The Day of the Hickam C-17 Is Almost Here: The first C-17 destined for Hickam AFB, Hawaii, has passed its flight physical, ready to be flown to Hawaii and turned over to the Pacific Air Forces base on Feb. 8,...

Air Force leaders have instructed public affairs personnel to use the phrase “force shaping,” rather than terms such as “downsizing” or “layoffs” whey they are discussing the upcoming personnel cuts. And, leaders have deemed as strictly taboo the obvious, logical,...

Air Force Security Forces are engaging in a type of mission not in the Air Force lexicon since the Vietnam War—conducting combat patrols and taking the fight to the enemy outside the confines of an Air Force facility. Slowly more details are emerging about the first such new mission—called Operation Desert Safeside—conducted by Task Force 1041, comprised mostly of airmen from the 820th Security Forces Group. The mission was to kill or capture insurgents that were attacking the air base. Over January and February 2005, Task Force 1041conducted more than 500 combat missions, captured 17 high value targets, eight major weapons caches, 98 other insurgents, and reduced enemy attacks in the area to almost nothing. Officials call it “an overwhelming success.” (Read our January article on “The Security Forces Rewrite.”)

Tennessee Governor Phil Bredesen has said he would fight a DOD proposal to draw down the Guard’s end strength. Bredesen is joining a growing list of lawmakers, governors, and Guardsmen that do not believe the Pentagon is taking the right...

With an Eye Toward the Growing Demand for ISR: Boeing plans to offer a signals intelligence version of its 737 platform, which officials say could be used for ISR and advanced network centric communications. According to a Boeing statement, it...

The Missile Defense Agency enlisted lawmakers, Capitol Hill staff, and journalists this week in a war game demonstrating simulated missile attacks on US soil. According to Reuters news service, there was at least the semblance of some reality because the...

Working Afghanistan Is Not Space Launch Duty: It doesn’t matter if they protect a missile field or launch center, Security Forces airmen are in short supply, so Air Force Space Command SF airmen are taking their turns in Southwest Asia....

The airmen of the 379th Expeditionary Services Squadron recently tackled a small logistical miracle at a forward base in Southwest Asia. Inclement weather delayed several flights from the base to other locations in the AOR, resulting in a sharp increase...

The latest such mission has two C-130s and 24 airmen from the 463rd Airlift Group at Little Rock AFB, Ark., spending 120 days in Southwest Asia. It takes them three days—with stopovers in Canada, the United Kingdom, and Italy—to reach...

An op-ed piece in the Wall Street Journal says there is no surprise in the fact that King Abdullah’s first official visit outside the Middle East was to China. The new Saudi Arabia leader is simply fulfilling a long-sought Royal...

A federal judge has ordered the Defense Department to give him more time to consider a lawsuit challenging the rollout of its new National Security Personnel System, directing DOD to delay the rollout of the system until March 1. No...

OK, no little pain-relieving pill would fill the bill. Air Force Reserve Command is offering help for Reservists as they navigate through BRAC 2005 actions. AFRC has developed a Web-based guide titled “A BRAC Guide for Civilian and Military Personnel...

Gen. Lance W. Lord, the soon-to-retire Air Force Space Command commander, heaped accolades on the airmen of the 341st Space Wing, Malmstrom AFB, Mont., during a recent visit, remarking that, in 2005, they had achieved a 99.792 percent alert rate—the...

The Air Force Research Lab’s Space Vehicles Directorate at Kirtland AFB, N.M., has a video online showing the rendezvous of the experimental satellite system-11 (XSS-11) with its designated partner, a Minotaur I upper stage. This was not an up-close maneuver...

January 24, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 11 3 – 14 CAS/Armed Recon 28 23 – 51 Airlift – – 160 160 Air refueling – – 28 28 Total 39 26 188 253 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...