First Dibs?
Sen. Kent Conrad (D-N.D.), founder of the Senate Tanker Caucus, met with Air Mobility Command boss Gen. Arthur Lichte June 12 to discuss fielding plans for the service’s new KC-45 tanker and the potential to make Grand Forks Air Force...
Did the Air Force Buy the Pricier Tanker?
The Air Force is being coy in responding to a flurry of news reports which claim that Boeing, Northrop Grumman, and the service all agree that the Northrop-EADS KC-30 tanker had the highest lifecycle cost of the two entries (the...
Advancing Minot’s Two Bomb Squadrons
According to a June 11 release from Minot AFB, N.D., the Air Force assistant vice chief of staff, Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz, met the first week in June with the North Dakota Congressional delegation and city of Minot officials to...
Active Associates Are the Thing
The Minnesota Air National Guard’s 148th Fighter Wing is actively courting the Air Force to install an active associate unit at its Duluth International Airport base, according to a June 13 report by the Duluth News Tribune. The Air Force’s...
Not Sold on Privatization
Sen. Byron Dorgan (D-N.D.) does not want the Air Force to turn housing at North Dakota bases that the service has recently “invested more than $500 million to build and renovate” over to a private contractor “free of charge,” according...
No One “Knowingly” Made Bad Decisions
Talking about the recent nuclear mission missteps that led to the ouster of the Air Force’s top two leaders, Air Force Space Command boss Gen. Robert Kehler, told airmen at his headquarters in Colorado, “I believe that no one has...
First Female, First Black Leader of Maryland ANG
Just-promoted Brig. Gen. Allyson Solomon, who received her first star during a June 13 ceremony in Baltimore, became the assistant Adjutant General for air for Maryland on June 1, making her the first woman and first African American to lead...
The Nuclear Weapons Task Force
Defense Secretary Robert Gates has named the other members of the newly created Task Force on Nuclear Weapons Management, which last week he said would be led by James Schlesinger. The members are: retired Air Force Gen. Michael Carns, retired...
Hickam Dedicates Facility to Fallen Airman
At Hickam AFB, Hawaii, on June 7 airmen dedicated the 15th Civil Engineer Squadron Explosive Ordnance Disposal Facility in memory of SrA. William Newman, who was killed in Iraq in June 2007 when an improvised explosive device he was recovering...
Bronze for Laughlin Chief
The Air Force has awarded the Bronze Star to CMSgt. David Nelson, superintendent of the 47th Mission Support Group at Laughlin AFB, Tex., for his “meritorious achievement” during deployment to Iraq. He served as an expeditionary group superintendent, visiting 63...
Predator Crashes in Afghanistan
The Air Force announced June 13 that an MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle crashed the day before after takeoff from Kandahar Airfield in Afghanistan. The UAV was about six miles from the field when it crashed. The service will conduct...
Briefer Briefs
The 50th Operations Group at Schriever AFB, Colo., has demonstrated a new means to provide GPS data to tactical units every 15 minutes to aid in predicting dilution of precise position data; the GPS Readily Available Navigation Datalink, or GRAND,...
Air Sorties from SWA
Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaJune 11, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 26 13 39 4,873 CAS/Armed Recon 48 48 96 14,481 Airlift 134 134 20,547 Air refueling 52 52 6,743 Total 321 46,644...