Air Force Reserve Command’s 93rd Bomb Squadron at Barksdale AFB, La., is assuming the lead for B-52H training under a shift underway in the B-52 fleet. Currently a combat-coded unit, the squadron is transitioning to the B-52 formal training unit,...

With just slightly more than two weeks to go until President Obama must choose whether to keep the F-22 in production, Lockheed Martin is portraying the airplane as a model program exceeding expectations. Larry Lawson, Lockheed’s program manager, told the...

Late last year, the F-22 was verbally trashed by Pentagon acquisition chief John Young, who charged that the Raptor wasn’t meeting key performance parameters and was turning in mission capable rates of only about 60 percent. Larry Lawson, Lockheed Martin’s...

Keeping the F-22 going will preserve about 90,000 to 95,000 jobs, both directly and indirectly, Lockheed Martin program manager Larry Lawson said yesterday in an interview. It’s a great stimulus package, he said: The money takes effect immediately, and there’s...

The Air Force hasn’t asked Lockheed Martin for any special pricing on another three-year multiyear procurement of the F-22, company program manager Larry Lawson reported yesterday. The F-22 will be judged on current costs, which stem from the current multiyear...

The Air Force Inspection Agency at Kirtland AFB, N.M., hosted the inaugural training course for nuclear surety inspectors Feb. 2-6. The course, conceived late last year to standardize all NSI training and certification as a means to beef up the...

Air Force officials announced Wednesday that the service has reactivated the Air Force Good Conduct Medal, as of Feb. 11, and will award it retroactively to airmen who qualify going back to the decoration’s suspension in 2005. “We’re going to...

An Air Force contingent traveled to Nigeria for 10 days in mid-January to meet with senior Nigerian officials, including the Nigerian Minister of Defence and Nigerian Chief of Air Staff, for discussions on improving the safety and security features of...

Boeing announced Feb. 10 that it has delivered the final upgraded missile guidance set for the Minuteman III ICBM to the Air Force. The delivery occurred in December, two months ahead of schedule, and capped nearly seven years of consecutive...

The last members of the Japanese Air Self Defense Force’s redeployment group departed an air base in Southwest Asia Feb. 10, thus ending Japan’s airlift support of Iraqi reconstruction after almost five years. “I’m proud of our airmen to conclude...

CMSgt. James Tauscher, currently assigned to the 15th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, received a Bronze Star medal last year for his actions as a combat aviation advisor to the Coalition Air Forces Transition Team in Iraq. During...

Feb. 10, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 6 21 27 1,583 CAS/Armed Recon 2 73 75 4,062 Airlift 110 110 5,268 Air refueling 50 50 1,898 Total 262 12,811 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance...