The Air Force on Wednesday issued a clarifying statement to explain its actions regarding the Government Accountability Office’s protest decisions on the combat search and rescue helicopter replacement program, stating that “recent reports in the media have not fully captured the complexities of this process.” (We reported yesterday on the wildly at odds news reports.) Bottom line: The Air Force intends to let all three competitors—Boeing, Lockheed Martin, and Sikorsky—respond to a clarified request for proposals. “If the evaluation of the revised proposals results in a change to the CSAR-X Best Value Source Selection decision, the Air Force will make any necessary changes in contract award,” reads the USAF statement. That means that Boeing may not be the winner after all.

Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley and Secretary Michael Wynne addressed the KC-X tanker replacement program issue in testimony before the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee Wednesday, agreeing with Sen. Richard Shelby (R-Ala.) that it should serve as more than a...

Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) expressed concern during a Capitol Hill hearing Wednesday about a letter Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley sent to the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves. Leahy, who apparently had read a copy of the...

Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told the Senate Appropriations defense panel Wednesday morning that USAF is requesting funding for five C-130Js tactical airlifters in the supplemental. “Right now we’re concerned that the C-130Js remain in the supplemental,” he said; from...

USAF plans to move Cyber Command, being developed now within 8th Air Force, “sometime soon” into major command status, Gen. Michael Moseley, Chief of Staff, said Wednesday in testimony before the Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee. Moseley predicted a public announcement...

Air Force leaders again expressed growing dismay at their need to reduce flying hours—by 10 percent in the 2008 budget request—during a Senate Appropriations defense subcommittee hearing Wednesday. Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley already has testified that he has...

The Air Force on March 21 flew its first non-stop aeromedical evacuation flight from Afghanistan to Germany, making it in just 10 hours compared to the three to five days such flights previously would consume by stopping over in Kuwait...

The Airborne Laser employed its target illuminator for the first time during an in-flight test last week, according to a March 21 release from Edwards AFB, Calif. During the five-hour flight, Edward’s NC-135E test aircraft verified that the ABL’s illuminator...

Pacific Air Forces new C-17 fleet at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, is now flying missions around the Pacific and over to the US Central Command area of responsibility in Southwest Asia. Recently a Hawaii-based C-17 supported Exercise Foal Eagle in South...

Veterans Affairs has created a Web page specifically for the new inter-agency task force looking into the bureaucracy confronting combat veterans who try to get help from VA and other federal agencies. The VA has included an e-mail function (find...

March 20, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 15 9 24 CAS/Armed Recon 64 47 111 Airlift 240 240 Air refueling 43 43 Total 79 56 283 418 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance