Early Lessons of Epic Fury USAF, USSF Lead in Biggest Air Campaign Since 2003. With contributions from Courtney Albon, Matt Cox, Stephen Losey, and Todd South W hen the U.S. and Israel launched strikes against hundreds of targets in Iran...
March/April 2026
Vol. 109, No. 3
The biggest airlift campaign in history wasn’t always pretty. But it worked. It was like picking up the population of a mid-size American city—Atlanta, Kansas City, Sacramento—and moving it halfway around the world. More than a half million people, vehicles,...
How two F-16 pilots survived a Houthi SAMbush. About 15 seconds separated F-16 “Wild Weasel” pilots Lt. Col. William “Skate” Parks and Maj. Michael “Danger” Blea from life or death in the night skies over Yemen. Along with multiple B-2...
What Satellites Reveal about China’s Military Expansion
The People’s Liberation Army Air Force is growing at an alarming rate. The world is changing—fast. And you don’t need to have exclusive access to bespoke intelligence capabilities to see those changes yourself. Open-source intelligence sources can now inform public...
Polaris Awards
Established in 2022, the Polaris Awards honor individuals and teams who embody the highest standards of the Guardian Values—Character, Commitment, Connection, and Courage. Each year officer, enlisted, and civilian Guardians across the Space Force are nominated. Chosen from more than 15,000...
Editorial: Epic Challenge
Operation Epic Fury got underway Feb. 28 with the largest assembly of U.S. airpower since 2003: Nearly 300 Air Force, Navy, and Marine Corps fighters, 20 bombers, dozens of tankers, and a fleet of electronic warfare, intelligence and surveillance, command...
WORLD: Air Warfare Symposium 2026
ACC’s New Readiness Metric By Matthew Cox AURORA, Colo. When Air Combat Command began developing a simplified aircraft readiness metric two years ago, the aim was to turn voluminous data points into a single number that could enable commands at...
WORLD: Air Warfare Symposium: Space
Space Force Aims for Growth By Courtney Albon AURORA, Colo. S pace Force leaders for years have been making a case for more funding and personnel to manage its growing slate of missions and responsibilities—from tracking and engaging more advanced...
WORLD: Obituary
Gen. John Shaud, Former AFA Boss and SHAPE Commander, Dies at 92 By Tobias Naegele Gen. John Shaud, who led AFA as Executive Director for seven years at the dawn of the 21st century, died at his home in McLean,...
Letters
We love letters! Write to us at letters@afa.org. To be published, letters should be timely, relevant and concise. Include your name and location. Letters may be edited for space and the editors have final say on which are published. Assurance...
Faces of the Force
Tell us who you think we should highlight here. Write to letters@afa.org Master Sgt. James Hodge (right), 66th Air Base Group first sergeant, Hanscom AFB, Mass., was awarded the AFSA Pitsenbarger Award for performing two heroic acts. In March, he...
Verbatim
Space Ghost “Operations to project power are very successful when you control the high ground. In wars of the past, the high ground was the air. In wars of the future—in wars of today—the high ground is space. You must...
Heroes and Leaders: Hoyt S. Vandenberg
America’s longest serving Air Force Chief. Hoyt S. Vandenberg was born in Milwaukee on Jan. 24, 1899. In high school he was a good athlete but a mediocre student; nonetheless, he received an appointment to West Point. Upon graduation he...
AFA IN ACTION: Gagnon Recognized as Space Visionary
Aurora, Colo. The Air & Space Forces Association presented Lt. Gen. Gregory Gagnon with the Gen. Jerome F. O’Malley Space Visionary Award at the 2026 Warfare Symposium on Feb. 25. The award honors vision, risk-taking, and innovation that advance...
