Buzz Aldrin Becomes Oldest Thunderbirds Passenger

April 4, 2017

Retired Air Force colonel and astronaut Buzz Aldrin set another record April 2, becoming the oldest person to fly with the Air Force’s Thunderbirds. Aldrin, 87, flew with the Air Force’s demonstration team over Kennedy Space Center’s Launch Complex 39A on Sunday as part of the Melbourne, Fla., Air & Space Show, the Thunderbirds said in a Facebook post.

Related Content

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…

C-17s Begin Deep Freeze Flights in Antarctica

Sept. 25, 2020
C-17s and Airmen deployed for Operation Deep Freeze have started flying crucial personnel and equipment into Antarctica for winter flying season. The C-17s, deployed from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash., have flown three missions in recent weeks, transporting 151 personnel and 165,000 pounds of cargo to McMurdo Station, according to a…

‘Operation Blood Rain’ Makes Case for a New Kind of Airdrop

Sept. 25, 2020
The Air Force is trying to understand whether fresh blood can be safely airdropped to medics working in harsh settings. “The research team determined an airdrop is a viable way of delivering blood to combat medics treating hemorrhaging patients in a pre-hospital setting,” a 96th Test Wing release stated. “However,…

Gauging Suicide’s Impact on USAF’s Total Force in 2020

Sept. 25, 2020
As the Defense Department prepares to release its Annual Suicide Report in the coming weeks, Air Force Magazine details the impact suicide has had on the Total Force so far in 2020, and how the service’s top uniformed leaders and its reserve component are working to tackle the issue. As…

With an Eye on China, Reaper Drones Train for Maritime War

Sept. 24, 2020
MQ-9 Reapers, the workhorse drone of America’s two-decade counterterrorism fight in the Middle East and Africa, want to show they’re getting a second wind. The MQ-9 schoolhouse at Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., recently rewrote its syllabus to prepare Reaper pilots and sensor operators for a more complex fight, 29th…

Triple Nickel Hones Skills at Thracian Viper 20

Sept. 24, 2020
For Aviano Air Base’s 555th Fighter Squadron, Thracian Viper 20 is about more than just training. The multilateral exercise, to which the squadron sent Airmen and six F-16s, boosts “operational capacity and capability," as well as interoperability with Bulgaria, Maj. Rohan Naldrett-Jays, the squadron’s chief of standardizations and evaluation, told…

Here’s How a Three-Month CR—or Longer—Would Affect the Air Force

Sept. 24, 2020
As Congress looks to delay passage of a new federal funding package until after the November elections, the Air Force is warning that even a three-month gap would harm national defense. “[Continuing resolutions] immediately disrupt major exercises and training events, affect readiness and maintenance, curtail hiring and recruitment actions, and…

B-1B Fleet Finishes Integrated Battle Station Upgrade

Sept. 24, 2020
The Air Force this month finished the biggest upgrade to the B-1B Lancer fleet ever. The Integrated Battle Station program, which includes three separate avionics and cockpit upgrades, began in 2012. Since then, 62 aircraft have received the upgrade, almost all on a dedicated line at Tinker Air Force Base,…