The chairman and ranking member of the Senate Armed Services Committee have asked for a deeper probe of the conduct of senior Air Force officials in the now-defunct award of the Thunderbird Airshow Production Services contract in 2005. And a third Senator has minced no words in asking Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne why Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley hasn’t been punished for his role in the affair. Sen. Carl. Levin (D-Mich.) and Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), in an April 21 letter to Pentagon Inspector General Claude Kicklighter, state that the IG office's investigation into the Thunderbird contract issue “raises some serious questions about the role played by other more senior current and former Air Force officials.” Meanwhile Sen. Claire McCaskill (D-Mo.) sounded a more angry tone in an April 24 letter to Wynne, in which she says “it is incomprehensible to me that no action has been taken to reprimand General Moseley, or to evaluate his continued fitness to lead the Air Force.” She contends that Moseley’s “command authority has been compromised.” Wynne has already issued administrative discipline of Maj. Gen. Stephen Goldfein and several other officers for their role in steering the Thunderbird support contract to a company called Strategic Message Solutions although its bid was twice as expensive as the other offeror and its ability to execute the contract was questionable. In response to the Senators’ letters, the Air Force’s issued a statement April 25, stating that Wynne’s action to date in the wake of the IG investigations has been appropriate and that USAF “stands ready” to support further review if called upon. (For more read Rolling Thundervision)

Air Force personnel have made, and continue to make, a significant contribution to the US military’s joint efforts in the global war on terror, and it’s important to reiterate that in light of recent events, Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne and Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley state in a joint letter to airmen issued April 24. USAF’s leadership said it issued the missive to remind airmen of the critical roles that they play in Afghanistan and Iraq, and in protecting the homeland, in general. This is in light of press reports that mischaracterized comments made by Defense Secretary Robert Gates April 21 as criticism of the air service’s level of support for the war effort. “It is important for all airmen to know Secretary Gates applauded airmen for their significant contributions to the Long War, just as he has praised America's soldiers, sailors, and marines. It is also important for airmen to know Air Force contributions are making a difference, and that airmen continue to do everything possible to support the Secretary of Defense's priorities,” Wynne and Moseley write. “We are proud of the hard work that you … undertake every day.” Examples include the fact that 24,000 airmen and 300 aircraft are currently deployed to the Middle East/Near East region supporting operations in Afghanistan and Iraq. Each month, airmen flying intratheater transports keep more than 12,000 people and 5,000 vehicles out of harm's way, they state. Further, the Air Force today can field 23 simultaneous combat air patrols of MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicles and will have 31 CAPs by April 2009, exceeding DOD’s requirements, they state. About 6,000 airmen are executing in-lieu-of tasks such as convoy operations to free up ground troops, they state.

The final series of ground engine tests of the first F-35B short takeoff/vertical landing test aircraft that will pave the way for the first flight of the aircraft later this year began April 18, Lockheed Martin announced April 25. On...

Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) said April 23 Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley would like to retain the air refueling mission at Grand Forks Air Force Base (i.e., base new KC-45A tankers there) once its current KC-135s leave....

Col. Mike Brill, a pilot with the Air Force Reserve’s 419th Fighter Wing at Hill AFB, Utah, is poised to become the first-ever flier to reach 6,000 flight hours in the cockpit of the F-16. The Salt Lake City’s Deseret...

The Department of Defense announced April 25 that it has identified the remains of 11 Army Air Forces personnel who went missing in December 1943 when their B-24D Liberator bomber disappeared during an armed reconnaissance mission over New Hanover Island...

It’s too early to say whether the Department of Defense’s efforts to develop small-sized, low-cost satellites and the infrastructure to place them in orbit quickly will be successful, the Government Accountability Office states in a new report issued April 25....

The Smithsonian Institution’s National Air and Space Museum opened the military unmanned aerial vehicles exhibition April 24. The new display features six UAVs, three of which were developed for the Air Force: a General Atomics Aeronautical Systems MQ-1L Predator, Boeing...

The British are Coming: For the first time in 15 years, the British Royal Air Force’s aerobatic team, the Red Arrows, will perform at a US air show later this year. The team is set to take part in this...

Efforts of the 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Group and Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron’s traffic management flight have paid off over the past year in improving the efficient use and control of shipping containers on an Air Force base in Southwest Asia....

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaApril 23-24, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 49 25 74 3,157 CAS/Armed Recon 129 82 211 9,560 Airlift 301 301 14,130 Air refueling 99 99 4,397 Total 685 31,244...