The House Appropriations Committee passed the 2008 defense spending bill, cutting nearly $3.6 billion from the Administration request. As promised, it does include enough money to continue development of an alternate engine for the F-35 Joint Strike Fighter. And, like...

House Appropriators included a provision in its 2008 defense spending bill (see above) that would prohibit foreign sales of the Air Force’s new F-22A Raptor, reports The Asahi Shimbun. Japan had expressed interest in buying the new stealth fighter. Last...

The Air Force has alerted its major commands about the results of last month’s reduction in force board, which targeted some 300 young officers. It does not plan to make a public release. However, Stars and Stripes reports that there...

The Presidential Commission on Care for America’s Returning Wounded Warriors declared in their final report this week the need for “fundamental changes” in care management and the disability system, overseen by DOD and VA. “We don’t recommend merely patching the...

The 2007 Air Mobility Command Rodeo is entertaining a combined active duty and Reserve C-17 team, a first for the premier mobility readiness event, which dates to 1956. The Total Force team comprises 13 air and ground crew members from...

The Air Force has received another order from the Environmental Protection Agency to clean up a contamination site. This one is Air Force Plant 44, operated by Raytheon in Tucson, Ariz. EPA also recently directed USAF to speed up work...

The Air Force’s director of force management policy, Brig. Gen. K.C. McClain, says of the service’s implementation of the National Security Personnel System, “We are pleased with our progress and will continue to make adjustments where necessary.” Currently, the Air...

Four Australians just attended the National Security Space Institute’s Space Fundamentals Course in Colorado Springs, Colo., reports Capt. Catie Hague. The Royal Australian Air Force attendees included two radar operators, an intelligence officer, and one academic. Australia is just beginning...

Britain will permit the US to use an air force base at Menwith Hill in North Yorkshire as a site for missile defense shield elements. British Defense Minister Des Browne said Menwith Hill would be equipped with communications equipment and...

Boeing’s blended wing body X-48B flew for the first time last week, climbing to an altitude of 7,500 feet and landing after 31 minutes. It flew out of NASA’s Dryden Flight Research Center at Edwards AFB, Calif., on July 20,...

The Senate unanimously passed the Dignified Treatment of Wounded Warriors Act (S. 1606) on July 25. The bill, co-sponsored by a bipartisan group of 51 senators, offers recommendations to overcome shortfalls in caring for wounded veterans. In a joint statement...

Retired Col. Vincent Fonke has just been awarded the Distinguished Flying Cross for his actions as a bomber pilot during World War II. Lt. Gen. Christopher Kelly, Air Mobility Command vice commander, and Rep. Bob Etheridge (D-N.C.), whose office helped...

July 23-24, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 36 20 56 CAS/Armed Recon 101 86 187 Airlift 297 297 Air refueling 98 98 Total 137 106 395 638 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...