Procurement problems? Blame “Mr. Vacant”

The Air Force has been struggling with acquisition for the past few years, but part of the problem may be a lack of leaders. Defense Secretary Robert Gates yesterday told the Senate Armed Services Committee that over the past eight...

Buying Solutions

Fixing the broken acquisition system will take more than just another study, Defense Secretary Robert Gates told the Senate Armed Services Committee yesterday. Since World War II, he said, there have been “nearly 130 studies” of procurement policy “to little...

More than Just An Aircraft

The Air Force plans to deploy an expeditionary air support operations group of about 100 airmen to Southwest Asia later this year to support its new fleet of MC-12W intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance aircraft. These airmen, operating out of sites throughout the theater,...

Scorpions Attack Old Tech

Some 60 airmen of the 603rd Air Control Squadron Scorpions who just returned to their home base at Aviano AB, Italy, from months supporting Southwest Asia combat operations, left their forward location with an enhanced command and control system, replacing...

Good News, Bad News

A team of technicians with the Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center at Tinker AFB, Okla., succeeded in determining (good news) what caused the F100 engine fan blade shop to lose nearly $16 million (bad news) over an 18-month period and...

Lockheed Increases TSAT Data Speed

Lockheed Martin announced last week that the Lockheed-Northrop Grumman team working on the Transformational Satellite Communications System had “achieved a key design milestone … that will dramatically increase data transfer speeds.” The Air Force recently released a draft version of...

Engineer Nets Bronze Star

Capt. Pamela Tan, an engineer with the 36th Electronic Warfare Squadron at Eglin AFB, Fla., has received a Bronze Star medal for her actions while deployed as an electronic warfare officer with an Army battalion in Iraq. In her normal...

Hours Add Up

MSgt. Terence Jackson, a KC-10 flight engineer with the 305th Air Mobility Wing at McGuire AFB, N.J., has surpassed more than 10,000 flight hours during his deployment to the 908th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron covering Southwest Asia operations. The Grand...

Air Sorties from SWA

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaJan. 25-26, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 56 19 75 967 CAS/Armed Recon 89 89 178 2,550 Airlift 265 265 3,307 Air refueling 80 80 1,197 Total 598 8,021...