A C-130 Hercules aircrew launched from the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, earlier this week to perform an airdrop of 24 55-gallon drums using low-velocity parachutes from less than 5,000 feet above the ground. The cargo—9,000 pounds...

SSgt. Erik Roberts, a joint terminal attack controller with the 422nd Test and Evaluation Center at Nellis AFB, Nev., is testing new technology so that JTACs will have better ways to track troops and control air strikes. A Ground Mobile...

Military leaders are recognizing—and publicly admitting—that the planned increase of 92,000 ground forces will exacerbate already tough recruiting job. The latest to acknowledge the problem was Marine Corps Commandant Gen. James Conway, whose force stands to grow by 27,000 over...

The Army just honored five airmen of the 435th Vehicle Readiness Squadron at Ramstein AB, Germany, with the Army’s Combat Action Badge, reports Stars and Stripes. During a ceremony on Wednesday, Army Col. Michael MacNeil, who commanded the brigade-sized group...

In a letter to President Bush this week, Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii), chairman of the Senate Veterans’ Affairs Committee, and five of his fellow Democrats, praised Bush on his quick formation of a commission to review the care afforded to...

Construction crews working at Ramstein AB, Germany, have almost completed a $20 million, three-phase revamping of its runway system begun last summer. The north runway has been extended by about 2,000 feet on the west side and been completely resurfaced—after...

The Air Force recently airlifted aboard a C-17 the Army’s first “City in a Box” intended to provide a tent city for 150 soldiers. The Army Soldier Systems Center developed this latest Force Provider package using an expanding canister system...

For nearly three hours earlier this week, service members as well as family members and veterans took turns at the microphone during a public meeting at Walter Reed Medical Center, telling a nine-member independent review panel about their experiences. The...

The first group of airmen from the 820th Security Forces Group at Moody AFB, Ga., have completed training with the ScanEagle unmanned aerial vehicle at Boeing’s UAV Training Center in Clovis, N.M. Marshall Formby, Boeing’s director of training, said in...

The Pentagon’s latest quarterly report to Congress on progress in Iraq favors the view of the January National Intelligence Estimate that the term “civil war does not adequately capture the complexity” of the situation, but it does acknowledge that “some...

Seven Turkish officers are visiting US European Command at Stuttgart, Germany, in an effort to increase cooperation between the Turkish General Staff and the regional combatant command, reports journalist TSgt. Devin Fisher. The eight-day indoctrination, which includes stops at facilities...

Adm. William Fallon on March 12 relinquished command of US Pacific Command, leaving it in the hands of Air Force Gen. Daniel Leaf, PACOM deputy commander. Fallon’s presumed successor, Adm. Timothy Keating, current head of NORAD and US Northern Command,...

March 13, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 14 10 24 CAS/Armed Recon 48 55 103 Airlift 130 130 Air refueling 39 39 Total 62 65 169 296 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance