View from the Cockpit
Two F-22 fighter pilots from the Virginia Air National Guard’s 192nd Fighter Wing at Joint Base Langley-Eustis told CBS News they do not believe that the F-22 is currently safe to fly. Appearing on the May 6 edition of the...
HASC Chairman Marks Up Fiscal 2013 Defense Bill
Rep. Buck McKeon (R-Calif.), House Armed Services Committee chairman, on May 7 released his mark-up of the Pentagon's Fiscal 2013 defense budget proposal. The chairman's mark (caution, large-sized file) provides $554 billion for national defense base activities next fiscal year—$29 billion more than the Pentagon requested—and matches its $88 billion request for overseas contingency operations. McKeon said in a release his mark "ensures that even in an era of declining resources, our military can sustain the combat power needed to defend vital national interests and maintain America's leadership role in the face of rising threats." Among the Air Force-related changes, his mark authorizes the manpower requirements to retain 21 C-27Js in the Air National Guard, and 39 C-130Hs that the Air Force wants to retire; it also retains 18 aerospace control alert defense locations. This equates to keeping nearly 2,000 of the 5,100 Air National Guardsmen and some 900 Reservists that the Air Force leadership proposed cutting from Total Force end strength. The full HASC will convene on May 9 for a mark-up hearing. (See also HASC Tacair Panel Blocks Global Hawk Retirements and HASC Starts Mark-ups.)
Fallen EOD Personnel Honored
Hundreds gathered at Eglin AFB, Fla., to pay homage to fallen explosive ordnance disposal technicians during the 43rd annual EOD memorial ceremony. Family members, friends, and colleagues watched as the names of five airmen, five marines, five soldiers, and three...
Twenty-five Thousand Connections
A KC-135 tanker with the 22nd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron flew the unit’s 25,000th tanker sortie over Afghanistan, setting a single-theater record for tanker support, according to unit officials. The squadron operates out of the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan....
Pipe Dream Comes True
Officials opened a new 30-million-gallon jet fuel storage facility at Travis AFB, Calif., that they said will dramatically speed the fuel-delivery process. “It used to take between nine and 12 hours for the fuel to get here,” said MSgt. Scott...
They Just Keep Coming
The 19th newly built C-130J transport assigned to the 317th Airlift Group at Dyess AFB, Tex., touched down at the base, announced manufacturer Lockheed Martin. Maj. Gen. Scott Hanson, Air War College commandant at Maxwell AFB, Ala., piloted the C-130J...
Fairchild Breaks Ground on New Headquarters Facility
Airmen at Fairchild AFB, Wash., gathered for the groundbreaking of the base’s new combined wing headquarters building that will bring the 92nd Air Refueling Wing and Washington state Air National Guard’s 141st ARW under one roof. “I think the new...
Going to Extreme Wavelengths
Thanks to a new ultra-high-frequency radio system, the 821st Air Base Group at Thule AB, Greenland, can track and communicate with all of its personnel on a single network, said unit officials in a release. Since Thule is positioned only...