Daily Report

Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. took a ceremonial oath of office Aug. 4 in a surprise event at the White House, two days before he officially becomes the 22nd Chief of Staff of the Air Force. Accompanied by his family and senior Air Force and Defense Department leaders, Brown raised his right hand and took an oath administered by Vice President Michael R. Pence. President Donald J. Trump moved the short ceremony to the Oval Office at the last minute. The Senate unanimously confirmed Brown in a historic 98-0 vote in June. He will become the first African American officer to serve as chief of staff of one of the armed forces, after holding leadership positions in combat organizations around the globe.

The Air Force is trying an experiment that would take its rotary-wing pilots out of the standard Undergraduate Pilot Training program and send them through an all-helicopter course. The goal is to trim months from training, improve pilot quality and free up fixed-wing slots in UPT to increase pilot production, the head of 19th Air Force said in an interview.

Democratic senators on Aug. 4 indicated they could hold up the confirmation of Shon J. Manasco as Air Force undersecretary as recourse for the Trump administration’s decision to install a controversial official into a key Pentagon policy post without Senate approval. That standoff loomed over an Aug. 4 confirmation hearing that vetted Manasco to be the Air Force’s No. 2 civilian official.

A five-member KC-135 crew composed of Air National Guardsmen from Hawaii and Pennsylvania helped track down three mariners who got lost in the Federated States of Micronesia on Aug. 2, enabling their rescue a day later. Lt. Col. Jason Palmeira-Yen, Maj. Byron Kamikawa, and Tech. Sgt. Shane Williams from the Hawaii Air National Guard's 203rd Air Refueling Squadron, and Tech. Sgt. Rodney Joseph and Senior Airman Jeremy Williams from the Pennsylvania ANG's 171st Air Refueling Wing subsequently took off from Andersen Air Force Base, Guam, in a Stratotanker and determined the lost mariners' location after about three hours in the air, according to a 36th Wing release.

A Navy E-6B Mercury nuclear command plane launched a three-tipped, unarmed Air Force nuclear missile from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., in an unusual but long-planned exercise Aug. 4. Sailors and Airmen from Offutt Air Force Base, Neb., aboard the E-6B worked with Airmen from Vandenberg who acted as the alert and operational crews on the ground for launch night. Air Force Global Strike Command does not often test missiles configured with multiple re-entry vehicles, which were phased out to comply with the New START treaty between the U.S. and Russia. The coronavirus pandemic also posed an opportunity to vet the E-6B.

The Air Force is helping the Defense Department collect COVID-19 convalescent plasma from individuals who have recovered from the disease in hopes that it can help the military treat other patients, the service announced last month. While the military is now nearly halfway to its goal of collecting 10,000 units of convalescent plasma—or the liquid part of the blood donated by people whose bodies have beaten the disease—it's still seeking potential donors to help it reach that target by Sept. 30. “Currently, we have almost reached 50 percent of our goal and encourage those who are able to donate to do so to help fight this persistent enemy,” Air Force Deputy Surgeon General Maj. Gen. Sean L. Murphy said in an Aug. 4 statement to Air Force Magazine.

American and Israeli F-35s trained together earlier this week, in the second bilateral exercise between the two countries focusing on Joint Strike Fighter operations. The exercise, called Enduring Lightning II, “illustrates the close relationship between the air forces and military echelons and enhances the cooperation of knowledge and capabilities of the F-35 and the IAF's operational abilities,” an Israeli Defense Force statement said.

On March 23, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies will host a virtual Nuclear Deterrence Series event featuring Scowcroft Group Principal Frank Miller. At a time when nuclear modernization programs are accelerating around the world, proposals to recapitalize the U.S. nuclear arsenal are at the forefront of debates over defense spending. Miller will share his insights into the prospects for U.S. nuclear modernization programs and the value of nuclear deterrence in today's competitive security environment. The think tank will post event video on its website and YouTube page after the live event.