Britain has now signed a memorandum of understanding on the production and follow-on development portions of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program. Despite sticky wickets earlier this year over the extent of technical cooperation the US would extend to Britain,...

The Air Force co-opted one of its newest airlifters to cut down a growing backlog of supplies needed urgently for coalition forces fighting the Taliban near the Pakistan-Afghanistan border. Air Force journalist Maj. Ann Peru Knabe reports that USAF C-130s normally make Operation Mountain Fury deliveries, but the need for multiple, large drops made the C-17 “perfect.” Loading up at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, a C-17 aircrew rigged recycled milk crates to cushion a load of more than 50,000 pounds, comprising 40 bundles of bullets, explosives, and rockets.

A team of some 20 airmen and a Navy medic joined forces for Operation Unity Knight, delivering supplies to people in Nairobi, Kenya, left without food and shelter following storm floods that devastated an area serving as home to 160,000...

The latest recruiting and retention figures released Tuesday by the Pentagon show November as a strong recruiting month for each service and all reserve components except the Army and Navy Reserves. The Air Force and Air Force Reserve Command each...

News first reported by the Montgomery Advertiser has spread fast about the recent discovery by two respected historians—one with the Tuskegee Airmen organization and one with the Air Force—that the famed World War II Tuskegee Airmen did not have a...

Two airmen have set a new monthly record, each pumping a million gallons of aviation fuel to aircraft in Southwest Asia during the month of November, reports the Dec. 10 Desert Eagle. SrA. Chrystanya Morgan-Buford and SrA. Matthew Turner accomplished a feat that their flight commander, Capt. Kristy Herman, says is “almost unheard of.” Herman went on to say, “At any other base, for one individual to pump a million gallons takes months or more often years.”

The latest Gallup poll discovered that among Americans who are familiar with the Iraq Study Group report, by a margin of 5 to 1, they believe Bush should act on its recommendations. (See graphic) When pollsters asked about specific recommendations included in the ISG report, Americans overwhelmingly voiced their support for the ISG proposals. And, in the same poll, Gallup discovered that Americans have the “most trust” in the US military (81 percent) to recommend the “right thing for the United States to do in Iraq,” compared to President Bush in whom they have the least trust (46 percent).

Another poll shows that a majority of Americans favor the Iraq Study Group approach and believe the Administration’s international strategy has “diminished US security,” reports World Public Opinion.org. Developed by the Program on International Policy Attitudes at the University of...

James Baker and Lee Hamilton, co-chairs of the bipartisan Iraq Study Group report, are attempting to spread the word about the full extent of their recommendations, writing in an op-ed in the Houston Chronicle that the ISG report contains 79...

Some 103 senior leaders of Air Force Materiel Command gathered last week in Utah heard their chief lay down the law about the “one.” Gen. Bruce Carlson told them that AFMC does “a lot of great things, … but we’re...

The Air Force Office of Special Investigations is working with Kyrgyz investigators to determine what transpired to lead an airman to shoot and kill a Kyrgyz truck driver last week, reports the Ganci Gazette. A USAF Security Forces airman at Manas AB, Kyrgyzstan, working at the Manas checkpoint killed the man who allegedly threatened him with a knife. The driver had gone into the security tent, waiting for his vehicle to be inspected.

House Speaker-designate Nancy Pelosi (D-Calif.) has nominated members to chair the following committees with key roles in national security when the 110th Congress convenes in the new year: • Ike Skelton (Mo.)—Armed Services • David Obey (Wisc.)—Appropriations • Bob Filner...

Beginning in 2008, airmen and soldiers will have one Web-based system for personnel and pay records, according to a Pentagon release. Utilizing the Defense Integrated Military Human Resources System via a common access card, airmen and soldiers will be able...

Dec. 11, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 16 9 25 CAS/Armed Recon 42 36 78 Airlift 155 155 Air refueling 26 26 Total 58 45 181 284 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance