It’s never too early to start celebrating a major milestone, which explains why the U.S. Air Force and Department of the Air Force kicked off the year with a bang Jan. 1 by highlighting the start of their 75th year at the Tournament of Roses Parade and the Rose Bowl. Seventy-five years after the Air Force’s birth on Sept. 18, 1947, the spirit of innovation that has driven the service was on display when a B-2 Spirit from the 509th Bomb Wing, located at Whiteman Air Force Base, Missouri, roared over the Tournament of Roses Parade and one of the most prestigious college bowl games, the 2022 Rose Bowl, to kick-off the yearlong 75th-anniversary celebration.
Airmen and Guardians who are eligible and elect to receive a booster dose of the COVID-19 vaccine are authorized a four-hour pass, or up to four-hours administrative leave for Department of the Air Force civilians.
Enlisted airmen will navigate several changes to their career development and promotion processes in 2022 that aim to reward experience and critical thinking. The updates could also offer more flexibility for people who want to gain certain job skills or live in certain areas.
Of all the moving and shaking (not to mention shenanigans) likely to happen next year in military space, acquisition reform will be the one key topic to keep the keenest eyeballs on. As is often the case in governance, process will be a big factor in setting policy.
The melee involving Afghan Air Force members ahead of Kabul’s fall hasn’t been previously reported. Reuters also learned exclusive details from airmen and former Afghan officials who participated in the secret operation to fly Ghani and his entourage to neighboring Uzbekistan on Aug. 15, and the role the chaos at the airport may have played in the timing of his departure.
The Biden administration formally supports extending operations of the International Space Station through the end of the decade, an announcement that is neither surprising nor addresses how to get all the station’s partners, notably Russia, to agree on the station’s future.
The Air Force’s Sword Athena program is partnering with the Army and the Air Force Exchanges to increase the availability of maternity uniforms in stores and sizing guides online. The change is due to expecting airmen having trouble finding the right size uniform to wear and being forced to find other, sometimes costly, ways to procure uniforms.
With the depot maintenance mission for a number of big jets, Tinker AFB offers rare glimpses of what these planes look like without their paint.
