Daily Report

March 8, 2010

“Disturbing Phone Call”

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) told USAF leaders March 4 during a Senate Armed Services Committee that it was “disturbing” to hear that USAF’s plan to remove 48 F-15s at Tyndall AFB, Fla., would eliminate 801 local jobs—not 594 jobs, as...

Step Right Up

Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, plans to hold a hearing this week specifically to discuss the troubled F-35 strike fighter program. One of the reasons he gave at the committee’s March 4 hearing on...

Practice, Practice

Airmen of the 2nd Bomb Wing at Barksdale AFB, La., completed late last month the first of three nuclear operational readiness exercises (NORE) the wing expects to undergo in preparation for its June nuclear operational readiness inspection. The NORE tested...

Narrowing PEO Focus

Asked at the Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week on the proposed Fiscal 2011 Air Force budget whether the service is on track to fulfill requirements under the Weapons Systems Acquisition Reform Act, signed into law last May, Air...

Hancock’s Final Viper Flights

The New York Air National Guard’s 174th Fighter Wing at Hancock Field near Syracuse flew its last F-16 missions last week, sending off its last fighters on March 6, according to a Post-Standard report. Media were on hand March 2...

Is the Battle Over?

According to a report by the Northwest Florida Daily News, the Air Force last week reached a settlement with the city of Valparaiso over basing F-35 fighters at Eglin Air Force Base. The city had opposed the plan to establish...

Not a Budget Item, But

Even though the topic was the Air Force budget, lawmakers at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing last week couldn’t refrain from straying into the debate over the “Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell” policy. Sen. Carl Levin (D-Mich.), Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.),...

Lieberman Spearheads DADT Repeal

Sen. Joe Lieberman (ID-Conn.) last week led a group of Senators introducing legislation to repeal the 1993 “Don’t Ask-Don’t Tell” law under the title. In a release, Lieberman said that with a volunteer military, “if Americans want to serve, they...

Air Sorties in SWA, 030110

Air Sorties in Southwest Asia, March 1-2, 2010 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 56 68 124 3,498 CAS/Armed Recon 38 154 192 5,364 Airlift 337 337 9,753 Air refueling 77 77 2,505 Rescue 12 12 73 Total...