Daily Report

B-52H maintainers from Minot AFB, N.D., who have been deployed since October, to Andersen AFB, Guam, throughout last month practiced a method for launching the bombers much more quickly than regular starts. These exercises were intended to showcase the ability...

The Air Force has finished renovating a 48,000 sq. ft. warehouse on the grounds of Hill AFB, Utah, in which it will store the service’s nuclear weapons-related materials and intends to move those materials into the facility starting today. “Construction...

A delegation of Arizona representatives, including state Attorney General Terry Goddard and Peoria Mayor Bob Barrett met with the Air Force leadership in mid-December in the Pentagon to make the case for Luke Air Force Base hosting an F-35 training...

The Air Force announced last month that thermal vacuum testing has been completed on the first Boeing-built GPS Block IIF navigation satellite, representing a major milestone for the satellite program which expects first launch later this year. “The Boeing and...

That’s the target date for the release of the phase II report by the nuclear task force led by former Defense Secretary James Schlesinger, Pentagon spokesman Chris Isleib tells the Daily Report. Chartered last June by Defense Secretary Robert Gates,...

The Air Force Scientific Advisory Board has announced three studies that it is conducting this year. Virtual training technologies will explore whether the Air Force can apply virtual technologies, like those used in industry, for example, to help airmen train more effectively and efficiently. This is important, the board said, since Air Force aircraft are aging and increasingly in demand, making it more difficult and costly to conduct live training in some cases. Rapid on-orbit checkout of space systems will examine the factors that contribute to long on-orbit checkout times for satellites, and recommend technology and process solutions to enable more rapid checkout procedures that still assure spacecraft reliability and responsiveness. And, alternative sources of energy for Air Force bases will look into self-sustaining, alternative sources of energy that could be used at domestic, overseas, and expeditionary Air Force bases to mitigate the risk of power loss due to vulnerabilities in local and national power grids. Already the Air Force has begun to investigate the merits of powering some of its bases with small-sized nuclear reactors. The board said it anticipates briefing each of these studies to officials within Air Force headquarters in July and then releasing them in December.

The Justice Department announced Dec. 31 that it has filed a lawsuit against the City of Iola, Kan., on behalf of Randall Slocum, an Air National Guardsman. DOJ alleges that the city violated the Uniformed Services Employment and Reemployment Rights Act of 1994 by not taking into consideration Slocum's military service obligations when it disciplined him and denied him overtime and a wage increase. "Soldiers must be able to serve their country without fear of being penalized in the civilian careers,” said Grace Chung Becker, acting assistant attorney general for DOJ’s civil rights division. She continued, “The Justice Department remains committed to vigorously enforcing federal laws that protect the employment rights of men and women who are serving in our nation's military." DOJ filed the suit upon receiving Slocum's complaint from the Veterans' Employment and Training Service of the Department of Labor, after DOL had investigated and tried to settle the case. In August 2008, DOJ stepped in on behalf of an Air Force Reservist who was terminated from his job after being called up to attend five weeks of active duty training.

The Thunderbirds air demonstration squadron has released its 2009 air show schedule. (Complete list) The Thunderbirds are scheduled to perform more than 73 shows in the United States, Puerto Rico, and the Far East during 2009, their 56th season. “We...

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaDec. 30-31, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 56 29 85 13,559 CAS/Armed Recon 80 142 222 37,444 Airlift 260 260 47,290 Air refueling 96 96 18,105 Total 663 116,398...