Daily Report

March 17, 2014

James: Sequester Will Cost Lives

Cuts to Air Force readiness accounts over the last decade have degraded safety, and continuing with sequestration could cost an increasing number of lives, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James told the House Armed Services Committee Friday. Answering a question...

Nuclear Lightning

NATO partners buying the F-35 want the Air Force to pick up the development tab to make the aircraft nuclear capable, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told the House Armed Services Committee Friday. In response to questions from Rep....

The Best Bad Option

The greatest shortfall the Air Force is grappling with is its ISR and its fighter fleet, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told members of the House Armed Services Committee Friday. “Those are the two things that we can’t meet...

Prioritizing Needs

The Air Force’s Fiscal 2015 budget request prioritizes the service’s needs in fiscally austere times, but USAF leaders acknowledged they must continually re-evaluate those needs throughout the five-year Future Years Defense Plan. When asked by Rep. Joe Wilson (R-S.C.) at...

Mechanical, Human Error Led to Fatal KC-135 Crash

A flight control malfunction exacerbated by the flight crew’s response overstressed a KC-135 last year, ripping its tail off and causing it to explode in flight over Kyrgyzstan, investigators determined. The Accident Investigation Board determined that the tanker’s flight control...

Schwartz Makes BRAC Pitch

Two years after leaving his position as the Air Force’s top uniformed officer, retired Gen. Norton Schwartz, former Chief of Staff, is urging Congress to accept the Defense Department’s plea for another round of BRAC. Due to aircraft and personnel...

Assuring Space Access Without Russian Interference

The Defense Department will reassess the use of Russian-made rocket motors for launch of US military satellites after rising tensions over Russia’s military intervention in Ukraine has raised questions about the long-term viability of that supply chain, Defense Secretary Chuck...

Reserve PJ Awarded Bronze Star with Valor

TSgt. Daniel Warren, a pararescueman assigned to Air Force Reserve Command’s 920th Rescue Wing at Patrick AFB, Fla., received the Bronze Star with Valor for his part in neutralizing attackers at Camp Bastion, Afghanistan, during a ceremony on base earlier...