There is no doubt in the mind of Army Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, head of the National Guard Bureau, that capability requirements not money must drive the size of the Air National Guard. “I am not going to get driven...

The chief of the National Guard Bureau, Army Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, believes Operation Jump Start is a “magnificent mission” that is “making a very, very big, positive difference.” On a week-long visit to see some of the 6,000 Army...

The F-16 Fighting Falcons of the 80th Fighter Squadron at Kunsan AB, South Korea, have started getting the upgrades known as Falcon STAR (structural augmentation roadmap) to extend their service lives. According to a Kunsan news release, changing mission dynamics...

The Air Force’s official auxiliary force of volunteers—the Civil Air Patrol—will kick off today at noon (EST) a yearlong celebration of its founding on Dec. 1, 1941, by holding a nationwide moment of silence. For 65 years, CAP volunteers have...

NORAD and US Northern Command are in the midst of Vigilant Shield 07 to practice defense skills against a variety of threats, states a NORAD news release. The exercise, which runs through Dec. 14, encompasses scenarios involving NORAD’s three regions,...

Air Force Undersecretary Ronald Sega told Washington-based defense reporters that even though the Air Force plans to ensure it doesn’t push immature technology into production, it does want to pursue leading-edge technology. Sega says that the service’s research community must...

The 83rd Fighter Weapons Squadron at Tyndall AFB, Fla., once again has hosted fighter units testing their combat capability. F-15s and F-16s from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, traveled to Tyndall to practice dissimilar air combat tactics and fire live weapons...

NATO chiefs meeting in Riga, Latvia, have moved “the yardsticks substantially,” said NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer in a concluding press conference Wednesday. Much of the discussion centered on NATO’s mission in Afghanistan, including an agreement from several...

NATO has decided to offer partnership for peace memberships to Bosnia, Montenegro, and Serbia, joining another 20 countries in Europe, the Caucasus, and Central Asia that work with NATO countries in individual ways. NATO Secretary General Jaap de Hoop Scheffer...

The NATO Summit at Riga, Latvia, also heralded the announcement that the NATO Response Force is now at full operational capability. “We are there,” stated Jaap de Hoop Scheffer, NATO Secretary General, noting that it “wasn’t easy.” The rotational NRF...

The Space and Missile Systems Center at Los Angeles AFB, Calif., has awarded Lockheed Martin nearly $51 million to make the transition from legacy Milstar communications satellite ground control and mission planning equipment to new Advanced Extremely High Frequency satellite...

Ogden Air Logistics Center at Hill AFB, Utah, has opted to pursue options No. 1 and 3 in the Propulsion System Rocket Engine Life Extension Program, awarding Northrop Grumman nearly $15.1 million on the ICBM Prime Integration contract, which USAF...

The Air Force has awarded $16 million to Raytheon for the company to continue providing logistics support for the T-6A Texan II Joint Primary Aircraft Training System ground-based training system. This marks the sixth straight option on this program for...

Nov. 29, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 11 11 22 CAS/Armed Recon 32 48 80 Airlift 120 120 Air refueling 30 30 Total 43 59 150 252 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance