BUFF, Tanker Going Down Under for Training

The Air Force is dispatching a B-52 bomber and KC-135 tanker this week from Andersen AFB, Guam, to Royal Australian Air Force Base Darwin in northern Australia for short-term joint training, announced Pacific Air Forces officials on Aug. 22. This...

Donley Visits Africa

Air Force Secretary Michael Donley visited Camp Lemonnier, Djibouti, on Aug. 22 for the first time since he took office four years ago, announced service officials. During the visit, he met with Combined Joint Task Force-Horn of Africa leaders and...

Disorientation Blamed in Fatal F-15E Crash

Air Combat Command investigators determined that spatial disorientation was the primary cause of the fatal F-15E crash during a training exercise in the Persian Gulf on March 28. On a night landing descent to the crew's deployed air base, the pilot lost his bearings and initiated a series of erratic maneuvers, inverting the aircraft approximately 1,800 feet above the ground, according to the accident investigation board's report, issued on Aug. 21. Perceiving the pilot's disorientation, the weapons system officer seized control of the aircraft, initiating an 11-G leveling maneuver before ejecting both aircrew at 88 feet in altitude, states the report. The pilot died when he struck a 377-foot radio tower during ejection. The WSO survived with only minor injuries. The aircraft clipped a tower and was destroyed on impact with the ground. The aircraft's loss is estimated at $47.1 million, on top of the damage to the foreign infrastructure. The F-15E was deployed from the 366th Fighter Wing at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. (Langley release) (AIB report; caution, large-sized file.)

Mobility Wargame Concludes

GLOMO, the Global Mobility Wargame 2012, wrapped up at the Air Force Expeditionary Center at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., announced Air Mobility Command officials on Aug 22. Some 65 air mobility experts took part in the command’s premier wargame, a biennial...

Tale of Two Tankers

An Air Force KC-135 and Royal Air Force L-1011 TriStar tanker took off from RAF Mildenhall, England, in a close interval while practicing formation refueling over the North Sea. This type of training came in response to lessons learned during...

Pricey Pines

The Air Force is reimbursing the town of Barnegat, N.J., for the cost of fighting a forest fire sparked by an Air National Guard F-16 on May 15, 2007, reports the Associated Press. The municipality bore the brunt of combating...

World War II Airman’s Remains Identified

Defense Department forensic scientists identified the remains of an airman who had been missing in action since World War II. Army Air Forces SSgt. John E. Hogan, of West Plains, Mo., will be buried on Aug. 24 with full military...

Small Munition Clears Test

Raytheon announced the successful completion of a warhead and guidance system test for its Pyros small tactical munition, a 13.5-pound bomb meant for carriage on small-sized remotely piloted aircraft. The recent end-to-end test at Yuma Proving Ground, Ariz., validated the...