The final Titan IVB rocket blasted off from California’s Vandenberg Air Force Base this week, signaling the end of the Titan line that started in 1959. The Titan IVB heavy-lift booster on Oct. 19 launched a classified National Reconnaissance Office...

Next year, NATO will assume security and stability operations in all sectors of Afghanistan—its toughest challenge since the Balkan crisis, according to Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, Supreme Allied Commander, Europe. Jones told reporters in Washington Thursday that NATO forces...

Pentagon officials seem to have settled on a number—between $13 and $15 billion—to be slashed from the Fiscal 2007 defense budget, according to Defense News. Sources told the Washington weekly the dire news, adding that tens of billions more cuts...

According to an Air Force Reserve Command F-16 pilot flying close air support missions in Iraq, he gets to find out first-hand how his efforts aid ground troops because he eats with some of them. Members of his deployed unit,...

During his tour of China this week, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld called on Chinese officials to share information about its military programs to allay concerns over China’s defense buildup. In his words, “Greater clarity would generate greater certainty.”

Rumsfeld said that China’s military modernization is “perfectly appropriate,” yet improving its strategic strike capabilities—in particular long-range missiles—“gives us questions.” Apparently eager to assuage any concerns, the Chinese took Rumsfeld to the headquarters of its Strategic Rocket Forces. It was...

According to several news reports, Gen. Jing Zhiyuan, commander of the Second Artillery and the chief of China’s nuclear missile forces, told Rumsfeld that China would never be the first one to push the nuclear button. A recap of the...

The RED HORSE airmen at Bagram Air Base in Afghanistan are moving from airfield ramp expansion to building a new passenger terminal at the key Operation Enduring Freedom facility. The airmen—24 from Nellis AFB, Nev.—expect to finish the 7,750 square...

At a Capitol Hill press conference Wednesday, Rep. Walter Jones (R-N.C.) decried restrictions on military chaplains across all services and asked President Bush to pass an executive order protecting their rights. Jones claims that Christian military chaplains are being told...

New Mexico resident and 1977 Air Force Academy graduate Michael Weinstein has offered to drop his religious discrimination lawsuit against the Air Force if it bans proselytizing and evangelism. (DR, 10/07/05) Weinstein has two sons at the academy and, he...

Lockheed Martin rolled out the full-scale model and cockpit demonstrator of the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter for an international audience at the Korea Aerospace and Defense Exhibition trade show in Seoul. According to Lockheed official David Scott, the JSF could...

President Bush has nominated Air Force Lt. Gen. Lance L. Smith for appointment to the rank of general and assignment as commander of US Joint Forces Command, headquartered at Norfolk, Va. Smith currently serves as deputy commander for US Central...

The Dragon Lady is getting some new tools. BAE Systems says that the Air Force’s U-2 reconnaissance aircraft has attained initial operational capability with the new AN/ALQ-221 Advanced Defensive System. The AN/ALQ-221 is a modern integrated radar warning receiver and...

Hikers in Kings Canyon National Park in California discovered a body buried in ice in one of the park’s most inaccessible areas, and investigators believe the body could be the remains of a World War II Army Air Forces airman...

Speaking to the Washington-based New America Foundation, retired Marine Corps Col. Larry Wilkerson—Colin Powell’s top aide during his tenure as Secretary of State—ripped into a host of Bush Administration figures. According to the Washington Post, Wilkerson decried the hijacking of...

To attack its over-strength junior officer force, the Air Force plans to institute a new annual “force-shaping” board that will “evaluate officers at their three-year point” to determine their potential for continued service, states the Air Force Personnel Center. The...

USAF is still substantially short of its complement of medical personnel. For Fiscal 2005, which ended Sept. 30, the Air Force gained 753 health professionals but needed 1,123. Coming up short of new medical folks is not new for USAF....

Veterans who get phone calls from people claiming to represent the “Patient Care Group” of the VA should ignore those telephone pitches, says VA Secretary James Nicholson. This latest scam, originating in the Midwest, runs like this: The callers state...

The Fisher House non-profit group distributes free round-trip airline tickets to war-wounded troops being treated in military and VA medical facilities for use by the troops and their families. The program is known as “Operation Hero Miles.” Fisher House accumulates...

October 19, 2005 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 10 5 – 15 CAS/Armed Recon 52 20 – 72 Airlift – – 160 160 Air refueling – – 37 37 Total 62 25 197 284 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...