Commenting on the recent decision to marry maintenance units that support flying squadrons with the units they support, Gen. Michael Moseley writes in a new Chief of Staff’s Scope: “To prepare for combat, we train like we fight, so it...

F-15 pilots around the Air Force no doubt are spending more time in simulator training as the A-D model stand-down continues and that is not necessarily an easy matter. At Kadena AB, Japan on the island of Okinawa, for instance,...

US Air Forces in Europe plans to reactivate 17th Air Force to serve as its component headquarters for the new Africa Command. USAFE already has a 17th AF transition team working the development of the air component for AFRICOM, which...

According to a report by Andrea Shalal-Esa of Reuters news service, the Pentagon inspector general is investigating whether the Air Force has made “inappropriate” moves in its discussions with Boeing about potentially increasing the purchase of new C-17 airlifters. This...

A push generated by Rep. Louise Slaughter (D-N.Y.), and joined by Sen. Hillary Clinton (D-N.Y.), to get the Air Force to produce a “long range plan” for Niagara Falls Air Reserve Station has borne fruit in the 2008 defense policy...

Amid news that the Army and Marine Corps are moving to initiate civilian furloughs, Air Force officials have said that the service does not consider a civilian furlough an "imminent issue," concluding that the "personnel budget is such that it would not become a pressing concern for some months." Failure of lawmakers to pass a supplemental war on terror funding bill has prompted DOD to officially notify Congress the requisite 45 days in advance before beginning furloughs. Without the supplemental, the services must draw on base-budget operations and maintenance funding to pay for war costs. Many civilians are paid out of O&M accounts. However, lawmakers have responded that furloughs should be last on the list of actions, citing a new Congressional Research Service report that lists other budget alternatives, such as slowing the pace of funds obligation. House Majority Leader Steny Hoyer (D-Md.) declared last week: "Department of Defense workers are not going to be furloughed. That is not going to happen." According to CRS, the services have enough funding, without resorting to furloughs, to take them through March.

The answer is, maybe. The 2008 defense policy bill calls for a report by April 1 on the search and rescue capabilities available in the northwestern United States. Sen. Maria Cantwell and Sen. Patty Murray—Democrats from Washington—have been trying to...

The years of effort by US Air Force airmen to rebuild an Iraqi Air Force continue to show results. Among the latest, 28 new second lieutenants graduated from the Iraqi Air Force Academy, including nine headed to pilot training. And,...

According to a report from UPI news service, Tehran may be close to signing a deal with Beijing to buy 24 new Chinese J-10 fighters. The report downplays long-standing rumors that Iran would buy Russian fighters; the Islamic Republic did...

Sen. Ted Kennedy (D-Mass.) and Sen. Daniel Akaka (D-Hawaii) on Dec. 13 introduced legislation meant to protect employment rights of servicemembers returning from duty in the war on terror. According to a statement from the Veterans’ Affairs Committee, the measure...

Airmen at Andersen AFB, Guam, and from the 374th Airlift Wing at Yokota AB, Japan, planned to make the first drop for the annual Operation Christmas Drop over the Micronesian Islands on Dec. 14. This event marks the 55th year...

Dec. 12-14, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 80 29 109 CAS/Armed Recon 192 108 300 Airlift 404 404 Air refueling 127 127 Total 272 137 531 940 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...