the intensity and dispersal of the dust storms here,” he explained. Still, he said, “When you get an aircraft on the ground before a dust storm hits it’s a pretty satisfying feeling.”

Oct. 23, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 15 11 26 CAS/Armed Recon 28 31 59 Airlift 180 180 Air refueling 33 33 Total 43 42 213 298 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance