Pick Your Battles
If the Air Force was asked to engage in a major fight with Russia or elsewhere, it would have to scale back its efforts in the Middle East, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told Air Force Magazine in a...
Reinvention Time
It is time once again time for the Air Force to “stop and take another hard look in the mirror,” and rethink itself, said Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh in an interview with Air Force Magazine last week. Welsh...
First Theater Security Package to Europe
Some 300 airmen and 12 A-10 Warthogs from Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., deployed to the 52nd Fighter Wing at Spangdahlem AB, Germany, marking the Air Force’s first theater security package to Europe. The TSP will support Operation Atlantic Resolve—a demonstration of...
T-X: Coming Quick
Air Education and Training Command has nailed down its broad needs for the T-X trainer aircraft to replace the T-38, said Brig. Gen. Dawn Dunlop, head of AETC plans, programs, and requirements. The Air Force needs 350 T-Xs, with initial...
Aggressive, Not Aggressor
The new T-X trainer’s requirements don’t call for it to be used as a future “Aggressor”-type aircraft, Air Education and Training Command requirements chief Brig. Gen. Dawn Dunlop told Air Force Magazine. Dunlop said AETC has incorporated into T-X the...
Affording New Nukes
The Air Force’s nuclear systems are long overdue for a reset, and there’s new money in the Fiscal 2016 defense budget to replace USAF’s nuclear cruise missiles and rehab its ICBM force. But there are limits to the speed of...
Obama Unveils AUMF Targeting ISIS
After months of negotiations, President Obama sent a proposed Authorization for the Use of Military Force to Congress on Wednesday, which if approved would authorize a military campaign against ISIS for three years with the option to renew. The proposed...
Proportionately, More Guard and Reserve
“I believe we should boost the size” of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said in an interview with Air Force Magazine last week. “I think we can keep more capacity in...
Origins of the ‘Plus-Up’
The Air Force saw an uptick in its share of the 2016 defense budget, relative to the other services, and Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh said that was due to two things. In an interview with Air Force Magazine...
US Fight Against Ebola Comes to an End
US military involvement in Operation United Assistance—the international Ebola relief effort—is coming to an end. More than four months since the beginning of continuous airlift support to Liberia and Senegal, airmen—along with other US service members—are returning home. “No military...
AEHF Wraps-Up Operational Testing
Air Force Space Command completed Advanced Extremely High Frequency military satellite communication system operational test and evaluation, paving the way for AEHF’s initial operational capability, officials announced. Once data from the six-month intensive evaluation is analyzed AFSPC “will decide whether...
Dyess Airmen Return from Al Udeid
More than 350 airmen recently returned to Dyess AFB, Texas, after a six-month deployment to the Arabian Gulf region where they supported B-1B operations participating in three separate missions—Operation Enduring Freedom, Operation Freedom’s Sentinel, and Operation Inherent Resolve. While deployed...
Theater Security Package Deploys to South Korea
The Colorado Air National Guard’s 140th Wing deployed a detachment of F-16s, pilots, maintenance, and support personnel as part of a theater security package to South Korea on Feb. 4. The airmen will support joint exercises between US forces based...
ACC Unveils New Unit Award
Air Combat Command unveiled a new unit award—the Security Forces Order of the Shield—bestowing the inaugural award to the 99th Ground Combat Training Squadron at Creech AFB, Nev., on Feb. 6. The award recognizes individuals or ACC units who have...