The Money Crunch, Again

Air Combat Command says it cannot buy more than the 51 AN/ARC-210 radios it now rotates among A-10s operating in Southwest Asia. The command planned to add the radio upgrades to all 356 aircraft in the Warthog fleet, but it...

The Air Force Isn’t Busy

Queried by a reporter at the Pentagon yesterday about how the Army can continue its present and projected pace without more free use of reserve forces, Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld replied: “There are a variety of things you can do....

NATO Interoperability More Urgent

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Michael Moseley told NATO air force commanders that the alliance “may be even more important today than it was during the Cold War.” He believes that the so-called “long war” against terrorism and emerging...

About That Other JSF Engine

Congress has provided authorization and funding to support continuation of the second F-35 Joint Strike Fighter engine, but lawmakers also want to see three “independent” cost analyses of scenarios with and without a second engine—to be completed by March 15....

NORAD Scrambles Fighters

NORAD sent aloft several fighter aircraft at various bases around the country Oct. 11 in response to the airplane that crashed into a New York City high rise—just in case. An initial statement said: “While every indication is that today’s...

Black Jet Crew Scores 100

The entire F-117 fleet at Holloman AFB, N.M. achieved a 100 percent mission capable rate from Sept. 28 to Oct. 1, soon after the Nighthawk’s 25th anniversary. “It is unusual for a fleet of any size to go to 100...

Explaining the Mountain Shift

Adm. Timothy Keating, head of NORAD and US Northern Command, recently got to explain his rationale for moving NORAD’s air defense operators from their long-time home within Cheyenne Mountain AFS, Colo., to the NORAD headquarters at nearby Peterson Air Force Base to Sen. Wayne Allard (R-Colo.). Allard told reporters following a tour of NORAD’s Peterson command center and discussion with Keating that his concerns about the move “have been alleviated.” (Allard also acknowledged that he had concerns about the combining the two commands, but said that he was “pleased” with what he’d seen.) Keating explained that consolidating at Peterson would enhance operations and interaction among various functions.

“Sky is Not Falling”

Gen. Bruce Carlson, head of Air Force Materiel Command, acknowledges that the Air Force and the other services are facing a “challenging environment,” but he told attendees at the Logistics Officer Association conference in San Antonio Tuesday that “the sky...

McChord a Haven for Reservists

Some 138 Air Force Reserve Command airmen facing a combination of Total Force realignments and BRAC-inspired closings have found refuge in positions at McChord AFB, Wash., and the base expects to pick up nearly two dozen more displaced Reservists, according...

A Not Too Rosy Picture:

Anthony Cordesman, veteran defense analyst with the Center for Strategic and International Studies, just released a new assessment of the situation in Iraq and it is not a pretty picture. He writes: “Iraq is already in a state of limited...

A Bronze Star for Powering Up Iraq:

SMSgt. John Dick Jr., an electrical power production chief with the 796th Civil Engineering Squadron at Eglin AFB, Fla., recently earned the Bronze Star in recognition for his work in Tikrit, Iraq. Dick worked with the Army’s 101st Airborne Division to ensure the continuous operation of 15 power stations, which provide 41 percent of Iraq’s generating capacity. He directed 45 construction projects to improve the Iraqi electrical power grid. The Eglin Eagle reports that Dick and his crew repaired the “mother of all generators” in Kirkuk, enabling 300,000 Iraqi homes to get power.

USAF Names Top Enlisted Aircrew:

The Air Force has just released the names of the winners of the 2005 SSgt. Henry E. “Red” Erwin Award, which honors the top enlisted aircrew members in the service. Erwin was a World War II radio operator/gunner who received...

NATO Learns from Joint STARS:

NATO officials from 16 countries traveled recently to Robins AFB, Ga., for the Alliance Ground Surveillance Conference to discuss NATO’s new ground surveillance program, expected to take some of the workload off USAF’s ever busy E-8 Joint STARS aircraft. While...

RED HORSE Break Ground in Guam:

Newly transferred RED HORSE engineers, most moving from South Korea to Guam, took shovel to dirt Wednesday to begin a five-year, $20 million construction effort at Andersen Air Force Base. The new complex will house not only the 160-strong RED...

Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism

Oct. 11, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 19 9 28 CAS/Armed Recon 44 48 92 Airlift 150 150 Air refueling 37 37 Total 63 57 187 307 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance