Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh recently approved award of the Air and Space Campaign Medal to airmen who supported Operation Odyssey Dawn and Operation Unified Protector in Libya from March 2011 through October 2011, according to the Air Force Personnel Center. Welsh made the decision on Oct. 28, according to AFPC’s Dec. 11 release. Odyssey Dawn began on March 19, 2011, when a US-led coalition attacked targets in Libya to prevent the military of then-dictator Muammar Qaddafi from massacring Libyan civilians in that country’s civil war. The operation became known as Unified Protector on March 31, 2011, when NATO took command and control of the effort, which concluded on Oct. 31, 2012. The Air Force Secretary authorized the Air and Space Campaign Medal on April 24, 2002, for airmen who participated in, or directly supported, a significant US military operation that the Chief of Staff designates as qualifying for the medal, according to the service’s fact sheet. (See also Mildenhall report by A1C Dillon Johnston.)
Air Force Eyes New-Build F-16s to Boost Fighter Force
Sept. 16, 2026
The Air Force will consider acquiring new F-16 Fighting Falcon jets to answer capacity shortfalls in its aging fighter fleet, according to multiple people familiar with the matter. These discussions are happening as the Air Force is building its proposed fiscal 2028 budget and the five-year spending plan that goes…
