The Air Force wants to do in Fiscal 2009 what it hasn’t been able to do in past budgets: include funding for the future helicopter that will replace its Vietnam War-era Huey UH-1Ns. USAF has sought for years to retire...

STRATCOM is synthesizing the feedback from a senior warfighter forum last November to prioritize the operationally responsive space capabilities that it will pursue to support the combatant commands, according to an Air Force official. “The STRATCOM folks in Omaha are...

Now that the Fiscal 2009 defense spending request is in to Congress, the Air Force is gearing up to build its Fiscal 2010 program objective memorandum. It will be a truly significant document, a senior USAF official said last week,...

A key criticism levied on the final report of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves is that it recommends converting the National Guard into a domestic-only force. At last week’s Senate Armed Services Committee hearing, commissioners adamantly disputed...

The Air Force has the requirement that the third in its series of Space Based Infrared System satellites carries a nuclear detection detonation sensor as current GPS spacecraft do. According to USAF’s Fiscal 2009 budget documents, this satellite, designated GEO-3,...

Fixing the software issue with the first Space Based Infrared System satellite isn’t affecting the pace of industry’s work in completing the spacecraft’s integration, according to an Air Force official. “The good news is all that kind of work does...

Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne took part Feb. 5 in the grand-opening ceremony of a new complex at an unnamed operating base in Southwest Asia. The Blatchford-Preston Complex is a $106.9 million joint construction project between the US and host...

The Air Force has awarded Bronze Star medals to 11 airmen for their meritorious service during deployments to Southwest Asia. They are: Maj. Jean Havens, Columbus AFB, Miss; Maj. Aaron Hopper, Capt. Michael Oldham, MSgt. John Bilczewski, and MSgt. David...

The Civil Air Patrol, the official USAF auxiliary, has embarked on pilot programs at two Air Force bases—Randolph AFB, Tex., and Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio—to provide additional assistance to the Air Force. Called Volunteer Support of the Air Force, the program...

The Air Force has notified Alliant Techsystems that the company’s Launch Systems Group has been temporarily placed on an excluded parties list, according to a company release on Feb. 6. This action could result in limitations being placed on the...

Feb. 8, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 24 10 34 983 CAS/Armed Recon 56 40 96 3,103 Airlift 152 152 4,584 Air refueling 50 50 1,479 Total 332 10,149 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance...