A Path of BONES
The Air Force’s move to ?put the B-1 fleet into Air Force Global Strike Command was meant in part to pave the way for deployment of the Long-Range Strike Bomber, said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh on...
A New and Welcome Standard
Even though the Air Force is consolidating all of its bombers—present and future—into Air Force Global Strike Command, they’ll still be part of the combat air forces, said Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh. “The folks in the B-1 [community]...
Combat Rescue Helo or CV-22? Why Not Both?
The Air Force has been looking “for about the last six months” at operational concepts for combat search and rescue that include both the future Combat Rescue Helicopter and the CV-22 Osprey, said Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh on...
Not the Last Manned Fighter
While the Navy may view the F-35 as the last manned fighter—an opinion voiced by Navy Secretary Ray Mabus last week—the Air Force doesn’t agree. Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh, speaking at a Defense One symposium on Wednesday in...
AFA Gets New President
AFA’s Board of Directors announced on Wednesday that Gen. Larry Spencer, retiring Air Force vice chief of staff, will become AFA’s new President. He will officially assume his duties later in 2015. “General Spencer’s leadership and success in the Air...
The Space Review and Military Space Spending
The findings of last summer’s Space Strategic Posture Review drove in part the Pentagon’s investment over the next five years in space protection and space situational awareness capability, as reflected in the Pentagon’s Fiscal 2016 budget proposal, said Lt. Gen....
Community Policing on Orbit
Rather than outline specific capabilities for meeting new threats in space, Lt. Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski, the Air Force’s military deputy for acquisition, on Wednesday likened the US government’s approach to how a community might address public safety. “Everyone who operates...
Modernizing Crater Repair
Andersen AFB, Guam—The Air Force is instituting large-scale changes to the way it repairs runways after an attack, officials told Air Force Magazine during a recent visit here. “We are currently still teaching legacy airfield damage repair field methodology …...
End of an Era
Andersen AFB, Guam—A B-52 bomber deployed here from Barksdale AFB, La., as part of the Air Force’s continuous bomber presence mission will drop the base’s last M117 general-purpose bomb in June, said officials during a recent visit. Lt. Col. Scott...
To Open or Not
Approximately 200 Air Force male and female volunteers will undergo physical evaluations as part of the final stage of assessing whether to open to female airmen the remaining careers fields closed to them, announced service officials. “This testing and evaluation...
HASC Panels Mark Up Defense Bill
Six of the House Armed Service Committee’s panels have released their markups of the Fiscal 2016 defense authorization bill. Among the language they added is a provision calling for the United States to “begin research and development” to “fill current...