Daily Report

Budget battles between Congress and the Air Force are starting to affect Air National Guard retention, Lt. Gen. Bud Wyatt, ANG director, told Senate defense appropriators May 23. “We have great volunteerism and our people stick with us a long...

With the conclusion of the Iraq war and the coming end of US combat activities in Afghanistan, the burden of maintaining US security will fall less heavily on the shoulders of men and women in uniform, said President Obama in...

Defense Secretary Leon Panetta believes the punishment was appropriate that the Air Force levied against former supervisors at the service-run military mortuary at Dover AFB, Del., for reprisals against several whistleblowers, said Pentagon Press Secretary George Little. "He has confidence that the Air Force took the appropriate steps here," said Little of Panetta during a May 22 press briefing. The Air Force announced on May 21 that it had reprimanded Col. Robert Edmondson, former commander of the mortuary, and required that he forfeit $7,000 in pay. Trevor Dean, who had been Edmondson's top civilian deputy, received a 20-day suspension without pay. Quinton Keel, a third former mortuary official who resigned before the punishment, still received a letter of censure, according to the Air Force's statement on the disciplinary actions. Little said Panetta was satisfied that the Air Force "took appropriate steps" to investigate the problems at the mortuary and then look into the disciplinary actions. (Little transcript) (See also AFPS report by Jim Garamone and Office of Special Counsel release.)

F-15Cs of the 493rd Expeditionary Fighter Squadron have begun NATO air sovereignty alerts over Iceland after deploying recently from RAF Lakenheath, Britain, to Keflavik International Airport. “In this NATO mission, we identify and escort unauthorized aircraft before they reach Iceland’s...

The Chinese People’s Liberation Army’s Second Artillery Corps, the organization in charge of that army’s ballistic missiles, is not only modernizing its short-range ballistic missile force but also fielding missiles with greater ranges and payloads, according to the Pentagon’s 2012...

Air Force Surgeon General Lt. Gen. Charles Green, along with the surgeons general of Australia, Britain, and Canada, signed an “Interfly” proclamation of understanding that will promote the interoperability of aeromedical evacuation assets between the nations, according to a release...

The Air Force awarded Boeing a $368 million contract for the engineering, manufacturing, and development phase of modernizing the flight decks and avionics of US and NATO E-3 AWACS aircraft, announced the company May 23. “This move from analog systems...

A Marine Corps F-35B lifted off for the first time from the joint F-35 schoolhouse at Eglin AFB, Fla. “Marine Fighter Attack Training Squadron 501 has had an exciting year with the arrival of our first three aircraft in January...

Boeing earlier this month delivered the United Arab Emirates’ fifth C-17 Globemaster III during a ceremony at the company’s aircraft plant in Long Beach, Calif., announced the company. “It’s amazing to see all that the UAE has accomplished with its...