US Air Force C-130 tactical airlifters working with US Central Command’s Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa spent two days delivering supplies to people in eastern Ethiopia left homeless by recent flooding. According to an Associated Press news service account, some...

The Air Force yesterday declassified one of its oldest “open secrets”—that it acquired, tested, and flew Soviet-designed fighters during the Cold War. The service said its 4477th Test and Evaluation squadron—the Red Eagles—based at Tonopah Test Range, Nev., flew the...

The Air Force specifically declined yesterday to discuss the circumstances surrounding the death of Lt. Gen. Robert Bond, who was killed on April 26, 1984 in the crash of an aircraft the service has declined to identify. Although rumors were...

The airmen who maintain the Air Force’s EC-135 Rivet Joint for operations in Southwest Asia are deployed far longer and far more often than most other airmen—they are part of the group known as high demand/low density. The service’s few RC-135s must fly 24/7/365. “We are considered [air expeditionary force] enablers, meaning we do not follow the 120 day, 15-month [AEF] cycle; … we deploy all the time,” Capt. Lance Bartlett, OIC for the 55th Aircraft Maintenance Unit in SWA, told the Desert Eagle. (Bartlett is on his third SWA deployment, but TSgt. Daniel Green, an RC-135 instrument and flight control craftsman, is on his 18th deployment to the desert since 1993.) Bartlett says the 55th AMU managed to maintain an 82 percent mission capable rate over fiscal 2006, which betters the standard by eight percent—no small feat with 1960s vintage aircraft.

Members of the Congressionally chartered Iraq Study Group continued their assessment of the war in Iraq Monday when they met with President George Bush, Vice President Dick Cheney, National Security Advisor Stephen Hadley, and Whitehouse Chief of Staff Josh Braden...

Newly anointed Democratic heads of key Congressional positions used Sunday talk shows to outline their views on the Iraq war, even before receiving the report from the bipartisan Iraq Study Group. One key Democratic Senator already has a timeline in...

There is a small contingent of pilots and sensor operators in Southwest Asia and more back in the states at Nellis AFB, Nev., who fly and target the MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicles. The SWA-based pilots get the small aircraft off the ground and remotely fly the UAV within 25 miles of their base; they also engage weapons. Once beyond the 25-mile perimeter, though, the stateside pilots take over. Maj. Craig Babbitt, commander of the 46th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, told the Red Tail Flyer that the only reason the stateside pilots don’t fly the entire mission is because of a six-second satellite delay. Still, being able to fly the bulk of every mission from Nevada means the Air Force can limit the number of airmen it must deploy. Babbitt has less than a dozen airmen in his squadron.

Thanks to an Air Force-led provincial reconstruction team and local Afghans in Mehtar Lam province east of the Afghanistan capital of Kabul, area residents near Rayn now have access to a steady supply of electricity. The PRT led construction for...

The Air Force’s vaunted combat search and rescue forces wouldn’t get very far without the constant behind-the-scenes work of the HH-60 Pave Hawk maintainers. The Red Tail Flyer reports that even though they are few in number, the airmen of the 64th Expeditionary Helicopter Maintenance Unit in Southwest Asia perform vital checks of each aircraft every 72 hours, breaking the helos down into six section to inspect. The unit’s helicopters fly a total of 250 hours a month, which TSgt. Michael Montagno, says, “does wear on the airframe, and things such as cracks and body damage must be fixed on a regular basis.”

In today’s world, where the Air Force is encouraging airmen to switch to the Army as USAF tries to cut some 40,000 positions, Capt. Eric Trocinski is an oddity, since he crossed from green to blue. Trocinski, a helicopter pilot...

The Republicans may not longer hold the majority, but Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho), chair of the Veterans’ Affairs until the next Congress sits down, is plugging new legislation that he says will expand benefits for wounded warriors. In a statement,...

The Pentagon named the former civilian technical director for the C-17 acquisition program, Lawrence Fielding, one of eight employees to receive the DOD Distinguished Civilian Service Award for 2006. Fielding, who retired from Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, in...

The Air Force is playing a big role in helping the federal government employ veterans, according to the Office of Personnel Management’s recently released annual report on federal employment of veterans. OPM figures showed that of the government’s 1,813,166 civilian...

The Air Force Research Lab has contracted with Johns Hopkins University Applied Physics Lab to begin initial design work on the Lightweight Electro-Optical Space Sensor. AFRL’s Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland AFB, N.M., will manage the LEOSS program, which, an...

Nov. 10-12, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 53 22 75 CAS/Armed Recon 101 132 233 Airlift 430 430 Air refueling 109 109 Total 154 154 539 847 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance