Racking up Truck Miles

The 162 airmen USAF cobbled together from 38 different bases and nine specialties to form the 70th Medium Truck Det. II in Southwest Asia have called it a day, after amassing more miles than any other Air Force convoy unit. Air Force and Army officials in SWA feted the 70th MTD II earlier this month, acknowledging their record five million miles since the in-lieu-of airmen arrived in theater in May 2006. The group completed 203 line-haul missions in Iraq and Kuwait, deploying Marine Corps and Army units throughout Iraq often while the convoys were under attack.

An Essential Link

Airmen who maintain the ground radar systems at Balad AB, Iraq, enabling 24/7 air operations, must troubleshoot and repair more than 7,200 separate parts, says SSgt. Tyler Hand, ground radar systems supervisor for the 727th Expeditionary Air Control Squadron. These...

Honoring an Airman

Airmen at Sather Air Base outside Baghdad on Dec. 25 opened a new dining facility, naming it after TSgt. Walter Moss Jr., an explosive ordnance disposal technician killed in action on March 29. Lt. Gen. Gary North, head of US...

Necessary for Success

Senior defense analyst Anthony Cordesman of the Center for Strategic and International Studies, who visited Afghanistan in November, maintains that airpower is “no substitute for more force on ground,” primarily because air strikes inevitably lead to unavoidable collateral damage since,...

A Place in History

Two of the three F-16s of the Air National Guard’s 119th Fighter Wing at Fargo, N.D. that flew combat air patrols over Washington, D.C., on Sept. 11, 2001, have found spots in museums. Associated Press news service reports that Lt....

The Money Solution

The Pentagon’s quarterly report to Congress on the situation in Iraq, released just last week, takes full note of the “escalating violence,” much of it striking Iraqis rather than coalition forces. It also describes the cumulative effect of attacks on...

ComSat Quick Step

Lockheed Martin reports that is has delivered the flight structure for the third Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite in just 10 months since contract start. Julie Sattler, Lockheed space systems VP calls it “a significant achievement.” Technicians at the company’s...

Oops, There’s no Draft Here

Veterans Affairs Secretary James Nicholson last week in New York City extolled the virtue of a military draft, saying the American society would benefit. Associated Press news service quickly circulated his remarks on the draft, whereupon the VA issued a...

How Much Intel?:

The nature of intelligence work in the Air Force has changed, becoming more inclined to produce “actionable intel,” reports Air Force journalist Maj. Ann Knabe. That means intel airmen spend much of their time channeling essential threat information between ground forces and aircrews. She notes that one intel squadron in Southwest Asia in 2006 analyzed more than 13,000 aircrew mission reports and produced more than 10,000 intel products for everyone from individual aircrews to wing commanders to special operations forces on the ground.

Logistician Honored:

Blacks in Government has awarded MSgt. Angela Kennedy the 2006 BIG Meritorious Service Award for the Air Force for setting a standard of continuous advancement and improvement. Kennedy, a 22-year Air Force veteran assigned to Eglin AFB, Fla., is nearing...

Coronet Connie Expands:

Members of the 960th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron recently returned to their home station at Tinker AFB, Okla., after spending more than a month participating in Operation Coronet Connie in Southwest Asia. The E-3 AWACS unit joined other US...

$10 and It’s Yours:

The Air Force has accepted a ceremonial $10 from Merced County in California for some 1,900 acres of the former Castle Air Force Base, reports the Modesto Bee via the Merced Sun-Star. Considering some Merced residents gave the nearly 2,800-acre...

Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism

Dec. 26, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 17 9 26 CAS/Armed Recon 34 19 53 Airlift 140 140 Air refueling 28 28 Total 51 28 168 247 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance