The Senate and House passed the 2008 defense spending bill, signaling approval of a conference report that urges the Air Force to prepare to procure an additional 20 F-22A Raptors, above the currently approved 183. The conference report suggests the...

Senate and House conferees working the just-passed 2008 defense appropriations bill have acknowledged a potential disconnect between the Air Force’s planned end strength drawdown and its force capabilities and emerging missions. The conferees directed the Air Force to “conduct a...

The Air Force has been patiently waiting for the Army and Marine Corps to lay out their expansion plans, so USAF can make its own plans for both airlift and personnel needs. Recent news that the Army planned to accelerate...

Commentary in East Coast and Middle America newspapers show that some still don’t understand the need for the F-22. On Tuesday, an editorial in the New York Times used the recent grounding of the F-15 fleet to criticize its replacement,...

The Air Force is contributing airmen and airlifters for continued operations in the Dominican Republic following Tropical Storm Noel. An earlier force of airmen and soldiers from Joint Task Force-Bravo, Soto Cano AB, Honduras, deployed to Dominican Republic to assist...

A Civil Air Patrol aircraft crashed in the evening on Nov. 8 south of Las Vegas, killing CAP Col. Edwin W. Lewis Jr. and CAP Col. Dion E. DeCamp. Lewis, 71, was director of operations for CAP’s Pacific Region and...

The RQ-11B Raven, an unmanned aerial vehicle reminiscent of a foam model aircraft, is making a “big splash” in Afghanistan, reports SSgt. Mike Andriacco. The tiny Raven can fly 10,000 feet above sea level and remotely sends live high-resolution footage...

US Central Command Air Forces Atlantic Strike VI has attracted participants from Canada and Denmark to train with USAF joint terminal attack controllers, reports Capt. Nathan Broshear. Canada and Denmark both sent JTACs to the event staged at Avon Park...

Air Force Gen. Lance Smith on Nov. 9 turned over leadership of Joint Forces Command and NATO’s Allied Command Transformation to Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis. Smith formally retires in January after 38 years of service. At the change of...

The Air Force has awarded a Bronze Star Medal to Maj. Greg Whitaker with the 3rd Combat Communications Squadron at Tinker AFB, Okla., for his actions while deployed to Afghanistan. Brandice Armstrong reports that Whitaker received the award for his...

A team from Travis AFB, Calif., has just won a fourth consecutive Scott World Firefighter Combat Challenge. The team’s time was 4 minutes, 37.89 seconds. SSgt. Matt McGovern reports that the nine-year team captain for Travis, civilian Mike Melton, said...

There’s life anew in the unidentified flying object world with some two dozen former military and commercial pilots and government officials from seven countries calling for renewed investigations. The Air Force closed its Project Blue Book in the late 1960s,...

Nov. 10-11, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 51 17 68 CAS/Armed Recon 97 64 161 Airlift 275 275 Air refueling 82 82 Total 148 81 357 586 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...