The Florida Air National Guardsmen who manned the Southeast Air Defense Sector at Tyndall AFB, Fla., have closed the door on 37 years of history and opened a new one as an Air Operations Center in-the-making. A Nov. 21 news...

As Air Force leaders cast about for more ways to trim costs, quality-of-life endeavors are getting a fresh look. “We have to look deeper and determine what are benefits and what are perks,” cautions CMSAF Rodney McKinley, the service’s top...

The two competitors left out in the cold on the Combat Search and Rescue aircraft replacement program have decided to protest the Air Force decision to award the CSAR-X contract—potentially worth up to $15 billion—to Boeing. Sikorsky hoped to sell the Air Force an advanced version of its Hawk helicopter—the H-92 Superhawk—to replace the service’s fleet of Sikorsky HH-60 Pave Hawks. It filed its protest with the Government Accountability Office on Nov. 17. The Lockheed Martin-Agusta Westland team, which had high hopes for its new US101 aircraft since the Marine Corps tapped it to replace the Presidential helicopters, filed a CSAR-X protest on Nov. 20. Air Force leaders already have defended their selection, saying that Boeing could deliver its product sooner than the other two competitors. The GAO has until late February to render a decision in both cases.

The upcoming NATO summit in Riga, Latvia, will serve as a forum for many issues critical to the future of the Cold War-era alliance, a senior State Department official told defense reporters Tuesday morning. Daniel Fried, assistant secretary of state...

The outgoing chairman of the House Armed Services Committee has the answer to what ails operations in Iraq and he calls it “Go Iraqi.” In a new statement, Rep. Duncan Hunter (R-Calif.), says, “More troops is the answer in Baghdad,...

In recognition for his work in forging self-sufficient Iraqi security forces at Al Kasik Military Training Base, Capt. Russell Waight, with the 18th Security Forces Squadron at Kadena AB, Japan, has received the Bronze Star. On his year-long deployment, Waight...

The Air Force has selected Maj. Gen. Jeffrey Riemer to be the new acquisition boss for the F-22A Raptor program. Riemer, who has been serving as commander of the Air Armament Center at Eglin AFB, Fla., and USAF’s program executive...

The Air Force may embrace something called “time-certain development,” at least that is one new acquisition approach under consideration, according to Maj. Gen. Mark Pillar, who is the top Reservist in USAF’s acquisition office. Pillar was speaking at an industry...

The Air Force has settled its evolved expendable launch vehicle contract negotiations with Boeing, awarding the company a $674 million contract covering four Delta IV launches per year over a 16-month period that began June 1, 2006 and ends Sept. 30, 2007. USAF already had finalized its EELV contract with Lockheed Martin, awarding $815 million for a 24-month period that began Oct. 1, 2005 and runs through Sept. 30, 2007. The Boeing action should clear the way for the recently FTC-approved United Launch Alliance to take off.

Raytheon has received a contract from the Air Force for nearly $270 million to produce 500 Advanced Medium Range Air-to-Air Missiles—for foreign military sales to Pakistan. The company must complete the work by April 2011.

Lockheed Martin says that the Defense Satellite Communications System III constellation has “surpassed 175 years of on-orbit service.” The DSCS constellation comprises nine satellites in geostationary orbit that provide worldwide military secure voice and high-data-rate communications. The company has built...

Air Force Reserve Command’s 939th Air Refueling Wing has rededicated a memorial to the 10 Reservists who died on Nov. 22, 1996, when their HC-130, with the call sign King 56, crashed into the Pacific Ocean. The monument originally resided...

Nov. 20, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 15 10 25 CAS/Armed Recon 32 50 82 Airlift 130 130 Air refueling 36 36 Total 47 60 166 273 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance