USAF to Cut 50 ICBMs at Malmstrom:

The Air Force has decided that it will take a planned reduction of 50 of its 500 Minuteman missiles from Malmstrom AFB, Mont., reports the Great Falls Tribune. Since the Quadrennial Defense Review revealed Pentagon plans to downsize the Minuteman...

New Mission Hunt in Earnest:

Last year when the Montana Congressional delegation realized that a unit of Minuteman ICBMs likely would be cut from Malmstrom AFB, Mont., they began working with military officials on potential alternative missions. Now that the Malmstrom reduction seems a certainty...

McCain Eyes CSAR-X Award:

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), second-time Presidential candidate and frequent Air Force critic, has asked for documentation on the Air Force award of the combat search and rescue helicopter replacement program to Boeing last year, reports the Congressional newspaper The Hill....

A Familiar Base:

The six B-52 bombers deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam, from Barksdale AFB, La., flew out of harm’s way as Typhoon Kong-Rey and following winds ravaged the Western Pacific, landing for a respite at Fairchild AFB, Wash. Fairchild, which now operates...

Laser Gunship Advances:

Boeing has five milestones to reach in the development of the Advanced Tactical Laser by the end of 2007, Cliff Hall, Boeing’s ATL program director, told the Daily Report Friday. The first, in May, continues low power flight testing; the...

ATL Program Firms Up:

Boeing officials expect the Advanced Tactical Laser to move from an Advanced Concept Technology Demonstration program overseen by Air Force Research Lab elements at Kirtland AFB, N.M., to an “extended user evaluation,” conducted primarily by weapons developers at the Air...

Little Rock Has New Squadron:

Air Mobility Command has activated the 41st Airlift Squadron at Little Rock AFB, Ark., making it the first active duty combat C-130J squadron. Little Rock received its first new J model Hercules last month. The 41st AS was assigned to...

Rodeo 2007 Takes Shape:

Coming this July to McChord AFB, Wash., are more than 55 US and international teams ready to tackle Air Mobility Command’s Rodeo 2007 competition. Joining 41 USAF teams will be three from the Marine Corps and one from the Coast...

Open Here, Closed There:

During the visit Marine Corps Gen. Peter Pace, JCS Chairman, paid to China recently, he asked on several occasions about Beijing’s antisatellite test but met a Great Wall of silence. Pace told Pentagon reporters last week: “I was very direct...

Keeping Vipers Shooting Straight:

There is a cadre of airmen who put the “straight” in straight shooting F-16 Vipers by using boresighting to recalibrate the fighter’s 20 mm cannon after weapons maintenance work and hard landings. Journalist SrA. Gena Armstrong reports that one such...

Not Happy with the 102nd:

Residents of some areas in Western Maine, Massachusetts, and New Hampshire are concerned about plans by the Massachusetts Air National Guard’s 102nd Fighter Wing to expand the low-level training area for its F-15 fighters. The unit also has come under...

A First for the Air Guard:

Second Lt. Amber Gopher has become the first Native American female officer in the Air National Guard, following her commissioning ceremony with the Montana ANG’s 120th Fighter Wing last week, reports the Great Falls Tribune. Both Gopher, who is a...

Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism

April 5, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 17 7 24 CAS/Armed Recon 62 45 107 Airlift 155 155 Air refueling 41 41 Total 79 52 196 327 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...