It’s a “Scary” Thought All Right

It’s a “Scary” Thought All Right: Sen. Lindsay Graham (R-S.C.) posed a question for the new Congressional Guard and Reserve Commission to ponder: What would happen to the air bridge to Southwest Asia if the Guard and Reserve aircrews “all...

Hang It On the Commission

Hang It On the Commission: The co-chairs of the Senate National Guard Caucus—Sen. Christopher Bond (R-Mo.) and Sen. Patrick Leahy (D-Vt.)—asked the Commission on the Guard and Reserves to include in its initial 90-day report a favorable recommendation on the...

Making a “Long Beach” Day

Making a “Long Beach” Day: According to the Long Beach Press Telegram, House Appropriators on the defense subcommittee have added $100 million into the President’s war on terror supplemental funding request—specifically to sustain the Boeing C-17 program’s supply base. They...

Will USAF Offload Some JSFs?

Will USAF Offload Some JSFs?: Speaking with the Dallas Morning News, Gen. Michael Moseley, Air Force Chief of Staff, predicts international demand for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter will be so great that the Air Force may give up a...

The British Are Coming

Appearing at a special March 14 Senate hearing on the Joint Strike Fighter alternate engine program—the one the Pentagon would like to cut—will be the United Kingdom’s top defense procurement official, Lord (Paul R.) Drayson. Drayson tells the London Telegraph...

Pararescuemen Hitting the Streets:

Pararescuemen Hitting the Streets: Air Force Reserve Command MSgt. Jim Johnston from Florida has been making calls with the Tucson Fire Department’s paramedics since February, treating patients ranging from the elderly to alcoholics on the streets of the Arizona city....

Extending CRSC to Newly Injured Vets:

Senate Minority Leader Harry Reid (D-Nev.) has introduced legislation that would protect combat veterans who are so disabled they are forced out of the service early, losing full retirement benefits. Most of these veterans had planned to make the military...

Reserve PME Needs “Serious” Attention:

Rep. Ike Skelton (D-Mo.), the ranking member of the House Armed Services Committee, told the Commission on National Guard and Reserves committee that there is a serious shortfall in the professional military education arena when it comes to the reserve...

Large Package Week Evolves:

The Air Force, Army, and Marine Corps recently concluded Joint Forcible Entry Exercise 06-03, dropping an estimated 2,700 82nd Airborne paratroopers and loads of equipment into a simulated war zone at the Ft. Bragg Military Reservation in North Carolina. Formerly...

Tanker Medics Help Keep the Old Platforms in the Air:

KC-135 aircraft maintainers around the Air Force work as hard as their aircraft charges, performing periodic inspection and maintenance on each operational aircraft. This is base-level work, not depot. USAF journalist A1C Ashley Coomes reports that the 319th Maintenance Squadron...

ANG Recruiting Still Slipping:

According to the data for February, the Air National Guard fell below its monthly recruiting goal again, achieving only 88 percent of its 680-person target. The Naval Reserve posted the lowest of the reserve components, reaching only 81 percent of...

Michigan Base Gets Gate Complex:

Selfridge ANGB, Mich.—home of the 127th Wing of the Michigan ANG—is scheduled to get a new main gate complex, with construction planned to begin on April 1. The planned complex will house a recruiting office, a base visitor’s center, a...

The Last Tomcat:

The Navy is retiring its F-14D Tomcats in favor of the F/A-18E. Two strike fighter squadrons from NAS Oceana, Va., returned to base last week after completing a six-month deployment aboard the USS Theodore Roosevelt. It was the last for...

Training Areas May Change:

Talks in Hawaii regarding the reorganization of US forces in Japan are nearing an end, with a final report expected by the end of the month, reports the Daily Yomiuri. The Japanese newspaper notes that the “two sides have almost...

Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism

March 10-12, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 39 12 – 51 CAS/Armed Recon 156 63 – 219 Airlift – – 515 515 Air refueling – – 95 95 Total 195 75 610 880 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation...