The Air Force’s top uniformed leader has selected CMSgt. Rodney J. McKinley to serve as the next Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, succeeding CMSAF Gerald Murray, who retires June 30. McKinley currently is command chief for Pacific Air...

Air Force Gen. Charles F. Wald, currently deputy commander of US European Command, piloted his last aircraft on active duty last week, receiving the celebratory hosing upon landing at Stuttgart Army Airfield in Germany. Wald, who will retire this summer,...

Sen. Kit Bond (R-Mo.) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.) introduced legislation last week that would give the National Guard a larger presence within the Pentagon and enhance its ability to respond to its domestic responsibilities and deploy abroad. The two...

Northrop Grumman has identified a new mission for its high-flying Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle—already hailed as a star of war on terror operations. On May 1, company officials said the UAV recently conducted three 28-hour test flights over major...

The US and Japan yesterday agreed to implementation details for the realignment of US and Japanese forces set out last fall. In a statement, Secretary of State Condoleeza Rice said, “Completion of these realignment initiatives is essential to strengthen the...

Boeing has announced plans to compete in the upcoming Joint Cargo Aircraft competition by joining with L-3 Communications and Finmeccanica’s Alenia division to offer the C-27J aircraft, according to the Wall Street Journal. The Army and Air Force have joined...

Heeding a review by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States, President George Bush has decided to allow the acquisition of Ross Catherall US Holdings Inc. by Dubai Holding LLC to move forward. On April 28, the President...

Air Mobility Command accident investigators have concluded that the death of SrA. James D. Harris last winter was a failure on the airman’s part to follow safety standards. In a statement released April 28, AMC officials said that, on Dec....

A team of eight personnel at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland AFB, N.M., is working on a set of three flywheels that will demonstrate the technology of combined attitude control and energy storage on a...

A good idea netted TSgt. James Mazurek at Minot AFB, N.D., $10,000 for suggesting the Air Force insert a warning paragraph into the technical orders describing how to hook up a tow bar to main landing gear on B-52H bombers....

England Kicks Off NSPS: Deputy Defense Secretary Gordon England has signed a directive implementing Spiral 1.1 of the National Security Personnel System, entering the first 11,000 DOD employees into the new—and still controversial—new performance-based system. “NSPS is critical to the...

Oregon Rescue Forces Exercise in High Country: Air Force Reserve Command airmen of the 304th Rescue Squadron, Portland Airport, Ore., joined with about 50 civilian counterparts for a daylong search-and-rescue exercise recently on Mount Hood, one of the most climbed...

MDA Tests Countermeasures in Hawaii: The Missile Defense Agency tested its Critical Measurements/Countermeasures Program on Kauai, Hawaii, on April 28, successfully launching a scientific payload from the Pacific Missile Range facility. The program provides realistic testing for the Ballistic Missile...

Regni Lightens Disciplinary Action: The new boss at the US Air Force Academy has returned the minor infractions and high jinks attributed to USAFA cadets to in-house disciplinary measures rather than having them appear as permanent stains on a cadet’s...

April 28-30, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 44 16 60 CAS/Armed Recon 164 62 226 Airlift 315 315 Air refueling 100 100 Total 208 78 415 701 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance