Busy, Busy:

Aug. 16, 2007

The C-17 aircrews at Hickam AFB, Hawaii rarely get to practice their multi-ship airdrop training because the Hickam airlifters are in such demand, reports TSgt. Shane Cuomo. This week the photojournalist got to cover the first four-ship training mission the 525th Airlift Squadron has been able to squeeze in this year. On any given day, the squadron has two aircraft to train with, but it needs four to best meet airdrop proficiency requirements. Maj. Matt Zehr, a 535th AS pilot, called the training “critical” for aircrew members to stay fully qualified.

Related Content

USAF, Family Settle Wrongful Death Lawsuit

Oct. 18, 2020
The widow of a contractor killed during a friendly fire training incident at the White Sands Missile Range in 2017 sued the Air Force for $24.6 million in damages. The family's lawyer told Military.com they settled for less than that, saying only it was “enough to take care of them…

USAF Looks to Buy Female Body Armor for Guard, Reserve Security Forces

Oct. 18, 2020
The Air Force wants to procure up to 2,000 more Female Body Armor units for Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve security forces Airmen. The modular, scalable body armor system is designed specifically for women’s bodies, and will protect female defenders against fragmenting munitions, handgun, and small arms threats,…

Space Force Grappling With How to Define Readiness

Oct. 18, 2020
The U.S. Space Force is trying to figure out what “readiness” means for space operations, seeking to sever itself from the Air Force’s aircraft- and deployment-centric model. The Air Force’s Air and Space Expeditionary model doesn’t work as a measure of Space Force readiness, Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, deputy…

X-37 Lessons Learned Could Help Space Force Define Future Capabilities

Oct. 16, 2020
The Space Force is already thinking about future spaceplanes and other platforms that will succeed those now in service, though the near-term focus will be on making existing capabilities more resilient, Lt. Gen. B. Chance Saltzman, deputy chief of space operations for operations, cyber, and nuclear, said in an AFA…

Bass: USAF Not Changing Stance on Marijuana

Oct. 16, 2020
While Airmen are responding to the increasingly prevalent legalization of marijuana in states across the nation and wondering if the Air Force will change its policies as well, the service has no plans to change its stance on Airmen’s use of the drug, the service told Air Force Magazine on…

New National Strategy Calls for Promoting, Protecting Critical Tech

Oct. 15, 2020
The Trump Administration released a new national technology strategy on Oct. 15, which assigns investment priority to 20 technologies while calling for an all-of-government approach to develop and protect them. The Pentagon is already applying a number of the actions the new strategy lays out, such as blocking foreign adversaries…

SECDEF Is Worried about USAF’s Current—and Future—Tanker Fleet

Oct. 15, 2020
Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper on Oct. 15 said he is keeping a close eye on the modernity and readiness of the Air Force’s tanker fleet. During an on-stage discussion with Thomas Spoehr, director of the Heritage Foundation’s Center for National Defense, Esper also cited a need for “487 tankers,”…

Esper: Military Exceeded COVID-19 Convalescent Plasma Collection Goal

Oct. 15, 2020
The Defense Department “collected nearly 11,000 units” of COVID-19 convalescent plasma by the end of fiscal 2020—almost 3,000 units more than its original goal—Defense Secretary Mark T. Esper announced during an Oct. 15 Heritage Foundation event. Donations of blood plasma containing antibodies for the new coronavirus may boost the ability…