Viper Crash Rate is Up, Again

The rate of F-16 Class A accidents over the past year was the highest since 2001 and came at a time when the Air Force has been reducing flying hours for five years, reports Scott Lindlaw of the Associated Press....

Fire Tankers Called to California

This week California Gov. Arnold Schwarzenegger asked the Pentagon to provide aircraft outfitted with Modular Airborne Fire Fighting Systems to help fight more than 16 wildfires that have raged across southern California, destroying nearly 700 homes and forcing hundreds of...

Airman Is Second Woman Shuttle Commander

Retired Air Force Col. Pamela Melroy was in command of the shuttle Discovery when it blasted into space Tuesday morning from Kennedy Space Center in Florida. Melroy is only the second woman to command a space shuttle. The Discovery’s primary...

Another Case of Disorientation

An Air Combat Command accident investigation board has determined that the F-15 crash into the Pacific Ocean on June 26 was the result of the pilot’s spatial disorientation. Maj. Gregory Young from the Oregon Air National Guard’s 142nd Fighter Wing...

Aussies Learn the C-17

Five airmen from the 18th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at Kadena AB, Japan, traveled to Hickam AFB, Hawaii, where they have been training Royal Australian Air Force medical personnel on setting up a C-17 for aeromedical evacuations, reports TSgt. Chris Vadnais....

More Money, Please

In his first interview, new Joint Chiefs Chairman Adm. William Mullen declared that the US military must have more money to reconstitute after years of war and to prepare for future challenges, reports Thom Shanker of the New York Times....

Reichers Concerned About Inquiry

Reuters news service reports that Air Force acquisition official Charles Reichers, who apparently committed suicide last week, left a note addressed to Air Force acquisition chief Sue Payton that “expressed remorse” over his part in a new wave of acquisition-related...

How Best to Revise GI Bill?:

Pentagon officials agreed with lawmakers during a House Veterans’ Affairs subcommittee hearing last week that some changes need to be made to the long-running Montgomery GI Bill. However, they argued that despite the shift of reserve forces from a strategic...

Stretching a Global Hawk’s Fuel:

Testers at Edwards AFB, Calif., have pushed the RQ-4 Global Hawk Block 20 unmanned aerial vehicle to its “fuel system limits” to ascertain just how long it could fly in the event of a missed landing, reports A1C Mike Young....

NYANG Sends LC-130s South, Again:

Two LC-130 tactical airlifters from the New York Air National Guard’s 109th Airlift Wing have flown to McMurdo Station, Antarctica, to support Operation Deep Freeze, reports TSgt. Chris Vadnais. The ski-equipped aircraft are engaged in their annual mission of distributing...

Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism

Oct. 20-21, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 42 15 57 CAS/Armed Recon 100 60 160 Airlift 290 290 Air refueling 75 75 Total 142 75 365 582 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...