Daily Report

Seemingly neglected in the vitriolic F-22 debate that is ongoing today on the floor of the Senate are the needs of the states with responsibility for protecting the airspace on the periphery of the American homeland. Adjutants General in five...

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.) yesterday moved to strike $1.75 billion from the 2010 defense authorization bill that would go toward building more F-22s. He was joined in his amendment by Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.). Levin and McCain are the chair...

The Pentagon has agreed to keep talking with industry about whether the defense industrial base should be a factor in Quadrennial Defense Review and national strategy deliberations, according to the Aerospace Industries Association. The AIA yesterday released a study urging...

So state Sen. Orrin Hatch (R-Utah) and Sen. James Inhofe (R-Okla.) in an op-ed decrying the “misinformation being disseminated about the F-22 Raptor” that ran in the July 14 Deseret News. The veteran lawmakers cite the F-22’s “unique ability to...

Now that Barack Obama has openly vowed to veto the defense bill to stop the F-22, one might ask: When was the last time a President defied a Congress run by his own party just to cancel one specific weapon? We don't know for sure, but it may have been Jimmy Carter in 1978. His target was a Nimitz-class aircraft carrier that the Navy wanted and Congress inserted into the bill over White House objections. Carter was determined to win, and wielded his veto. According to the Aug. 28, 1978 issue of Time, Carter "maintained that its huge cost would divert funds needed for the buildup of NATO forces." However, the story did not end there. Over the next year, the "carrier veto" became a potent club for Carter's political opponents, especially Ronald Reagan. When the Iran hostage crisis erupted, Carter put two aircraft carriers in the Gulf of Oman. By Spring 1980, Congress had put the same carrier into the budget and overwhelmingly approved it. This time, Carter signed. That carrier—CVN-71—is at sea today as USS Theodore Roosevelt. It deployed to the Indian Ocean on Sept. 19, 2001, and launched US strikes against the forces of Al Qaeda in the early days of Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan.

The chairman of the House Appropriations defense panel told The Hill late last week that he is “leaning toward” recommending additional funding in the 2010 defense appropriations bill to keep F-22 Raptor production going beyond the 187 aircraft the Pentagon...

The Hill quotes Rep. John Murtha (D-Pa.), who supports buying additional F-22s (see above), that he is concerned that the F-22 costs about $50,000 per hour to fly, which makes it much more expensive than the F-15 it’s intended to...

Two Heritage Foundation scholars say the 1998 Obey amendment that prohibited export of the F-22 Raptor as a means to protect its advanced technology is based on “outdated thinking.” Mackenzie Eaglen and Eric Sayers write in a July 13 WebMemo...

The 56th Range Management Office at Luke AFB, Ariz., has issued a draft Environmental Impact Statement for proposed actions to upgrade and improve training assets at the Barry M. Goldwater Range eastern section, including the Gila Bend Air Force Auxiliary Field. In the EIS, the Air Force lays out the 10 actions it believes it needs to take to make the range suitable for today's air combat tactics. They include developing a sensor training area for air-to-ground training in an urban environment; installing a moving vehicle target for air-to-ground training; lowering the altitude for flight training over a portion of the Cabeza Prieta National Wildlife Refuge; converting a portion of the range into a helicopter gunnery range; and allowing additional ground-based training for Air Force combat search and rescue forces and special operations teams. The 56th RMO has scheduled three public meetings, July 27, 28, and 29, to receive public comments. (56th RMO release, including list of public libraries with copies of the draft EIS) (Draft EIS executive summary)

A T-6 Texan II trainer crashed at approximately 5:50 p.m. July 9 in a sparsely populated area of Webster County, Miss., about 40 miles west of Columbus Air Force Base, according to a July 10 release from the 14th Flying Training Wing at Columbus. The pilot, an international officer whose name was withheld pending coordination with the appropriate embassy, ejected safely. The officer was participating in the Aviation Leadership Program, which provides undergraduate flying training. According to the release, the 14th FTW planned to continue T-1A and T-38C pilot training operations today with T-6A operations expected to resume this weekend. The Air Force has convened a board to investigate the accident.

The French Air Force’s Unmanned Aerial Vehicle Operational Squadron, with its MQ-1 Predator-like UAVs, supports coalition and International Security Assistance Force operations in Afghanistan from Bagram Air Field. The unit, which is the only such squadron in the French Air...

The Air Force has awarded a Bronze Star medal to TSgt. Cohen Young, a photojournalist assigned to Hickam AFB, Hawaii, for his actions while deployed to Iraq. He served as a combat cameraman, often operating outside the wire with dismounted...

The Air Force Rescue Coordination Center at Tyndall AFB, Fla., responds to multiple calls for help around the country “on any given day” as the inland search and rescue coordinator for the entire US, according to Lt. Col. Clifton Hicks,...

July 8, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 20 23 43 7,791 CAS/Armed Recon 27 27 54 18,058 Airlift 140 140 25,651 Air refueling 51 51 8,570 Total 288 60,070 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance...