Coalition air forces are providing 24-hour close air support for Operation Mountain Lion, a newly launched Combined Forces Command Afghanistan offensive against Afghan insurgents. Working with the Afghan National Army, coalition forces established security in certain areas of the country...

Gen. Michael Moseley acknowledges that he is a fan of unmanned combat air vehicles, but he does not see them replacing fighters in the air-to-air role for quite some time. However, the Air Force Chief of Staff told defense reporters,...

The Air Force reportedly has scrapped its plan to include its oldest C-130s in upgrade plans, according to Dow Jones Newswires. The news service quotes an official April 5 memo that states the service would not upgrade the C-130Es under...

Some of the lawsuits launched last fall to challenge Pentagon and BRAC 2005 commission decisions are still going strong, including the State of Connecticut’s effort to prevent DOD from removing the 15 A-10s of the 103rd Fighter Wing. In federal...

The Air Force has passed the 75 percent mark in its work to assess the potential of Cannon AFB, N.M., for a new mission. The service’s top civilian for installations, William Anderson, told House appropriators last week that he expects...

Another Air Force base currently undergoing an “attributes study” is Malmstrom AFB, Mont. There is one review team on site already, and William Anderson told lawmakers that another team would visit the base in May to see if there is...

Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne tells airmen in a new letter that he plans to institute “refined initial and developmental education for all ranks” to take USAF’s educational foundation “to the next level.” The service has extended basic training to provide combat indoctrination and is providing cultural and language classes in some professional military education settings. Wynne says airmen must “be relentless” toward becoming “knowledge-enabled.”

Air Force Reserve Command civil engineers are spending six months on the island of St. Lucia in the Caribbean Sea to help build an operations center and barracks for the country’s police force as part of a humanitarian assignment. Approximately...

Air Force and Army officials confirmed at a House appropriations subcommittee hearing that the services could be short of funds to cover implementation of all BRAC 2005 actions—the gap could be as much as $10 billion. The Air Force estimates...

Richard Perle with the American Enterprise Institute writes in “Death of a Cold Warrior” that Caspar Weinberger, who died last month, was an “unusual Cabinet Secretary, especially at the Defense Department” because he possessed not only “energy” but also “political...

The Air Force has “a variety of assets” in theater to support Army Gen. John Abizaid, chief of US Central Command, should Abizaid be “asked to do something else” beyond operations in Iraq and Afghanistan. So said USAF Chief of...

Meet Raptor, Spirit, and Nighthawk: The bellicose rhetoric of the Iranian government continues unabated, despite international pressure against the country’s desire to produce nuclear weapons. Contrary to what some pundits have said about a lack of effective military options, Ret....

The Rolls-Royce AE 2100 military turboprop engine on April 12 topped one million hours of service as the power plant for the C-130J Hercules transport. AE 2100-D3 engines power J models flown by the US Air Force, Marine Cops, and...

At Vandy, a Reagan Bust: As we reported Monday, there is now at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., the Ronald W. Reagan Missile Defense Site, comprising four silos, two of which house interceptor missiles as part of the nation’s ballistic missile defense...

The Air Force Experimentation Office at Langley AFB, Va., plans to hold a Joint Expeditionary Force Experiment 2006 beginning April 22 at Nellis AFB, Nev. The latest JEFX is slated to accelerate research, development, and fielding of new combat systems,...

The Air Force took home three of nine 2005 Secretary of Defense Award Environmental Awards recently. Dyess AFB, Tex., won for environmental quality team efforts, with Tinker AFB, Okla., winning an installation-wide award for pollution prevention, and Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio,...

April 12, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 12 8 20 CAS/Armed Recon 53 23 76 Airlift 170 170 Air refueling 36 36 Total 65 31 206 302 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance