B-1B Uses Sniper in Combat

A B-1B bomber equipped with a Sniper targeting pod struck enemy combatants with a 500-pound joint direct attack munition in Afghanistan on Aug. 4, marking the first time that the B-1B employed a weapon in combat with the help of...

Air Combat Exercise Kicks Off

Red Flag training exercise 08-04 kicked off yesterday at Nellis AFB, Nev., and will run through Aug. 22. This iteration of the nation’s premier annual air combat training event includes the first participation of the Indian and South Korean air...

“AMPle” Opportunity for Exchange

The Air Force is hosting a two-day conference with industry today and tomorrow at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, to discuss the upcoming competitive phase of the C-130 avionics modernization program. According to a Federal Business Opportunities release on Aug. 8, the...

F-117 Test Unit Stands Down

The Air Force on Aug. 1 inactivated the 410th Flight Test Squadron at Plant 42 in Palmdale, Calif., the unit responsible since 1980 for flight testing the F-117A stealth ground-attack aircraft that the service retired in April. Over the years,...

Holloman F-22 Training Heats Up

Aircraft maintainers of the 49th Fighter Wing at Holloman AFB, N.M., last month began “hot pit” training exercises with the F-22 stealth fighter, two squadrons of which will call the base home within the next few years. Hot pit means...

More on Florida Space Deal

The Air Force would grant the state of Florida access to space launch complex 36 at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., for an initial term of five years for commercial space launches under a proposed real-estate license, Air Force Space Command...

200K and Counting

The 777th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron reached a milestone on Aug. 5 in Iraq when one of its C-130 transported the unit’s 200,000th passenger during a mission from Ali Base to Joint Base Balad. Lt. Col. Chris Cantu, commander of the...

Ruby Jubilee

The Air National Guard celebrated the 40th anniversary of its I.G. Brown Training and Education Center at McGhee Tyson ANGB, Tenn., on July 30-31. “We’ve had 40 years of building exceptional leaders for the Air Guard,” said Col. Michael Waggett,...

Beefing Up

Air Force Reserve Command’s 926th Group at Nellis AFB, Nev., is working to swell its ranks by 137 positions to reach a goal of 511 personnel by 2013. Toward that end, the unit, which was activated in October 2007 to...

Bumper Crop

The 361st Recruiting Squadron from McChord AFB, Wash., brought in 151 recruits from Oregon and Washington on July 19, thereby setting a record for the largest delayed-entry-program swear-in at an air show. The ceremony took place during the McChord Air...

Air Sorties from SWA

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaAug. 9-10, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 56 27 83 6,977 CAS/Armed Recon 99 138 237 20,506 Airlift 229 229 27,697 Air refueling 118 118 9,950 Total 667 65,130...