Daily Report

Sept. 2, 2015

A Grassroots Fix to the RPA Problem

Air Combat Command recently launched the “Culture and Process Improvement Program,” which is meant to address stress on airmen and families within the remotely piloted aircraft community, officials announced Aug. 31. To help pinpoint such concerns, the command sent 3,366...

AFSOC Considering Upgrading Air Force Cross

Air Force Special Operations Command has identified an Air Force Cross recipient who leaders believe is worth upgrading to the Medal of Honor, but the command has not released the airman’s name. CMSAF James Cody in June said the Air Force was reviewing some medals previously awarded for actions in the Global War on Terrorism. He made the remarks during a Reddit forum, in response to a question about why there have been no Air Force MOH recipients since 2001. AFSOC spokeswoman Erica Vega confirmed the service reviewed the awards of Capt. Barry Crawford, MSgt. Ivan Ruiz, TSgt. John Chapman, SSgt. Robert Gutierrez, SrA. Jason Cunningham, SrA. Zachary Rhyner, and SrA. Dustin Temple. After “an evaluation of information not previously available,” the service found one it believes should be looked at for a Medal of Honor, Vega told Air Force Magazine Tuesday.

Raptors Reach Poland at Lask

Four F-22 Raptors forward deployed to Lask AB, Poland, for familiarization training alongside US and Polish F-16s during the fifth generation fighter’s first European deployment, officials announced. “We look forward to continue to prove that fifth generation aircraft can operate...

Spotlight: SSgt. Lindsey Fuentes

SSgt. Lindsey Fuentes, a biomedical equipment journeyman with the 366th Medical Support Squadron at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho, is one of the Air Force’s 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2015. Fuentes expertly managed the Medical Maintenance department during...

F-16s vs. the Crazy Cat Lady

Two F-16s from the Colorado Air National Guard’s 140th Wing were scrambled from Buckley Air Force Base on Aug. 28 to escort a civilian international flight after an emergency on board, a spokeswoman said. NORAD alerted the wing of a level three disturbance—life-threatening situation—aboard a flight from Las Vegas to Frankfurt, Germany, around 6 p.m., Capt. Kinder Blacke said. The F-16s met up with the plane and shadowed it to Denver International Airport, where it landed, Blacke said. A spokesman for Condor Airlines in Germany told the Associated Press the pilot of the plane asked for assistance because of an unruly passenger. A Denver television news station reported the disturbance was caused by a model from Europe who wanted to be seated with her cat. The woman was arrested for overstaying her visa, the station reported.

Boeing Awarded B-52 CONECT Contract

The Air Force recently awarded a $46.7 million fixed-price incentive, cost-plus contract to Boeing for seven full-rate production Combat Network Communication Technology (CONECT) kits for USAF’s B-52 fleet. The kits will modernize and update the bomber with networked, beyond line...

Year-Round Antarctic Flights

C-17 crews are using night vision goggles to expand “Winfly” missions to more regularly resupply researchers at McMurdo Station, Antarctica, during the dark, winter months, officials announced. Using NVGs, “we have the ability to fly in and out year round,”...

SIGAR Cites Problems With Kandahar Project

The Special Inspector General for Afghanistan Reconstruction (SIGAR) released an unclassified letter to the Department of Defense and US Central Command on its investigation into a $2.2 million command and control facility project at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, that was never...