F-15 Draft Report

The accident investigation board looking into the F-15C crash that precipitated an extended stand-down of all A-D model F-15s, has completed its initial work and has circulated a draft report to technical review committees, Air Combat Command officials said Dec....

Thickness Issue

Engineers and technicians working the F-15 problem at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center believe variations in thickness of splice joints added to stress on the longerons, leading to cracking, reports Gene Rector of The Telegraph. ALC officials say cracks have...

Demand for 365-day Airmen

The Air Force’s Air and Space Expeditionary Force construct has “saved our bacon in this fight,” according to outgoing personnel chief Lt. Gen. Roger Brady, who is awaiting confirmation to take command of US Air Forces in Europe). However, he...

Still Short 500

Air Combat Command must select 500 enlisted active-duty airmen—technical sergeant and below—to retrain from their current career fields, now that the service has entered, what it calls Phase II, or involuntary retraining, of the NCO Retraining Program for Fiscal 2008....

A New Unmanned Roadmap

The Defense Department has released its latest unmanned systems roadmap (caution, large file), providing guidance for acquisition, development, and integration for the next 25 years. (It is no longer an unmanned aerial vehicle roadmap; it now includes land and maritime...

The STOVL F-35

Lockheed Martin on Dec. 18 rolled out the first short takeoff and vertical landing Joint Strike Fighter, the F-35B, destined for the US Marine Corps and Britain’s Royal Navy and Royal Marine Corps and the Italian Air Force and Navy....

Looking for Psyop Results

The Air Force Special Operations School at Hurlburt Field, Fla., last week was the site for the 20th annual gathering of NATO officials concerned with psychological operations. A key point for attendees was addressing how to maximize scarce resources. They...

Bronze Stars for Five

The Air Force has awarded Bronze Star Medals to five airmen, one at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, and four at Eglin AFB, Fla. In reporting on another award at Elmendorf, we missed the one to Capt. Kelley Jeter, a public affairs...

Airman Missing from Vietnam Identified

The DOD POW/Missing Personnel Office has completed investigation of remains now identified as belonging to Maj. Perry Jefferson of Denver. Jefferson was an aerial observer aboard an O-1 Bird Dog on a mission over Vietnam on April 3, 1969, when...

Firebee Ends its Run

The last flight of the BQM-34P Firebee target drone took place last week at Tyndall AFB, Fla. The base received the BQM-34P in 1958 and flew it for more than 1,500 hours to simulate tactical threats for air-to-air combat training...

Briefer Briefs

The Defense Department has certified the 53rd of 55 weapons of mass destruction civil support teams—the 22nd WMD-CMT of the Puerto Rico National Guard. • Air Combat Command has presented the Gen. Carl A. Spaatz Award to Civil Air Patrol...

Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism

Dec. 18, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 25 3 28 CAS/Armed Recon 61 34 95 Airlift 142 142 Air refueling 39 39 Total 86 37 181 304 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...