Air & Space Forces Magazine notes the deaths in 2022 of a number of notable Airman and national security figures who have made a lasting contribution to air and space power through their leadership and technical expertise.
History
Col. Joseph W. Kittinger, Jr., renowned for his extreme parachute records as an Air Force researcher, who was also a Vietnam-era fighter pilot and POW, died Dec. 9 at age 94. Kittinger helped Felix Baumgartner beat some of his records, but his freefall record still ...
Clarence E. “Bud” Anderson, the only living American triple ace pilot, was honorarily promoted from colonel to brigadier general in a rare and historic ceremony presided over by Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. Brown called Anderson, 100, a “wrecking ball” of ...
How the Air Force helped avert a nuclear catastrophe and save the world.
The Air Force hosted an unusual retirement ceremony at RAF Mildenhall in the United Kingdom. Instead of honoring the distinguished career of an Airman, the 100th Air Refueling Wing honored an aircraft. After 59 years, KC-135 Stratotanker tail code 63-7999 transitioned to its next career—the ...
A World War II-era bomber and fighter collided during an air show performance in Dallas on Nov. 12, killing six members of the Commemorative Air Force who were flying as pilots and crew. On Nov. 14, the CAF released the names of the volunteers flying ...
In the fourth of our four-part series on former Chiefs of Staff, we profile Gen. Larry D. Welch (CSAF No. 12) and Gen. Michael J. Dugan (CSAF No. 13).
Ash Carter, who served as the 25th Secretary of Defense from 2015 to 2017, during the presidency of Barack Obama, died Oct. 24 at the age of 68. Carter served in national security roles and held numerous academic research, teaching, and leadership positions.
Brig. Gen. James A. McDivitt, a fighter pilot in the Korean War and Air Force test pilot and astronaut in both the Gemini and Apollo program who later managed the Apollo lunar landing program and became a business executive, died Oct. 17 at the age ...