Daily Report

Gen. William Fraser, US Transportation Command boss, last week unveiled "Our Story 2013-2017," the command's new five-year strategy. The document, released on Oct. 12, lays out how TRANSCOM intends to improve its responsiveness to US forces as they withdraw from Afghanistan and meet future challenges, according to a command release. "Despite a changing operating landscape and financial constraints, we're still going to be responsible for projecting and sustaining our nation's influence globally," said Fraser. He added, "We're proactively positioning ourselves to best fulfill the needs of the [Defense Department] when it comes to troop support, humanitarian response, and surge requirements for global mobility in the future." TRANSCOM officials said they spent some 10 months drafting the new strategy, calling it the most comprehensive and collaborative strategic planning effort in the command's 25-year history. "The end result of our efforts will be a command that can still get service members to the fight, sustain them, enable the warfighting effort, and then bring everyone home again," said Brig. Gen. John Michel, who led the efforts to define the strategy. (Includes Scott report by Christine Pesout) (Our Story 2013-2017 full text; caution, large-sized file.)

Brig. Gen. James Witham has been nominated for promotion to the rank of major general for his new assignment as the Air National Guard’s deputy director, announced National Guard Bureau officials. “JC is an outstanding leader and we’re glad to...

As the Air Force recovers from the sexual misconduct scandal at Basic Military Training at JBSA-Lackland, Tex., officials are weighing whether to have only female military training instructors lead female flights, said Maj. Gen. Len Patrick, 2nd Air Force commander....

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta last week described what he called “the most destructive attack” to date in the cyber realm on the private sector. The incident involved a sophisticated virus known as Shamoon that struck and destroyed more than 30,000...

F-22 crews from JB Langley-Eustis, Va., are taking advantage of their deployment to the western Pacific to conduct integrated training with F-15s based at Kadena AB, Japan, according to Kadena officials. The Raptor deployment enables “outstanding fourth and fifth generation...

GE Aviation began testing the variable-cycle engine core that it is maturing for the Air Force Research Lab under the Adaptive Versatile Engine Technology program, announced the company. “The ADVENT engine is a revolutionary military engine” that “will enable the...

Two F-22 Raptors recently returned to JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, after receiving the Increment 3.1 hardware and computer upgrade in depot at Hill AFB, Utah. Elmendorf’s F-22s were the first combat-coded Raptors in the fleet to start receiving this upgrade; the...

The Air Force Academy’s cyber competition team placed first out of 331 undergraduate teams from the United States and Canada at the recent Cyber Security Awareness Week Capture the Flag competition in New York City. The academy’s team placed eighth...

Retired Brig. Gen. Chuck Yeager, the first man to officially break the sound barrier in level flight, on Oct. 14 recreated the moment exactly 65 years later to the minute—this time in an F-15 fighter. It was on Oct. 14,...

The US military has extended an official invitation to the Chinese military to come to Washington, D.C., early next year to discuss sharing logistical resources, including fuel, during joint counterpiracy, humanitarian-assistance, and disaster-response operations, according to a Pentagon release. So...