North Korea Demonstrating Conventional Firepower

The North Korean regime of Kim Jong Un is taking advantage of its winter training cycle to step up rocket and missile launch demonstrations, the senior US officer on the Korean Peninsula said Tuesday. Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, US Forces...

PACOM, USKF Commanders Weigh in on ISR Cuts

While U-2 retirement would pose an immediate reduction in capability on the Korean Peninsula, US Forces Korea and US Pacific Command leaders are less concerned about proposed cuts to MQ- Reaper unmanned aircraft in their areas of responsibility. USFK Commander...

Hagel Names Military Professionalism Advisor

Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has named Rear Adm. Margaret “Peg” Klein to serve as his senior advisor for military professionalism. Klein will report directly to Hagel on military ethics, character, and leadership issues. Klein “brings to the position a wealth...

NRO Launch Delayed

Officials scrubbed a classified National Reconnaissance Office payload launch from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., on Tuesday due to a “range instrumentation outage.” The 45th Space Wing “range experienced an issue with a mandatory range asset needed to support the launch,”...

Former Basic Training Instructor Pleads Guilty

A former Air Force basic training instructor could face more than 40 years in prison after pleading guilty to mistreating recruits at JBSA-Lackland, Texas, reported the San Antonio-Express-News. SSgt. Annamarie Ellis pled guilty to “three charges and 24 specifications of maltreating recruits” on March 25, according to the article. During a 22-month period beginning in 2009, Ellis allegedly threatened “to cut off an airman’s genitals and [obstructed] an investigation into how a recruit got a black eye,” it states. Col. Donald Eller Jr., the judge who will rule in her case, also ruled over a number of sexual abuse cases from military training instructors at JBSA-Lackland. However, the allegations against Ellis do not include sexual misconduct, states the article. Eller dismissed one specification against her but maintained that Ellis could still face “a steep sentence,” according to the article.

Nellis Inaugurates F-35 Maintenance Hangar

Officials christened a new $20.6 million F-35A Lightning II maintenance facility in a ceremony at Nellis AFB, Nev., last week. The 68,000 square foot aircraft maintenance hangar is the first designed specifically for the F-35 and is capable of handling...

South Korea to Award Tanker Contract by the Fall

South Korea hopes to award a contract for its KC-X program by the fall, announced Lt. Gen. Hyungchul Kim, the Republic of Korea Air Force vice chief of staff, during a Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies event in Arlington, Va.,...

Cutting Costs in Space

Defense contractors can reduce the cost of expensive national security space capabilities by using more commercial and streamlined practices, said Jeff Trauberman, Boeing’s vice president of space, intelligence, and missile defense. Speaking at an Aerospace Industries Association event in Washington,...