Daily Report

The White House is not seeking to delay the Air Force’s KC-X tanker program by up to five years, Office of Management and Budget spokesman Ken Baer said Wednesday. Nor, Baer said, has the White House directed the Defense Department to cancel the Air Force’s next-generation bomber program, the Press-Register of Mobile, Ala., reported today. New reports claiming either are “simply wrong,” said Baer, according to the newspaper. As we noted in our earlier coverage, CQ Today did not claim that these were final decisions. That would seem to be in line with what Pentagon Press Secretary Geoff Morrell said yesterday in response to questions on this topic. Morrell said, “There have been suggestions, options, advice given” by OMB, but that this “should not be confused with a directive.” (press briefing excerpt) He said DOD is “still very much in the midst” of the budget process. “I can assure you that no decisions have been made, about any one of the programs that are under review, and that if you hear contrary, you're hearing false information,” he said. (For more, read yesterday’s AFP report.)

SSgt. Zachary Rhyner, a combat controller with the 21st Special Tactics Squadron at Pope AFB, N.C., received the Air Force Cross March 10, joining an elite group of only 187 airmen (four have received multiple awards) who have been awarded...

We learned late Wednesday that Paul W. Airey, the first Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, died Wednesday morning in Panama City, Fla. Airey served as a B-24 aerial gunner during World War II but spent much of his...

The Air Force has designated Ogden Air Logistics Center on the grounds of Hill AFB, Utah, as the site of depot maintenance work for MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicles, the Utah Congressional delegation announced yesterday. “UAVs are...

Air Force F-15 and F-22 pilots and Navy F/A-18 Super Hornet fliers are sharpening their aerial combat skills in simulated dogfights and strike missions in the skies over Kadena AB, Japan, this month. The exercises began March 1 and run...

Creech Air Force Base and Nellis Air Force Base contributed more than $5 billion to the Southern Nevada economy in Fiscal 2008, according to the Nellis annual economic impact analysis figures released March 5. The report (full document; caution, large...

The Air Force is working to clear the GBU-38 joint direct attack munition, a 500-pound satellite-guidance-aided bomb, later this year for operational use on the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial vehicle. “Putting the JDAM on the Reaper significantly increases its lethality...

Rebuilding the Iraqi air arm is one of Iraq’s top military priorities, said Gen. Nasier Arkan Al-Abadi, vice chief of staff of Iraqi joint forces, during a visit March 4 to Air Education and Training Command at Randolph AFB, Tex....

Air Force Research Lab engineers at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, have already saved the nation nearly $300 million under an engine rotor life-extension program, called ERLE, that has reduced the costs associated with F-15 and F-16 jet engine maintenance. And, the...

After losing one of its on-orbit communications satellites last month in a collision with an inactive Russian satellite, Iridium has called for more aggressive action on the part of the US government and commercial industry to increase the margin of...

The Air Force has opened a new dormitory for entry-level enlisted airmen at Shaw AFB, S.C., that features an innovative, energy-saving geothermal climate-control system. The Associated Press reported March 9 (via Columbia’s WIS TV 10 news station) that the $17...

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaMar. 8-9, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 25 45 70 2,681 CAS/Armed Recon 46 155 201 6,786 Airlift 207 207 8,840 Air refueling 99 99 3,141 Total 577 21,448...