Verbatim

April 2, 2026
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...
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...
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...
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...

Faces of the Force

April 2, 2026
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...
The first F-35 Joint Strike Fighter with ballast, rather than an advanced radar in its nose, flew an acceptance flight the last week of February, Air & Space Forces Magazine has learned. F-35s will arrive without radars at Air Force, Navy and Marine Corps bases ...

WORLD: Heritage

Feb. 6, 2026
Gene Smith, Former POW and AFA Chair, Dies at 91 By Tobias Naegele  Lt. Col. Richard “Gene” Smith, who overcame five and a half years as a prisoner of war in the notorious Hanoi Hilton from 1967 until 1973, died...