Gen. Howell M. Estes III, whose last Air Force assignments were as commander of NORAD and U.S. and Air Force Space Commands, has died at age 82. Estes flew 169 missions in the Vietnam War and commanded the super-secret F-117 fighter unit.
Before the Space Force was founded in December 2019, the Air Force was the service responsible for most military missions in space. Dating back decades, tens of thousands of Airmen were involved in space operations—Air Force Space Command at one point claimed more than 26,000 ...
As part of Air & Space Forces Magazine’s commemoration of the Air Force’s 75th anniversary, we interviewed all of the living former Chiefs of Staff. In this part of the series, we feature CSAF No. 20 Gen. Mark A. Welsh.
Jamie Teachenor was living in Nashville in 2015 and browsing Craigslist for vintage guitars when he spotted the unlikely ad that led to his occupying a unique place in military history. Together with a Coast Guard trombonist who doubles as musical arranger, Teachenor composed "Semper ...
Sanctions are crushing Russia’s efforts to counter American space superiority, but analysts have a rising concern that Russian President Vladimir Putin may link up with China’s wealth to develop the weapons that could stop American war fighters in their tracks. Commercial cooperation between two of ...
The U.S. Space Force will move more into the role of providing space-based tactical intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance—a role typically filled by the intelligence community—with a new ground moving target indicator capability possibly coming soon. USSF Chief of Space Operations Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond ...
Special-ops aviators, a physicist from the intelligence community, and an enlisted Marine with decades of deployments: U.S. Space Command’s military and civilian leaders who spoke May 7 were as likely to come from strictly space backgrounds as not. These are some of the day’s insights ...
The Space Force has finalized which units from the Army and Navy will join its ranks, and the new service’s No. 2 said details on the transfers are coming soon. Space Force Vice Chief of Space Operations Gen. David D. Thompson, speaking April 21 during ...
While the U.S. is still the world’s leader in space, China can move much faster and the U.S. Space Force needs to adapt with new acquisition processes to stay ahead, the new service’s No. 2 said March. 16. Gen. David D. Thompson, the Space Force’s ...
The Department of Defense Office of Inspector General will review the Department of the Air Force’s decision to base U.S. Space Command headquarters at Redstone Arsenal, Ala., according to a Feb. 19 memo. The review will gauge how well the Air Force “complied with DOD ...
The Senate on Oct. 26 confirmed Maj. Gen. Robert J. Skinner as the next head of the Defense Information Systems Agency, as well as for promotion to lieutenant general. Skinner, who currently oversees command, control, communications, and cyber operations for U.S. Indo-Pacific Command in Hawaii, was ...
The Space Force on Oct. 21 formally stood up its Space Operations Command, the largest organization to run satellites, radars, and other combat assets for regional military commanders around the world. Lt. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting will run SpOC at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. ...