Can contracting out the adversary air mission ease the pilot shortage and enhance combat training? An
January/February 2019
Vol. 102, No. 1
The B-52 is supposed to serve through 2050. To last that long, it needs new power.
The Mitchell Institute argues for a new generation of weapons that can instantly tailor their effects
U-2 Down
“We have parts of the plane,” Khrushchev said. “We also have the pilot.” The US could no longer deny t
EDITORIAL: US Needs a Cyber Deterrence Plan
Effective cyber deterrence requires the will and capacity to respond to cyber attacks with an equal or
Letters
A FOURTH LEG FOR THE TABLE Your editorial in the December 2018 issue, entitled “The Air—and Space—Force We Need” [p. 2] was very interesting. It provides a light on the thinking behind the Air Force’s position on the need for...
AFA Elected National Leaders
NATIONAL OFFICERS BOARD CHAIRMAN F. Whitten Peters Washington, D.C. VICE CHAIRMAN, FIELD OPERATIONS F. Gavin MacAloon Tyndall AFB, Fla. VICE CHAIRMAN, AEROSPACE EDUCATION Jim Hannam Burke, Va. SECRETARY Richard W. Hartle Layton, Utah TREASURER Steven R. Lundgren Fairbanks, Alaska NATIONAL...
Namesakes: Tom McGuire
He wrote the book.
Airman For Life
A portrait of the daughters of then-Maj. Arthur S. Means, who was shot down on Nov. 11, 1966, over Hanoi, North Vietnam, are shown writing a letter asking for the return of their father. In 1977 it was determined that...
The Future of Pilot Training
Low-cost simulators, new trainers, and Red Flag reforms aim to help USAF gear up for future great powe
From Cybernetics to Cyberspace
The roots of digital warfare date back to the birth of the US Air Force.
Saving a Blackbird
Four Swedish pilots put themselves between a crippled USAF SR-71 and Soviet air-to-air missiles, poten
Verbatim
A KC-46A takes off during a system evaluation at Yokota AB, Japan, on Oct. 25, 2018. Photo Yasuo Osakabe/USAF LOOK OUT ABOVE “The most cost-effective and simplistic cyberattack in space, one with the intent to bring down a targeted satellite,...
Aperture
A B-2 Spirit takes on fuel from a KC-135 over Anderson AFB, Guam. The B-2 fleet is tiny—20 in all—and the bomber force needs a boost to carry out the goals of the National Defense Strategy. Photo: A1C Jazmin Smith...
World
A KC-46A takes off during a system evaluation at Yokota AB, Japan, on Oct. 25, 2018. Photo Yasuo Osakabe/USAF NOT QUITE PERFECT The Air Force accepted the first KC-46A Pegasus tanker from Boeing for operational testing—two years behind schedule, with...
His Story: 2nd Lt. Laurence Gulick Masters the B-24 Catwalk
Crew 704 completed 30 missions. It was the third mission (and Gulick’s first) that tested their wits. Photo: American Air Museum in Britain Laurence “Ray” Gulick joined the Army Air Forces and graduated from bombardier training in August 1943. Assigned...
Faces in the News
Lynch and Walsh, AFSOC airmen and members of the Air Force World Class Athlete Program. Photo: SSgt. Ryan Conroy AIRMEN ARE SLIP SLIDING AWAY… TO THE OLYMPIC GAMES Two airmen within Air Force Special Operations Command were selected to compete...
Forward Deployed
PACAF Commander Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr., left, prepares for an orientation flight in an Indian Air Force Mirage 2000, during Cope India 2019. Photo: SSgt. Hailey Haux When then-Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced in May that US Pacific Command’s...
