Just when you thought the AC-130U couldn’t get any nastier, here comes somebody ready to install a standoff weapon. The Air Force wants to give the gunship a so-called “Viper Strike” precision munition to go along with its 25 mm...

A two-week exercise called Eagle Flag wrapped up at Naval Air Engineering Station Lakehurst, N.J. The exercise, designed to help airmen prepare for expeditionary deployments, concluded on Oct. 28. Participants were tested on a wide range of expeditionary combat support...

The Congressional Budget Office is out with another cost estimate on a bill that would affect veterans programs and benefits. The Veterans Housing and Employment Improvement Act of 2005 would include readjustment benefits, housing, and employment programs. CBO estimates that...

For two straight years, the Air Force’s three air logistics centers have exceeded their aircraft production goal and met engine production goals – helping put hardware on the front lines where it’s needed. According to AFMC statistics for FY 2005,...

“Normally we guard aircraft and airfields. Now, we’re staring at people who could be responsible for killing Americans.” So said TSgt. Jeff Tynan, of 587th Security Forces Squadron, deployed to Camp Bucca, Iraq. There, airmen make up most of the...

The Pentagon is belatedly knocking on doors on Capitol Hill, trying to convince lawmakers not to gut several high-priority modernization programs in the FY 2006 budget. The Senate is angling to take $270 million from development of the F-35 Joint...

Why does it seem that weapons costs only go up? A Congressional appropriations panel thinks the answer has to do with contract management processes, and it wants to take a look at them as soon as the Fiscal 2006 defense...

The Pentagon last week unveiled its plans to push 65,000 civil service employees into the new performance-based pay system under the National Security Personnel System. Several unions immediately lined up to challenge the action in court. Members of a coalition...

Gen. Lance Lord, commander of Air Force Space Command, has authorized wear of the new Space Badge—but it is not yet available for purchase. Lord announced the creation of the new badge last year. (See our article on “New Space Badge To Replace ‘Pocket Rocket’” here.) According to AFSPC, the command will award the badge to personnel in space billets once they have completed the required education and training and gained requisite training. Read more here.

A war pensions tribunal in London ruled Monday that British soldiers that suffered severe illnesses after returning from the 1991 Gulf War are in fact victims of the reputed “Gulf War Syndrome,” which until now the British Ministry of Defense...

Air Force units this week continued their support of earthquake relief efforts in Pakistan. According to statistics from US Central Command Air Forces, a C-17 transport, a contracted AN-124 Condor, and two contracted B-747s flew in more than 430,000 pounds...

Airmen are taking new and challenging billets in Iraq, and the job of the 732nd Expeditionary Mission Support Group’s Personnel Support for Contingency Operation team is to keep track of them all. While most of the “in lieu of forces”...

The medical control center at Langley AFB, Va. is processing less paperwork these days thanks to a new Medical Screening Program that helps personnel and wing unit managers easily verify medical deployment status electronically. Eliminating the chaotic system of spreadsheets...

The driver of a van carrying three airmen fell asleep at the wheel and lost control of the vehicle, which rolled over near Wadi El Na Natron City, Egypt on September 19, Air Force investigators announced Monday. According to the...

Manas AB, Kyrgyzstan, has become the first forward-deployed expeditionary base to get a first sexual assault response coordinator. The move is part of USAF’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Program. It aims to ensure that deployed personnel have specialists on...

October 31, 2005 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 9 7 – 16 CAS/Armed Recon 34 20 – 54 Airlift – – 170 170 Air refueling – – 33 33 Total 43 27 203 273 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...