As we reported earlier, this year the Air Force plans to cut its junior officer force to continue the force-shaping efforts it began almost two years ago to trim the service down to its authorized end strength. Some 845 lieutenants—708...

The 64th Aggressor Squadron’s F-16s from Nellis AFB, Nev., have arrived at Eielson AFB, Alaska, to take part in Red Flag-Alaska, marking the first time the Nellis aggressors have participated in the air combat exercise formerly known as Cope Thunder....

Boeing will offer a “derivative” of its original Small Diameter Bomb, company program manager Dan Jaspering said in a teleconference with reporters Tuesday following selection of teams led by Boeing and Raytheon to compete for the SDB II contract. The...

Dan Jaspering, Boeing SDB program manager, and Jim Pappafotis, Lockheed Martin Missile and Fire Control advanced programs director, said there are no lingering legal issues between the two companies over the earlier Small Diameter Bomb contract. Lockheed had sued to...

The Small Diameter Bomb II will first equip the F-15E and then the Joint Strike Fighter, circa 2014. The Air Force eventually wants to equip the F-22 with the new bomb, but officials were not ready to release a timeframe....

The airmen with the 41st Expeditionary Electronic Control Squadron at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, recently flew their 700th EC-130H Compass Call sortie for Operation Enduring Freedom. The milestone came on April 7, exactly two years since their deployment to Southwest Asia....

The 309th Maintenance Group at Hill AFB, Utah, has begun a new task—depot maintenance for the F-22A Raptor. The first of up to 14 of the fighters scheduled for depot work landed at Hill recently to begin undergoing minor modifications....

Vice President Dick Cheney paid a visit to Fairchild AFB, Wash., on Monday, giving a pep talk to some 600 people gathered at the home of the 92nd Air Refueling Wing. “The President and I want you to know how...

Lockheed Martin has successfully tested the Advanced Extremely High Frequency (EHF) spacecraft’s critical structure, which company officials say validates the characteristics of the spacecraft and insures that launches and other sources of vibration won’t affect its mission. The Air Force...

The capabilities of the Air Force’s Critical Care Air Transportation Teams are becoming legend. Take, for example, the 332nd Expeditionary Air Evacuation Squadron’s CCATT, which just last month turned their C-17 transport into an operating room. The commander of the 332nd EAEF at Balad AB, Iraq, Lt. Col. Gregory Wood wrote up the feat in last week’s Red Tail Flyer, describing the work of the CCATT as they flew from Iraq to Germany with a patient who had burns over 50 percent of his body. At a routine stop in Kuwait, the patient’s vital signs began dropping, but rather than backtrack to Balad, the 332nd team joined with another CCATT to form a surgical team, and set up an operation room on the C-17, where they managed to tie off blood vessels, stopping the patient’s profuse bleeding. They saved the patient’s life and got him to the hospital in Germany.

Northrop Grumman formally opened its new Unmanned Systems Center production facility in Moss Point, Miss., on Tuesday, with CEO Ron Sugar presiding over the opening ceremony. Sugar pronounced the new center a dedicated unmanned systems production facility with significant expansion...

CMSgt. Joseph Barron is Air Mobility Command’s new top enlisted man, reporting for his new role after 16 months at Keesler AFB, Miss., as the command chief master sergeant for 2nd Air Force. Barron’s service includes duty with the Air...

Raytheon has delivered to the Air Force the first prototype of an Aircraft Self Protection Security System (ASPSS) intended to provide electronic perimeter security for aircraft. The technology uses near object detection sensor technology—part of a four-sensor, portable package that...

The Justice Department, on behalf of DOD, has filed an appeal to the ruling issued earlier this year by US District Court Judge Emmett Sullivan that would alter the Pentagon’s plan for labor relations under the new National Security Personnel System. According to the judge, NSPS fall short in the collective bargaining arena. Pentagon officials disagreed, saying the new system provided them flexibilities and preserved employee protections. DOD has been proceeding with other elements—such as performance management and compensation and classification—to move 11,000 non-bargaining unit employees in “spiral 1.1” under at least those aspects by late spring.

April 18, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 13 5 18 CAS/Armed Recon 38 25 63 Airlift 170 170 Air refueling 24 24 Total 51 30 194 275 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance