Daily Report

The Air Force’s Minuteman III ICBM force likely will be the first of the service’s nuclear legs to transfer to Air Force Global Strike Command, followed later by the nuclear-capable bombers, Maj. Gen. Donald Alston, head of the Air Staff’s...

The Air Force’s intelligence career field is in big demand in the fight in Afghanistan and Iraq, Col. Eric Holdaway, director of intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance for Air Forces Central, told reporters April 23 during a conference call. So much so, he said, that intel airmen are on a one-to-one deployment/dwell cycle, meaning they can expect to be downrange for six months to a year and get back home for an equivalent period of time. Further, a number of ISR airmen are currently tapped for joint expeditionary taskings with non-USAF units, he said. To ease the strain, the Air Force is looking at the specialties within the intelligence field that could be merged with other fields that don’t deploy as often. The demand will remain, but it would help the deployment cycles by sending new people over who have not had the opportunity to deploy yet, Holdaway said. Also, the Air Force is looking at changing up its assignment policy. There is a possibility that a “deliberate assignment policy” could be implemented where an intelligence airman would choose a two-year assignment that is vulnerable to deployment then go into “sanctuary” for a few years for career development, he said. (For more Daily Report coverage of Holdaway’s telecon, read April 24’s entry The UAV Advantage.)

The Air Force has approved a new high-velocity maintenance construct designed to improve the B-1B bomber’s availability rates by increasing the frequency of scheduled maintenance, both in depot and in the field, and boosting the amount of man-hours worked during...

The Air Force has begun exploring the best attributes for a future trainer aircraft to replace the T-38 Talon, including asking late last month for industry input. The Air Force expects to field this notional aircraft, which would be part...

As manpower and resources pour into Afghanistan, Air Force and Army intelligence-gathering capabilities are also getting ramped up, with more cooperation expected in this area between airmen and soldiers there, says Col. Eric Holdaway, director of intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance for Air Forces Central. This will especially be the case with next month's arrival of MC-12W manned overhead surveillance aircraft and the processing and dissemination teams that will support them in theater, he told reporters April 23 during a teleconference. Included in the Army’s ISR buildup is the much-bandied Task Force ODIN, which the land service used to counter improvised explosive devices in Iraq. While the Army’s model is very effective for its purposes, the Air Force’s ISR mission differs a bit and is broader, Holdaway said. “They’ve developed a very strong capability for working very closely with a brigade combat team . . . to work a specific problem” he said. Conversely, the Air Force’s responsibility includes tactical reconnaissance support as well as expanded ISR support to the theater commanders, he explained. Still, “There’s a very good complement between TF ODIN and what the air component brings to theater ISR,” he said. (For more, read April 24’s Daily Report entry The UAV Advantage) (For more on plans for the MC-12W, read Project Liberty Heads Downrange)

Air Mobility Command and US Special Operations Command investigators have concluded that a series of human errors led to the death of an Army parajumper who jumped from a C-130H transport during a joint training mission at MacDill AFB, Fla.,...

A ceremony was held April 17 on the grounds of St. Peter’s College in Jersey City, N.J., to celebrate the formal establishment of the Center for Microplasma Science and Technology that is being made possible with Air Force sponsorship. During...

On April 23, 2nd Lt. Evan Negron, a student pilot in the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training Program at Sheppard AFB, Tex., became the last airman to train in the T-37 Tweet flight simulator before the base’s 80th Flying Training...

The Air Force has awarded four Bronze Stars to one airman at Dyess AFB, Tex., on April 17 and three at Robins AFB, Ga., on April 13. They are: n Maj. Seth Graham received his medal at Dyess for his...

Retired Col. Felix A. “Doc” Blanchard, Heisman Trophy winner during his time at the US Military Academy and fighter squadron commander during the Vietnam War, died April 19 at age 84. Fullback Blanchard was a three-time all-American during the mid-1940s...

April 23-24, 2009 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 49 41 90 4,492 CAS/Armed Recon 39 139 178 11,154 Airlift 250 250 15,271 Air refueling 85 85 5,026 Total 603 35,943 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance...