The Pentagon has awarded $901 million to Lockheed Martin to advance work on long-lead items and materials for the first low-rate initial production of five F-35A Joint Strike Fighters, effectively kicking off production for the aircraft which is not slated...

More than 250 airmen and untold number of B-2 bombers from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo., arrived at Andersen AFB, Guam, this past weekend to start a new rotation, maintaining a continuous bomber and fighter presence on...

The last remaining active C-141 Starlifter, assigned to the Air Force Reserve Command’s 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, will host more than 100 former Vietnam War prisoners of war for a final flight on May 5—prior to the...

The space around Earth at about 15,000 miles contains more than 9,000 objects—from active satellites to space “junk,” or debris, from sats and launch vehicles—and tracking them is the job of three Ground-Based Electro-Optical Deep Space Surveillance System detachments. The...

The Navy has tapped Northrop Grumman to produce the Improved Capability (ICAP) III system for an indefinite number of its EA-6B Prowler electronic warfare aircraft. The initial contract award of $73 million will cover four complete systems, another partial system,...

The Government Accountability Office has released an updated review of the health of the military’s electronic warfare capabilities and concludes that the Air Force cancellation of its electric BUFF effort (see above) could force the Navy to upgrade more of...

DOD has identified the remains of two Air Force sergeants missing in action from the Vietnam War. TSgt. Donald R. Hoskins of Madison, Ind., and SSgt. Calvin C. Cooke of Washington, D.C., were part of a C-130E Hercules crew that...

Lockheed Delivers Key Sat Components: The Lockheed Martin-led team has completed a critical payload subsystem and software for the first geosynchronous orbit satellite of the Space Based Infrared System, according to Lockheed officials. The SBIRS GEO 1 satellite is scheduled...

The Pentagon has confirmed that a routine check detected “unusual activity” in one of the Tricare Management Activity’s public computer servers. The event turned out to be an intrusion that compromised the personal information of an estimated 14,000 people. Assistant...

It is highly likely that the recent crash-landing of a USAF C-5 in Delaware has led some communities to consider what they would do—Dutchess County in New York already has scheduled a mock C-5 crash. The Mid-Hudson News Network reports...

About six years ago, Gen. Michael Ryan, as Chief of Staff, formed the operational command training program—also called the senior mentor program—comprising three retired USAF generals with operational command experience to provide peer-level advice. In other words, the three lieutenant...

NORAD and US Northern Command plan to conduct the Ardent Sentry 06 bilateral exercise from May 8 to May 18 from their headquarters in Colorado Springs, Colo., and other locations in the US and Canada. The exercise involves federal, provincial,...

USAF SSgt. Guanina Palermo is a certified pharmacy technician who works everyday in the heart of a US Army camp health clinic outside Kaiserslautern, Germany—she is the only airman working at the clinic. An eight-year veteran, Palermo started working at...

Luke AFB, Ariz., has entered into a partnership with the Banner Estrella Medical Center in Phoenix, sending Air Force surgeons and internists to work and practice in one of the most modern medical facilities in the state. The Arizona Republic...

The Space and Missile Systems Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., selected General Dynamics for a $9.6 million effort to implement and support a collaborative knowledge management intranet (in-house Internet) system and train 6,000 people to use it. And, the system—called...

May 1, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 12 4 16 CAS/Armed Recon 34 22 56 Airlift 170 170 Air refueling 40 40 Total 46 26 210 282 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance