Ellsworth Air Force Base Survives

Aug. 26, 2005

BRAC commissioners voted Friday to preserve Ellsworth AFB, S.D. The big B-1B bomber base now will stay open, as will a second B-1B facility, Dyess AFB, Tex. This decision essentially destroys USAF’s plans for consolidating all of the Air Force’s Lancers in a single location—Dyess. Commissioners said closing the base would not save any money, contrary to DOD assertions. They also believe that consolidation of the B-1 fleet would hurt mission readiness. The two bases are both “very, very good,” said commissioner Harold Gehman, a retired Navy admiral.

Related Content

AFSOC Grounds CV-22 Osprey Fleet Over Safety Issue

Aug. 17, 2022
Air Force Special Operations Command grounded its CV-22 Osprey fleet Aug. 16 as part of a safety stand down, with no timeline set for the aircraft to begin flying again, the command confirmed to Air Force Magazine. The stand down, ordered by AFSOC commander Lt. Gen. James C. “Jim” Slife,…

Promotion Rate for Staff Sergeants Hits Lowest Point Since 1997

Aug. 17, 2022
The Air Force’s recent trend of low promotion rates for enlisted noncommissioned officers continued Aug. 17, as the service announced it had tapped just 9,706 senior airmen out of 45,991 eligible to become staff sergeants—a 21.1 percent promotion rate. That mark is the lowest in nearly a quarter of a…

With FMS, Air Force Looks to Integrate With Allies Earlier and in New Ways

Aug. 17, 2022
With a new policy in hand, the Air Force’s Foreign Military Sales enterprise is looking to go beyond selling USAF systems to allies and partner nations—and instead to help them develop their own capabilities. Such an approach, deemed “non-program of record acquisitions,” is part of a larger shift in FMS…

Air Force Global Strike Command Test-Launches Minuteman III

Aug. 16, 2022
Air Force Global Strike Command test-launched an unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile Aug. 16, several days after delaying the test to avoid stoking tensions with China. The launch from Vandenberg Space Force Base, Calif., took place at 12:49 a.m. Pacific time. The ICBM reentry vehicle traveled approximately 4,200 miles…

Troubled Sri Lanka Seeks to Strengthen Relationship With PACAF and Quad

Aug. 16, 2022
The tiny Indian Ocean island of Sri Lanka has an outsize geostrategic importance, and its military seeks deeper ties with Pacific Air Forces for maritime security and disaster relief while not roiling China, a senior Sri Lanka Air Force official told Air Force Magazine. Rocked by political unrest and financial…

Air Force Official: We‘re ‘Starting to Lose Our Lead’ in Propulsion

Aug. 16, 2022
Reduced competition, over-reliance on legacy systems, and declining funding are all contributing to a “critical inflection point” in propulsion for the Pentagon and industry members—and things are headed in the wrong direction, the director of the Air Force’s propulsion directorate warned. Speaking with reporters at the Life Cycle Industry Days…

Brown Tours Pacific as U.S. and China Hold Dueling Exercises

Aug. 15, 2022
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown Jr. had hardly left the Indo-Pacific theater before China flew a joint bomber and fighter mission with U.S. partner Thailand. In nearby Indonesia, the U.S. concluded exercise Garuda Shield alongside Australia, Japan, and Singapore. At each stop, Brown held an all-call…

Air Force F-35 Stand Down Ends After Ejection Seat Inspections

Aug. 15, 2022
Two weeks after standing down its fleet of F-35s to check for potentially faulty parts in the fighters’ ejection seats, the Air Force has mostly completed its inspections and the aircraft has been cleared to resume normal operations, Air Combat Command announced.