What Happens to Fresno?
Congress has tasked the Air Force to tell it how it plans to sustain the Air National Guard’s 144th Fighter Wing at Fresno, Calif.—and its air defense mission—beyond 2012. BRAC 2005 left the 144th FW with 18 of its 24...
Nellis Seeks Aircraft Mx Competition
The 57th Wing at Nellis AFB, Nev., has started the process to compete aircraft maintenance activities at Nellis between the public and private sectors. Other Air Force bases are going this route—expecting to save personnel or dollars or both—but this...
USAF Posts Better Flight Safety Record
Air Force Class A flight mishaps for all aircraft occurred at a rate of 0.90 in Fiscal 2006, compared to 1.50 for Fiscal 2005, according to end of year statistics provided by the Air Force. That rate, which represents the...
Arnold Under Review for CBAT:
The Air Force is planning to build a new 9,000-acre Battlefield Airman training site on one of its existing bases to serve as the initial training center for some 10,000 airmen each year. Teams have embarked on fact-finding trips to...
“Live” Training is the Name of the Game
Airmen with the 50th Civil Engineering Squadron at Schriever AFB, Colo., found a new way to complete their yearly emergency engineering training—by practicing defensive firing positions out in the field. Inspired by his deployment experience, Lt. Col. Timothy Fuller, 50th...
Bridges Provide Access in Remote Afghanistan
An Air Force-led Provincial Reconstruction Team is building two bridges in Salang Valley, Afghanistan that will for the first time allow vehicle traffic to pass through the valley year round and will be the first time vehicles can reach a...
A Different View
According to a consultant for the Center for Strategic and International Studies’ Post-Conflict Reconstruction evaluation effort in Afghanistan, the ordinary Afghan is losing faith in his country’s progress and government ability to sustain reconstruction in comparison to one year ago....
Sniper Makes a Good Neighbor:
Lockheed Martin’s reported Monday that its Sniper Advanced Targeting Pod is compatible with Maverick missiles mounted on an A-10C Warthog. During an August test at Eglin AFB, Fla., Air Force Materiel Command’s 46th Test Wing and 40th Flight Test Squadron...
No Joy for Guard Boost:
The 2007 defense authorization bill, now awaiting President Bush’s signature, pushes forward any decision on whether to elevate the status of the chief of the National Guard Bureau. The measure calls for the Congressionally chartered Commission on the National Guard...
Jones Bullish on Reserves:
Appearing before an Oct. 5 hearing of the Commission on the National Guard and Reserves, Marine Corps Gen. James Jones, commander of US European Command, explained that, on average, 4,500 reservists are working within his command every day. They perform...
Army Air Forces Weatherman Honored:
USAF weather operators paid belated tribute in an Oct. 6 ceremony to an Army Air Forces combat weatherman for his heroic service during the D-Day invasion of France, June 6, 1944. As an 18-year old Army draftee, Eugene Levine became...
VA to Keep, Improve Canandaiga:
Veterans Affairs plans to maintain the VA medical center at Canandaiga, N.Y., and explore potential ways to better serve area veterans, announced VA secretary James Nicholson Oct. 5. Many of the center’s buildings are 70-plus years old, although patient facilities...
Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism
Oct. 6-8, 2006 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 54 18 72 CAS/Armed Recon 130 143 273 Airlift 415 415 Air refueling 115 115 Total 184 161 530 875 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance