Embracing “Live” Intel Mission

The Arkansas Air National Guard’s 123rd Intelligence Squadron has become one of a handful of ANG units that provide real-time intelligence data from their home base to warfighters in Southwest Asia. Unit airmen have been in the intel business for...

On the Road to GPS III

Both Boeing and Lockheed Martin have completed the necessary work to proceed on the Global Positioning System Block III program. Air Force Space Command’s Space and Missile Systems Center has awarded $50 million contracts to both companies, headed toward system...

SERB Nears

For some 200 colonels and more than 400 lieutenant colonels the Fiscal 2007 Selective Early Retirement Board meeting next week will decide whether they must retire by the end of the fiscal year. The number meeting the SERB is down...

Earning Bronze Stars

Five explosive ordnance disposal airmen currently assigned to Spangdahlem AB, Germany, have received Bronze Stars for their service while in Iraq. The airmen are: SMSgt. Dale Moser, SMSgt. Shawn Witten, MSgt. Danton Humphries, TSgt. Jennifer Burch, and TSgt. Josh Gidcumb....

Army Recognizes Airman

The Army has presented its Commendation Medal to SSgt. Benjamin Bomar, with the 375th Security Forces Squadron at Scott AFB, Ill., for his service in Iraq. Bomar, a military working dog handler, was the sole airman working with the 133rd...

And That is That

The comprehensive veterans benefits and health care bill passed just as the 109th Congress was calling it a day has received the signature of President Bush, formally making it law. Outgoing Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee chairman, Sen. Larry Craig (R-Idaho)...

Quick Action

The 14th Flying Training Wing at Columbus AFB, Miss., last month sent its first T-6A Texan II specialized undergraduate pilot training sortie off. The wing only received its first Texan II in mid-October. Columbus is in the process of trading...

Nukes Issues Are More Complex:

The end of the Cold War has done nothing to ease the debate over nuclear weapons and nuclear strategy, concludes the Defense Science Board in its Nuclear Capabilities report summary released last month. Tasked to assess current and future capabilities,...

Another Survey Supports Withdrawal:

A new Harris Poll conducted in France, Germany, Great Britain, Italy, Spain, and the US last month indicates large majorities in five of the six countries believe the coalition should withdraw military forces from Iraq within the next few months....

Color Me:

Some 25 airmen from the 85th Flying Training Squadron at Laughlin AFB, Tex., decided that the highway area outside the base’s main gate could use a new landmark—for pilots approaching the training base. After securing the necessary approval from civil...

A Primer for the 110th Congress:

The Congressional Research Service has cranked out a 76-page overview of the major issues that lie ahead for the new Congress. Heading the list, of course, is “what to do in Iraq.” The CRS notes that lawmakers must, in addition to evaluating the Iraq Study Group recommendations, decide what role Congress must play, suggesting that the issue of supplemental appropriations for Iraq and Afghanistan could be the pivotal tool in any debate. CRS includes overall defense spending in its list of “major issues.”

Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism

Dec. 31, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 12 10 22 CAS/Armed Recon 32 39 71 Airlift 130 130 Air refueling 33 33 Total 44 49 163 256 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance