Pilot Killed in T-38 Crash
Capt. Mark P. Graziano, 30, who was in training as a test pilot at Edwards AFB, Calif., was killed in the May 21 crash of a T-38 about nine miles north of the base at 1:15 p.m. Maj. Lee V....
Fraser Confirmed for ACC
The Senate on May 21 confirmed Gen. William Fraser III to retain four stars and head Air Combat Command, so the Shreveport Times was right (see below Musical Chairs). (There has been no public announcement on Fraser’s nomination by the...
A Bill for the Bomber
Sen. John Thune (R-S.D.) has introduced legislation aimed at restoring work now on the next generation bomber. Defense Secretary Robert Gates terminated the 2018 bomber, directed under the last Quadrennial Defense Review, with his 2010 defense budget proposal. Gates has...
F-22 Adequate for One, not Two, MCOs
Sen. Saxby Chambliss (R-Ga.)—the Senate’s leading defender of the F-22 program and vocal critic of its cancellation—asked Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz during Thursday’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on the Air Force 2010 budget proposal to characterize the...
Multiyear Shutdown
No matter what option is chosen to handle the shutdown of the F-22 production line, the price tag will not be borne in a single year, say officials in the F-22 program office at Wright Patterson AFB, Ohio. “It’s a...
Musical Chairs
According to a report in the Shreveport Times, Gen. William Fraser III, currently serving as the Vice Chief of Staff, is the likely successor to head Air Combat Command when Gen. John Corley retires this summer. Replacing Fraser in the...
TacSat-3 Is Up, Working
After repeated delays to iron out a few problems and then bad weather and ground equipment issues delaying the launch earlier this month, the Air Force Research Lab’s TacSat-3 is on-orbit. An Orbital Science’s Minotaur I booster blasted off from...
A-Twitter About GPS
Responding to a flurry of news reports about the “impending doom” of the GPS satellite system so critical to military and civil capabilities, Air Force Space Command on May 20 took to the Internet via Twitter. Col. Dave Buckman, AFSPC’s...
The Evidence So Far
According to the interim report of a US Central Command team investigating allegations of civilian deaths as a result of close air support air strikes during coalition and Afghan National Army operations May 4 in Farah province, the team has...
Two Bronze Stars
The Air Force has awarded Bronze Star medals for meritorious service to Lt. Col. Daniel Semsel and MSgt. Scott Rogge for their actions to support operations in Afghanistan and Iraq, respectively. Semsel, who is deputy commander of the 509th Mission...
A Gold for the WASPs
Lawmakers have introduced companion bills in the Senate and House that would provide a Congressional Gold Medal for the Women Airforce Service Pilots (WASP), the group of women who served as instructors, transport, and ferrying pilots during World War II....
Air Sorties from SWA
Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaMay 18, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 27 21 48 5,541 CAS/Armed Recon 30 56 86 13,427 Airlift 150 150 18,816 Air refueling 43 43 6,093 Total 327 43,877...