Defense Secretary Robert Gates accepted the resignation of Army Secretary Francis Harvey Friday afternoon, telling reporters: “I am disappointed that some in the Army have not adequately appreciated the seriousness of the situation pertaining to outpatient care at Walter Reed....

Army Secretary Francis Harvey told defense reporters in Washington Thursday morning that the services definitely need more cargo airplanes. He included in that assessment the new Army-Air Force Joint Cargo Aircraft program to produce “a son of a C-130,” but...

Questions about whether the Air Force should buy more than the 191 C-17 airlifters currently authorized, considering the plan to increase ground forces by 92,000 soldiers and marines, were met with assurances that the Pentagon would review last year’s study...

Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England chided Senators who fear the C-17 production line may be shut down too early, saying, “At some point, we do have to stop the production of this airplane.” And, then, he got down to brass...

Meanwhile, Air Force leaders continue to press Congress to allow the service to manage its own inventory of aircraft, saying that without that control the service faces “risk” in its ability to meet future requirements. In a statement to the...

Gen. Michael Moseley told the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday he is concerned about the service’s plan to reduce flying hours by 10 percent in Fiscal 2008. “I’m on the verge of being not comfortable with this, and I’ve asked...

The 2008 defense budget request funds only 56 B-52 bombers, and Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) wants to know how this could be, since Congress “insists on 76.” Dorgan says that, if the Air Force retires 38 BUFFs (including 18 in...

The Congressionally mandated Commission on the National Guard and Reserves announced yesterday in Washington recommendations targeted to the National Guard that include giving the chief of the National Guard Bureau a fourth star and making that officer a senior advisor...

The Air Force has yet to decide whether it will accede to the Government Accountability Office recommendation to re-compete the combat search and rescue replacement helicopter program awarded to Boeing last fall, much to the surprise and dismay of Lockheed...

In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee Wednesday, Gen. Michael Moseley, Air Force Chief of Staff, told lawmakers asking about the 7,700 airmen fulfilling “in lieu of” taskings for soldiers in such areas as detainee operations, explosive ordnance disposal,...

Army Secretary Francis Harvey told defense reporters in Washington Thursday that the Army now employs about 5,000 airmen for “in lieu of” taskings, and the number is continuing to go down. (See above.) “As we grow the [Army] force, we’ll...

Two USAF C-17 airlifters recently transported some 94,000 pounds of cargo to Kabul AB, Afghanistan, to supply the Afghan army. A joint effort by the Turkish Air Force and US airmen—active, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve Command—at Incirlik...

The Air Force has awarded Northrop Grumman $12.5 million to begin the engineering process to replace the engines on the service’s fleet of E-8 Joint STARS ground surveillance aircraft. Pratt & Whitney is supplying the JT8D-219 engines.

Feb. 27, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 14 10 24 CAS/Armed Recon 47 34 81 Airlift 150 150 Air refueling 34 34 Total 61 44 184 289 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance