Air Force Special Operations Command’s AC-130U gunships—the “new” gunships—are facing a looming problem with their center wing boxes. The Spooky gunships are “showing their age,” AFSOC commander Lt. Gen. Mike Wooley told defense reporters in Washington, D.C., Wednesday morning. AFSOC’s...

Oddly enough, Air Force Special Operations Command’s old gunships—the Vietnam-era AC-130Hs—do not have the same structural issues as the newer AC-130Us. The H-model Spectres are “aging gracefully,” Lt. Gen. Mike Wooley told defense reporters Wednesday. However, he added that they...

Air Force Special Operations Command is looking forward to acquiring exotic weapons, Lt. Gen. Michael Wooley told defense reporters in Washington yesterday. He estimates that the next-generation gunship will not be equipped with big guns. “It would have directed energy...

Air Force Special Operations Command is working on one-for-one replacements for 37 MC-130P Combat Shadow tanker/airlifters and MC-130E Combat Talon airlifters and would like to add two squadrons—another 24 aircraft, Lt. Gen. Michael Wooley, said in a meeting with Washington-based...

The fear that aircraft are going to end up in mid-air collisions is making him lose sleep at night, Lt. Gen. Michael Wooley told Washington-based defense reporters Wednesday morning. The Air Force Special Operations Command boss was referring in particular...

US Army soldiers working with Air Force joint terminal attack controllers often sing their praises in enabling close air support, usually within 10 minutes, reports SSgt. Carlos Diaz. Army Specialist Jason Zwettler said, “If the situation calls for it, they...

The five individuals arrested by federal, state, and local authorities in New Jersey May 7 for conspiring to kill US military personnel allegedly had Dover AFB, Del., on their radar as well as Ft. Dix and Ft. Monmouth, N.J. A...

Officials cut the ribbon on the 612th Combined Air Operations Center at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., May 9, formally opening the newest of the Air Force’s five Falconer AOCs. The 612th CAOC, which will carry the name of Air Force legend...

The 12 F-22 Raptors deployed from Langley AFB, Va., to Kadena AB, Japan, on the island of Okinawa, for the new stealth fighter’s first overseas excursion will be leaving Okinawa today, according to various news reports. A minor software glitch...

The Defense Department wants to establish a civilian organization comprised of volunteers and contractual employees who would provide language skills throughout the federal sector. The Pentagon plans to set up the pilot Language Corps over the next three years and...

A C-17 from Charleston AFB, S.C., airlifted NASA’s Phoenix Mars Lander spacecraft from Colorado to Florida. A NASA release says that Lockheed Martin workers in Denver had been assembling and testing the spacecraft for more than a year. NASA plans...

May 7, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 15 10 25 CAS/Armed Recon 50 50 100 Airlift 145 145 Air refueling 46 46 Total 65 60 191 316 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...