Down to the Line

The Pentagon may start the KC-135 tanker replacement program over again just after Labor Day, so says Rep. Todd Tiahrt (R-Kan.). And, according to a Wichita Eagle blog report, the avowed Boeing tanker supporter told members of the Wichita Aero...

Giving a Buzz First

According to the newly installed boss of Air Forces Central, Lt. Gen. Gilmary Hostage III, he and the new commander of US forces and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan, Army Gen. Stanley McChrystal, have agreed on a new...

Hold On There

So says the leaders of the National Governors Association about a new Pentagon proposal that would give DOD more control over National Guard forces during domestic disasters. The Pentagon notified the governors about its plan and in an Aug. 7...

No Return

Air Force Gen. Craig McKinley, the director of the National Guard Bureau, says there is no going back for the nation’s reserve forces, returning to a strategic reserve vice the operational reserve it has become. According to an Aug. 13...

Standing Pat on Alternate Engine

Pentagon leaders believe that their plan to continue with only one engine-maker for the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter is “still valid,” in the words of Marine Corps Gen.James Cartwright, vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. He...

Getting Afghan Air Into the Fight

USAF Brig. Gen. Walter Givhan, who has headed the Combined Air Power Transition Force in Afghanistan, told Pentagon reporters last week that his entity’s short-term goal has been to get Afghan airmen engaged in combat operations, primarily handling some mobility...

Health Care Pressures Defense Budget

By Marc V. Schanz
While President Obama’s $668 billion defense budget request for Fiscal 2010 reflects a historic high level of funding, there are implications beyond the future years defense plan since increased personnel costs, particularly for health care, will begin to crowd out...

Loggie Receives Bronze Star

The Air Force has awarded a Bronze Star Medal to Capt. Mike Lee with the 375th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Scott AFB, Ill., for his actions while deployed for a year to Afghanistan. Lee’s primary duty was to help train...

Air Sorties From SWA

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaAug. 12-13, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 50 58 108 9,575 CAS/Armed Recon 22 145 167 21,460 Airlift 276 276 29,387 Air refueling 98 98 10,453 Total 649 70,875...