Getting There

Gen. Norton Schwartz, Air Force Chief of Staff, told House defense appropriators last week that the service’s first MC-12W Project Liberty aircraft had deployed to Southwest Asia and should arrive in Iraq on June 5. Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.) had...

A More Senior KC-X Team

According to senior Air Force officials, who acknowledge that the Pentagon has yet to declare whether USAF will be the source selection authority for the next round in the KC-X tanker program, the service has changed its team. Gen. Norton...

Slip, Sliding Away?

Is Rep. John Murtha, chairman of the House Appropriations defense panel, shying away from his push to have the Pentagon buy two tankers up front to fulfill the KC-X program? In questioning the Air Force’s two top leaders over the...

More or Less F-35s?

The Air Force program of record for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is to purchase 1,763, but that number could go up or down depending on the Quadrennial Defense Review. Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz told House...

Old, But Reworked Bombers Take Over

Some 300 airmen and three B-52 bombers deployed from the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale AFB, La., at the end of May, replacing a B-2 force from the 509th BW at Whiteman AFB, Mo., that had sustained the Pacific region...

Hind Sight

Several news reports have stated that the investigation into air strikes against Taliban forces in May that claimed the lives of numerous civilians has found that the US military may not have followed the latest rules of engagement, which had...

Pep Talk

Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, director of the National Guard Bureau, assured Mississippi Air National Guardsmen with the 186th Air Refueling Wing at Key Field during a visit last week that it’s “very much a team effort” to secure a...

Kunsan Airman Receives Bronze

The Air Force has awarded a Bronze Star medal to TSgt. Michael Brady, a member of the 8th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Kunsan AB, South Korea, for his actions while deployed to support operations in Iraq. According to a June...

Air Sorties from SWA

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaJune 3, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 25 20 45 6,234 CAS/Armed Recon 23 76 99 15,031 Airlift 140 140 21,056 Air refueling 52 52 6,907 Total 336 49,228...