Daily Report

The Air Force on Monday announced that it is working on the supplemental environmental impact statement that will address the beddown of 59 F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighters at Eglin AFB, Fla. It will also consider within this SEIS "the consequences and potential mitigations" arising from increasing that number by up to another 48 aircraft, but it will not use the SEIS as a decision tool for placing those additional aircraft at Eglin. That will come later, if at all. USAF believes that establishing 59 JSFs at Eglin will satisfy requirements levied by BRAC 2005 to use Eglin as a joint/international schoolhouse. Even with only 59 aircraft, the plan still faces some stiff local resistance. Continue

Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz believes the service has to keep the U-2 Dragon Lady viable through the transition to the RQ-4 Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle because “what the U-2 does is irreplaceable.” He made that comment Aug....

The Air Force's two top leaders, Secretary Michael Donley and Gen. Norton Schwartz, penned a joint Letter to Airmen in which they outlined the steps USAF has taken so far to establish its new cyber force—including the recent activation of cyber-centric 24th Air Force under Air Force Space Command, realignment of other units to 24th AF, and recommending 24th serve as USAF component to the new US Cyber Command—but they indicated there is more work to be done. They wrote, "These are important organizational steps, but they are just the beginning." They continued, saying that "significant progress" would only come through changing "the way we think about the cyberspace domain" with an accompanying "change [in] our culture." The service, they wrote, plans to "develop a personnel strategy with compelling cyber career and training pathways," and to "leverage the inherent strengths and talents" of its air reserve components. They also note, though, that "every airman must become a cyber defender."

We asked Army Gen. David Petraeus, commander of US Central Command, whether he had, as we had been told, apologized to Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz for the “joke” Petraeus made about a USAF officer with his pony-tail swinging....

The National Guard Bureau-sponsored Business and Industry Days event last week in Wisconsin drew more than 60 civic and business leaders from seven Midwestern states. During the two-day event, Lt. Gen. Harry Wyatt III, Air National Guard director, welcomed the...

Mission crew members aboard USAF’s E-3 AWACS fleet are getting some well-earned relief for their backs and necks in the form of new ergonomic seats. The airmen, seated at 19 control stations, typically fly 12- to 14-hour combat missions as...

During a multi-service, multi-national exercise last month, Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass., was able to verify that the new Mode 5-capable interrogator installed on a NATO E-3 AWACS had interoperability with all participants. According to an Aug. 21...

The Air Force plans by Oct. 1 to consolidate force support courses at Maxwell AFB, Ala., moving 14 courses from the Air Force Institute of Technology at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, to join similar courses already taught in Alabama. Some courses...

Air Force Personnel Center officials believe Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz will formally approve within a few weeks the new physical fitness instruction senior service leaders unveiled in June. According to an Aug. 21 release, the new rules take...

The Occupational Safety and Health Administration has designated Hanscom AFB, Mass., as a Voluntary Protection Program Star certified site. It is the first such certification for an active duty Air Force installation. (The Minnesota Air National Guard’s 148th Fighter Wing...