Russell Dougherty Dies:

Retired Gen. Russell E. Dougherty died Friday morning at the age of 87. Over his 34 years in the Air Force, Dougherty was considered one the Air Force’s best thinkers and planners. He started military life as a 15-year-old bugler...

Osprey Airmen Get Wet

Air Force CV-22 pilots and flight engineers got a taste of sea life recently when they made their first Osprey landings and take-offs from a Navy ship, the USS Bataan. The airmen—five pilots and three flight engineers—from the 8th Special...

Noise Is Down at Langley

The latest noise report—formally called the Air Installation Compatible Use Zone—on Langley AFB, Va., shows an overall decrease in “noise contours” despite the addition of the new F-22A, says Maj. Lawrence Spinetta, 1st Fighter Wing chief of safety. The Raptor...

Remember Discipline

Within days of the B-52 bomber missile transfer misadventure that already has cost a Minot AFB, N.D., officer his command and derailed—if only temporarily—several munitions technicians from their primary duty, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne penned a letter to all airmen reminding them that America counts on their "discipline and attention to detail." He wrote: "The American public expects the same discipline in a Predator squadron, a space control squadron, or in our long-range bomber community." He exhorted supervisors to remember that "making sure that airmen know and understand what is needed day-to-day is a major part of [USAF] success and requires self-discipline. He applauded the innovations airmen have introduced but emphasized that "driving innovation does not mean abandoning discipline."

Paving Way for New GPS Launch

The first Global Positioning System Block IIF satellite came through its initial integrated system test with flying colors. The GPS Wing at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., confirmed that all major subsystem are integrated properly on the satellite, which is slated...

Shorting Special Duty Pay

The Air Force has had to cut its special and incentive pay program to stay within "budgetary constraints" by $46 million in Fiscal 2008. The service split the cut, taking $12 million from officer bonuses and $34 million from enlisted programs. It cut the special duty assignment pay program by $7.4 million, affecting more then 9,000 enlisted personnel who currently receive SDAP. The Air Force has notified all of changes to their pay.

Money in the Hand

Holloman AFB, N.M., has the money it needs to make the transition from the F-117 to the new F-22A, per Holloman pilot Maj. John Mihaly, who spoke recently before an area civic group. The Alamogordo Daily News quotes Mihaly: “We...

Doing What They Do Best

The 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron is flying a “pure C-130 mission, … doing what we have been trained to do and what the aircraft was built for,” says SMSgt. Roy Self, a loadmaster with the Georgia Air National Guard’s 165th...

Preparing Future Airmen:

Air Education and Training Command boss Gen. Bill Looney told an audience of some 2,000 people attending a two-day symposium in San Antonio that the “vast majority of airmen we train within the next year or two are going to...

Old Helos, New Hoists

The 54th Helicopter Squadron at Minot AFB, N.D., has added new rescue hoists to two UH-1N Huey helicopters, enabling them to make rescues from terrain—and water—where the helicopters cannot land. SrA. Danny Monahan reports that all the unit needs now...

Pentagon IDs Missing WWII Airman

The Defense Department has identified remains for 2nd Lt. Harold E. Hoskin, an Army Air Forces airman missing since World War II. Hoskin was one of five crewmen on a B-24 that left Fairbanks, Alaska on Dec. 21, 1943 on...

On the Right Foot

The housing developer for the privatized housing effort at Vance AFB, Okla., plans to hold a town hall meeting next week, but unlike the recent session at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., to introduce the start of a project, this one is...

They Made NASA’s Deadline

New Thermal Protection System materials to be used on upcoming shuttle flights have just undergone aero thermal testing at Arnold AFB, Tenn., reports Philip Lorenz III. The project engineer at the Arnold Engineering Development Center said the testing in the...

“Reach-back” Engaged for PANAMAX:

An exercise along the Panama Canal in the last week had more than 250 airmen incorporating several USAF concepts, so military and civilian personnel from 20 countries could learn how to handle numerous operations simultaneously in a joint working environment....

Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism

Sept. 4, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 19 9 28 CAS/Armed Recon 67 41 108 Airlift 145 145 Air refueling 55 55 Total 86 50 200 336 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...