Daily Report

Airman Dies In Iraq: An airman was killed today (April 9) supporting combat operations near Forward Operating Base Poliwoda in Iraq, the Air Force announced. The name of the airman, who was deployed to the 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing at...

The cost of the F-35 program actually went down in the last quarter of 2007, the Pentagon reported April 7. According to the quarterly selected acquisition report, the projected cost of the F-35 program decreased by 0.3 percent, or nearly...

“We’re obviously happy,” said Air Force Maj. Gen C.R. Davis, F-35 program executive officer, during a teleconference with reporters April 8, when discussing the Pentagon’s just-issued selected acquisition report for the final quarter of 2007 and the fact that it...

Secretary of the Air Force Michael Wynne’s latest letter to airmen says the errant shipment of non-nuclear ballistic missile nose cones to Taiwan highlights important lessons that touch on USAF’s core values of integrity, service, and excellence. In addition to having the moral and intellectual courage to do the right thing, integrity also encompasses “going the extra mile to ensure our work is absolutely accurate,” the secretary writes in his April 7 missive. “As we automate more and more, any data errors become part of a larger error set” that could have impact across the joint military community and for the entire nation. Service in this sense means an airman cross checking any part of a process with which he or she is involved. “I need you to be the one to notice when something is not right even if it is not within your immediate purview,” he writes. And the commitment to excellence requires airmen to get the right level of training and take “personal accountability for being ready, willing, and able to execute the mission” correctly and efficiently,” he writes.

The Air Force’s advanced extremely high frequency communications satellite program is one of three big-ticket US weapons projects highlighted in the Pentagon’s newly issued selected acquisition report as having breached Nunn-McCurdy cost-monitoring thresholds for the period of September to December...

Defense Chief Robert Gates, top Pentagon lawyer Daniel Dell'Orto, and unnamed Justice Department confreres have struck yet another blow at Terryl J. Schwalier, Washington's designated Khobar Towers scapegoat. They have forced USAF to halt and reverse its efforts to retore Schwalier's second star after a 10-year struggle. The new decision was elaborated in a March 28 letter from Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne to the Air Force Review Boards Agency, ordering it to halt implementation of its recent decision to correct "an injustice" and retroactively promote Schwalier to major general. That corrective step has drawn strong praise from AFA and many other Air Force groups. They believed Schwalier had been made the fall guy by the Clinton Administration and some members of Congress for alleged command failures in the 1996 terrorist bombing of Khobar Towers in Saudi Arabia. Nineteen airmen died. Though the Senate had confirmed Schwalier's promotion to major general before the attack, and though critics produced no credible evidence of fault on the part of Schwalier, Secretary of Defense William Cohen blocked his second star. In his March 28 letter, Wynne appeared to be acting under duress. He said Gates "has informed me" that Dell'Orto thinks the Air Force acted beyond its authority, that "the Department of Justice supports [Dell'Orto's] conclusion of law," and that "the Secretary of Defense agrees." The service had already changed the general's official biography to reflect the new situation, giving his new grade, promotion date, and retirement date. All that is now to be rescinded. Schwalier could not immediately be reached to discuss options, which clearly could include further legal action in federal court. (Read more about the Schwalier case and Khobar Towers in this collection from Air Force Magazine.)

There is a compelling need for Congress to fund the installation of a sophisticated new overhead monitoring radar on the Air Force’s fleet of E-8C Joint STARS aircraft, argues Loren Thompson of the Lexington Institute. “Warfighters in Iraq have identified...

Ten of the 16 KC-135 tankers in the Pennsylvania Air National Guard’s 171st Air Refueling Wing turn 50 years old this year, and the remainder will reach this milestone next year, the Beaver County Times & Allegheny Times Online reported...

Air Force Maj. Gen. C.R. Davis, F-35 program manager, said April 8 the average procurement unit cost of the F-35 will be just under $70 million in today’s dollars. This represents the average cost of the 2,443 airplanes to be...

The first F-35B, with the short takeoff/vertical landing capability, is due to fly in May or June, Dan Crowley, Lockheed Martin F-35 vice president and general manager, told reporters during a teleconference April 8. There are ongoing issues with the...

Since January, US government surveillance aircraft have flown more than 224 missions out of Forward Operating Location Manta, Ecuador, resulting in 75 arrests and the capture of 53 metric tons of cocaine worth about $1.052 billion and 83 pounds of...

The 376th Air Expeditionary Wing at Manas AB, Krygyzstan, set a record in March for moving more than 10,000 passengers to forward deployed locations in Afghanistan or redeploying forces headed home. They also set another mark in March, by moving...

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaApril 6, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 29 8 37 2,588 CAS/Armed Recon 59 39 98 7,849 Airlift 165 165 11,725 Air refueling 32 32 3,609 Total 332 25,771...