A 25-hour Day:

B-52 bomber crews deployed to Andersen AFB, Guam, tested their endurance during five Koa Lightning missions this month that took them from Guam to Hawaii, where they coordinated simulated bomb drops with joint tactical air control teams on the ground....

CV-22 Set to Deploy This Fall, With New Gun:

US Special Operations Command is on contract to have an interim forward-firing defensive gun system on the CV-22 tiltrotor aircraft that the Air Force would like to deploy to combat later this year, Marine Corps Col. Matt Mulhern, the V-22...

Air Force, Army Team Sets Herk Airdrop Record:

According to a report just released from Bagram AB, Afghanistan, last month USAF C-130 Hercules airlifters deployed to the 774th Expeditionary Squadron delivered about one million pounds of supplies to forward-deployed forces and humanitarian aid to villagers in Afghanistan. The...

That’s All for Force Shaping This Year:

The Air Force has closed the door on voluntary separation requests since it “is on track to meet end strength goals for Fiscal 2008,” according to a March 17 statement. In January, the service announced that it had cancelled a...

Empowerment II:

A band of lawmakers has launched a new effort to “empower the Guard for its modern-day missions,” according to a statement from Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.), co-chairman of the National Guard Caucus. Leahy and fellow chairman Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.)...

Tanker Contract Halt Stays, For Now:

The Air Force does not intend to invoke the “urgent and compelling” need clause in federal regulations that would enable it to continue work on the KC-X award made to Northrop Grumman despite a protest filed last week by losing...

Getting the Ground Rules Down:

Coalition airpower and ground-power experts in Iraq came together earlier this month to better synchronize air-ground operations, according to a March 17 report out of Baghdad. The Air Synchronization Conference, working mostly at a classified level, discussed shortening the kill...

Doolittle Raider DeShazer Dies:

Former Army Air Forces SSgt. Jacob DeShazer, one of the legendary Doolittle Raiders who staged a daring bombing raid on Tokyo in April 1942, died March 15 at age 95. DeShazer, then a corporal, was bombardier on the Bat out...

Rescue of Elderly Couple Merits Award:

The Air Force presented the Airman’s Medal on March 18 to SrA. Shane Reid at his deployed location with the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing in Southwest Asia. According to the 379th AEW photo release, Reid helped rescue an elderly couple...

The Very Best in Maintenance:

A couple of Dover AFB, Del., civilian airmen have received the Lt. Gen. Leo Marquez Award for 2007, signifying their excellence as aircraft maintainers. The Air Force named Greg Long, with the 436th Maintenance Squadron, as civilian manager of 2007,...

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest Asia

March 14-16, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 73 27 100 2,044 CAS/Armed Recon 138 119 257 6,204 Airlift 448 448 9,310 Air refueling 115 115 2,903 Total 920 20,461 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance...