The Air Force removed the minimum height requirement for applicants who want to fly as it looks to increase the diversity of those entering USAF cockpits. Under previous standards, pilots must reach a standing height of 64 inches to 77 inches—5 feet, 4 inches to ...
The Air Force’s fleet in fiscal 2019 maintained an overall mission capable rate of 70.27 percent, a slight increase from the previous year. Although some key combat aircraft, such as the fifth-generation F-22 Raptor, which hovers just over 50 percent, sustained low capability rates, service ...
U.S. Air Forces in Europe will test its Agile Combat Employment concept of operations later this month, moving F-16s forward to another USAFE base where maintainers who typically work with mobility aircraft will apply their skills to fighter support. USAFE commander Gen. Jeffrey Harrigian told ...
Concerns about COVID-19 infection have reached the highest levels of the military, with one member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff going into self-quarantine and another testing positive on May 9 and then testing negative twice. Gen. Joseph Lengyel, chief of the National Guard Bureau, ...
The Air Force inspector general is conducting a sweeping review of the service’s readiness assessments and reporting, the year after a Pentagon-wide order directed the armed forces to improve the state of key fighter fleets, according to the service’s presumptive next Chief of Staff. Air ...
Pacific Air Forces boss Gen. C.Q. Brown Jr. will get his shot at becoming the Air Force’s next Chief of Staff at his Senate confirmation hearing scheduled for May 7. The Senate Armed Services Committee plans to vet Brown, Navy Secretary nominee Kenneth Braithwaite, and ...
The Air Force is bracing for a year or more of adapting to the COVID-19 pandemic, adjusting its operating tempo and procedures under a new "reset" expected June 1, Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said April 22. He's not seeing any major programs faltering ...
The Defense Department's newly extended travel ban provides additional leeway to bring troops home from deployments, as Air Force officials try to figure out how to meet the service's highest priority needs if the ban is extended yet again. The policy change loosens guidelines for ...
The Air Force’s steps to reduce class size in basic military training and put in place distancing measures have limited the outbreak of the new coronavirus. However, the impact of these measures will be felt for years. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein, ...
The impact of the new coronavirus outbreak has been mixed for USAF flying units, with many close to the fight maintaining a high operations tempo, while training at home takes a major hit that could have lasting impacts to readiness. However, the service has faced ...
One upside of the COVID-19 pandemic is that Air Force retention, particularly of pilots and maintainers, will likely improve as the global downturn in the airline business reduces the commercial appetite for people in those specialties, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said ...
As the defense budget flattens, the other services may have to rethink their pursuit of long-range fires, purely because duplication is only a good thing when it's affordable, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David Goldfein said during an online Mitchell Institute event April 1. ...