A little-quoted and oft-forgotten edict of the 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review directed the Air Force to maintain 86 combat wings. The service never really defined what that meant, and the number is now likely to fall by the wayside, Chief...

The 2006 Quadrennial Defense Review instructed the Air Force to have a new bomber on the ramp by 2018, but the aircraft ready to fly by then will in all likelihood still be “developmental,” says Chief of Staff Gen. Norton...

Nearly three months after the Air Force grounded more than one-third of its A-10 fleet due to safety concerns over wing cracks, a sizable portion of the affected aircraft has not been cleared to fly and may not be for...

A C-17 was damaged on Dec. 23 at Kandahar Air Field, Afghanistan, when it departed the hard surface of the runway at about 6:20 a.m. local time, Air Forces Central said in a release. The aircraft is from the 315th...

TSgt. James Thompson, an anti-terrorism force protection specialist with the 425th Air Base Group at Izmir, Turkey, received the Bronze Star medal in October for his efforts during a 12-month deployment to Joint Base Balad, Iraq. According to a Dec....

Boeing has submitted a proposal to the Air Force to provide contractor logistics support services for the T-1A training aircraft fleet, the company said in a release earlier this month. The Air Force is expected to choose a contractor for...

The Department of Defense recently recognized the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano AB, Italy, as having the best anti-terrorism program for an installation in 2008. “It’s nice to be recognized at the DOD-level,” said Bill Trevino, 31st FW antiterrorism officer...

Air Force missile pioneers gathered Dec. 16 at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., to commemorate the 50th anniversary of the first successfully launched Thor missile. Nearly 30 members of the Thor Association attended the event, toured the Thor’s restored launch pad where...

The Air Force sent its first surgical fellow, Maj. Lisa Mihora, in summer 2008 to a war zone for a surgical rotation, paving the way for more to follow, according to a Dec. 19 release. Mihora, a board-certified ophthalmologist in...

Dec. 22-25, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 100 61 161 13,297 CAS/Armed Recon 151 199 350 36,803 Airlift 510 510 46,480 Air refueling 172 172 17,844 Total 1,193 114,424 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance...