Daily Report

July 25, 2013

Kehler: Beware of the Readiness Avalanche

Thus far, budget sequestration has not affected the day-to-day readiness of the units operating the nation’s nuclear triad or executing other critical US Strategic Command activities in space and cyberspace, said Gen Robert Kehler, STRATCOM commander, on Wednesday. That’s because...

Kehler: More Missile Defense Testing Needed

US Strategic Command boss Gen. Robert Kehler on Wednesday said he remains confident in the ability of the nation’s missile shield to protect the US homeland from a limited attack, despite its failure to shoot down the target missile in...

Combat Controllers Awarded Silver Star

Air Force Special Operations Command boss Lt. Gen. Eric Fiel presented TSgt. Ismael Villegas and SSgt. Dale Young each with a Silver Star Medal for gallantry in combat on separate occasions near Helmand province, Afghanistan. The award ceremony took place...

House Passes Fiscal 2014 Defense Spending Bill

The House on Wednesday passed H.R. 2397, its version of the Fiscal 2014 defense appropriations bill, by a vote of 315 to 109. The bill provides $512.5 billion in base defense funding, which is $3.4 billion below the Pentagon’s request,...

Militia Airpower

The Air Force should return to a militia model where the majority of the force—equipment and personnel—is in the reserve components, said retired Gen. Ronald Fogleman, former Chief of Staff. “What we’re doing today is paying for manpower and starving...

Inspection Process Revamped

The Air Force recently implemented a new inspection system designed to give more power to wing commanders and eliminate disruptions that the old inspection regime was having on units, announced service officials on Wednesday. The service codified the new approach...

Weather Satellites Need Full, Stable Flow of Funding

Weather satellites are an essential component of US weather monitoring and forecasting, so it is therefore critical that full funding is provided for the next-generation polar-orbiting and geostationary systems in development to minimize gaps in coverage, states a newly issued...

Phoenix KC-135 Wing Dedicates Spirit of Arizona

The Arizona Air National Guard’s 161st Air Refueling Wing in Phoenix recently dedicated one of its KC-135 tankers as the Spirit of Arizona, according to a unit release. The KC-135, an R-model aircraft with serial number 62-3516, now features the...