Workers who man the C-17 production line at Boeing’s Long Beach, Calif., facility have gotten another reprieve. The Los Angeles Times reports that company officials told workers June 20 that it would use company money to keep the line going...

The Air Force has taken in stride the new protests over its combat search and rescue helicopter replacement program. Lockheed Martin filed a protest June 8 and Sikorsky filed one June 18, but both companies also filed their new submissions for the revised CSAR-X request for proposals on time to meet the June 19 deadline. USAF provided a 13-page response to contractor questions during the second round, rebuffing all criticism. In Washington, the Air Force's military deputy for acquisition, Lt. Gen. Donald Hoffman said in a statement: "Protests are part of the acquisition process. … The Air Force feels we have correctly adjusted the RFP to satisfy [Government Accountability Office] guidance and concerns." The service has asked the GAO to use its "express option and expedited procedures to resolve this protest," stated Hoffman.

The Arizona Air National Guard has taken the Air Force’s last operational F-16A on its final mission. The 162nd Fighter Wing at Tuscon Airport flew the last A model to the Boneyard at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., on June 15 and...

The Air Force has decided that its airmen, especially its reservists, are spending far too much time on training outside their mission specialties. In one of his latest notams describing issues that bother him, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen....

The Defense Department’s modernization plan for fixed-wing airpower as it exits now—especially for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter program of record—is going to be “substantially unbalanced in favor of short-range stuff in an era when you increasingly need long-range stuff,”...

A couple of years ago, the Air Force announced that it would remake its numbered Air Forces into warfighting headquarters, trimming staff and turning them into pure command and control structures supporting specific combatant/unified commanders. Most NAFs were to lose their numbers and be identified by the unified command they supported, such as Air Force Pacific, instead of 13th Air Force. Somewhere between then and now, the Air Force abandoned the term WFHQ in favor of component NAF, or CNAF. (We just reported on the new space CNAF.) Air Force spokesman Maj. David Small assures us that the original "command and control enabling concept," as signed out by then-Chief of Staff Gen. John Jumper remains intact. Last year, current Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley and Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne signed a program action directive to implement the concept, which has an initial operational capability goal of October 2007. The PAD simply updated the terminology from WFHQ to CNAF.

Air Force Reserve Command plans on Sept. 30 to deactivate its 92nd Aerial Port Squadron, which has operated out of the Wyoming Valley Airport in Luzerne County, Pa., since 1961, reports The Times Leader. The unit currently is trying to...

The Air Force is making repairs to the runway at Spangdahlem AB, Germany, so the 52nd Fighter Wing has sent its A-10 and F-16 aircraft to other bases. The 22nd Fighter Squadron has deployed to Nellis AFB, Nev.; the 23rd...

The Missile Defense Agency plans to show off the Airborne Laser for senior government officials and news media today during a stopover at Andrews AFB, Md. The ABL flies back to Edwards AFB, Calif., Thursday evening.

The House version of the 2008 military construction appropriations bill contains $100 million to fund construction to turn McGuire Air Force Base, Ft. Dix, and NAS Lakehurst in New Jersey into the BRAC 2005-proposed megabase. “This is the most appropriated...

June 18, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 16 12 28 CAS/Armed Recon 66 59 125 Airlift 148 148 Air refueling 56 56 Total 82 71 204 357 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...