Air National Guard Director Lt. Gen. Craig McKinley convened ANG senior leaders from all 50 states to share the plan that will reset the Air Guard for the future. More than 1,000 adjutants general, wing and unit commanders, command chief...

Aircrews flying the B-1B bomber, known as the Bone, in Southwest Asia say it is the “backbone of America’s long-range bomber force.” Air Force journalist Maj. Ann Knabe reports on one Bone mission over Afghanistan, quoting Lt. Col. David Been, 37th Expeditionary Bomb Squadron commander, who said the B-1 is “wicked fast,” making it possible to “respond anywhere in Afghanistan within minutes.” That time is crucial when the bomber crew must answer a “troops in contact” request, which means friendlies are under attack and “there’s no time to spare,” said Been. The B-1 can put precision munitions on target or simply rout an enemy force by its presence. Capt. Craig Morrison, weapons systems officer, describes the B-1 as “great for showing power, [because] we fly low, we fly fast and let the enemy know we are there.”

The Air Force has just ordered four more C-130J tactical airlifters, three of which possibly would go to replenish its special operations Hercules based on a request the service issued just last month. The fourth aircraft goes to the Marine...

Kansas National Guard and elected officials on Dec. 19 unveiled new missions for the state’s Air National Guard units. The missions are not exactly as they had expected. At McConnell Air Force Base near Wichita, the 184th Air Refueling Wing,...

US Air Force officials investigating the Sept. 26 accident at Manas Airport in Kyrgyzstan involving a Kyrgyz airliner and a USAF KC-135 found the accident to be primarily the fault of a Kyrgyz air traffic controller. An earlier announcement by...

New Defense Secretary Robert Gates lost no time assembling a group to fly to Iraq to consult with in-theater US military leaders and Iraqi government officials to help devise a new plan. Gates has been to Iraq before, most recently...

In his first message to Defense Department personnel, Defense Secretary Robert Gates wrote that the President has asked for “my unvarnished advice,” [so] I expect the same of you.” He went on to note that of the myriad “important” and...

The White House chief budgeteer Rob Portman told reporters Tuesday that the Administration’s estimate of $110 billion to fund the war in Iraq for Fiscal 2007 is too low. He believes it could go as high—or higher—that last year’s $120...

The Air Force’s program to provide Initial Flight Screening in one location—a training site at Pueblo, Colo., operated by Doss Aviation—is continuing to gain ground, with the opening of its renovated 200,000 square-foot main training facility. IFS operations have been...

US airmen with the 506th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron at Kirkuk AB, Iraq, have succeeded in getting Erbil Airport operating regularly schedule commercial flights to and from Vienna, Austria—the first of any scheduled passenger flights since 2003. Air Force journalist TSgt. Russ Wood reports that the 506th airmen worked with coalition officials to develop new procedures for the commercial flights, building on those in place for chartered services.

Officials at Eglin AFB, Fla., have improved the base’s BASH—for Bird and wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard—program, reducing strikes by almost 75 percent over the past year. The base started its renewed effort by teaming with Agriculture Department wildlife biologists to...

The Air Force has selected 2,518 captains for promotion to major, in the latest promotion boards for line, chaplain, nurse corps, and biomedical science corps officers. For line officers, the in-the-zone promotion rate was 93.3 percent, slightly better than the...

Dec. 19, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 13 5 18 CAS/Armed Recon 44 43 87 Airlift 145 145 Air refueling 38 38 Total 57 48 183 288 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance