Briefer Briefs

Dec. 15, 2008

Lt. Gen. Larry James took command of 14th Air Force (Strategic Air Forces-Space) during a Dec. 9 ceremony at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., where he also will serve as Joint Functional Component Commander for Space. • The Senate on Dec. 8 confirmed Maj. Gen. Loren Reno for a third star; he now will serve as the Air Force’s Deputy Chief of Staff for Logistics, Installations, and Mission Support. • Maj. Gen. John Koziol received Senate confirmation on Dec. 8 for a third star, as did Maj. Gen. Mark Welsh III; Koziol will serve as Deputy Undersecretary of Defense (Intelligence) for Joint and Coalition Warfighter Support and Welsh as Associate Director of CIA for Military Support.

Related Content

Snapshot: DOD and COVID-19

Sept. 28, 2020
Here's a look at how the Defense Department is being impacted by and responding to the COVID-19 pandemic.

AFRL’s ‘ROBOpilot’ Returns to Flight After Mishap

Sept. 28, 2020
The Air Force Research Laboratory’s robotic pilot has returned to the sky, following a mishap that grounded the system last year. The AFRL Center for Rapid Innovation and DZYNE Technologies Incorporated’s ROBOPilot flew for about 2.2 hours on Sept. 24 at Dugway Proving Ground, Utah. The ROBOpilot system is added…

How California Guard MQ-9s Are Helping With Fire Response

Sept. 28, 2020
California Air National MQ-9s have flown the length of the entire state, helping to coordinate responses to more than 24 fires that have been burning in the past two months. As of Sept. 28, there have been 7,982 total wildfires, burning more than 3.6 million acres and damaging or destroying…

Whiteman Hosts Drive-In Air Force Ball During Pandemic

Sept. 28, 2020
The COVID-19 pandemic inspired the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., to pioneer a new kind of USAF birthday celebration: a drive-in Air Force ball. The idea to transition the ball from an in-person party to a drive-in celebration stemmed from unique challenges presented by the ongoing…

USAF F-16s to Police Bulgaria’s Skies for NATO

Sept. 28, 2020
For the next four weeks, USAF Airmen and F-16s and Bulgarian air force fighter aircraft will fly NATO air patrols over Bulgaria to protect the nation’s airspace, improve the Air Force’s interoperability with its counterparts there, and serve as a show “of Allied solidarity,” NATO and USAF announced Sept. 28.…

Fourth GPS III Satellite Heads to Space

Sept. 25, 2020
Lockheed Martin’s fourth GPS III satellite is scheduled to head to space on a SpaceX rocket Sept. 29, marking the navigation system’s second launch so far this year. “It'll be awesome to have four GPS III satellites on orbit. It's a good start to the Space Force's effort to modernize…

USAF Orders NP2000 Propeller Systems for Guard, Reserve C-130Hs

Sept. 25, 2020
The Air Force recently chose Collins Aerospace Systems, a Raytheon Technologies subsidiary, to provide NP2000 propeller systems for 30 Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve C-130H aircraft, the company announced Sept. 14. “With its eight composite blades and digital Electronic Propeller Control System (EPCS), NP2000 offers a number of…

ABMS Goes to the Pacific in ‘Valiant Shield’

Sept. 25, 2020
American military forces used a large-scale training exercise in the Pacific this month to experiment with new ways of commanding troops as part of the Air Force’s Advanced Battle Management System effort. The Air Force’s third ABMS demonstration, known as an “on-ramp,” quietly unfolded Sept. 14-25 within the biennial “Valiant…