The Next Force Shaping Picture:
For Fiscal 2008, the Air Force has set its sights on reaching an end strength of 328,600 airmen, a drop of about 5,400 from 2007. Right now, the service still plans to reduce its overall end strength to 316,000 in...
Thumbs Up for Cannon:
New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson says the environmental impact assessment on turning Cannon Air Force Base into an Air Force Special Operations Command facility has received final approval. The former fighter base is slated to become home to special operations...
Dig the New and Improved Pig:
Air Combat Command boss Gen. Ron Keys declared the new A-10C Warthog attack aircraft “ready to go to war” during an initial operational capability ceremony at Langley AFB, Va., on Aug. 21. One of the Maryland Air National Guard’s 104th...
The Hog You Have Is Pretty Good—But:
Former hog driver Gen. Ron Keys took time to thank the Air Force’s industry partners for their work in getting the upgraded C Model A-10 Warthog ready for combat operations, but he noted at the initial operational capability ceremony (see...
Next Month:
Pacific Air Forces expects to see its new C-17 strategic airlift force at Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, reach initial operational capability next month when it has four of the new aircraft on board. The base got its first one in June,...
No Middle Ground:
The Air Force has decided to ditch the "marginal" rating in its physical fitness test. Now, airmen will either pass or fail. And, the pass score has jumped to at least 75. Score below that and an airman has to retest within 90 days. Before anyone gets nervous, there's a 66-year-old who recently scored 100 on the Air Force's annual fitness test. Reader Comments
Aid Following Quake, Hurricane:
The US military personnel, including some Air Force medics, dispatched from Joint Task Force-Bravo in Honduras to aid villagers in Peru injured in the Aug. 15 earthquake have treated more than 1,300 patients since their arrival on Aug. 17. Meanwhile,...
Flying in to McMurdo:
The latest Operation Deep Freeze is ongoing with a C-17 from McChord AFB, Wash., flying passengers and cargo to within about 15 miles of McMurdo Station, Antarctica this week, reports Air Force photojournalist TSgt. Shane Cuomo. This part of the...
Among Best of the Best:
Two parachute teams from USAF’s Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape program finished No. 1 and No. 4 in the annual international Leapfest 2007 held recently in Rhode Island. It is the first time an Air Force team has won top...
A $10-Grand Idea:
TSgt. Cade Peterson at Fairchild AFB, Wash., is $10,000 richer for having saved the Air Force possibly $2.6 million annually in deferred mission aborts and material sustainment costs for the KC-10 and KC-135 tankers. Peterson, who is the senior weapon...
Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism
Aug. 21, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 21 9 30 CAS/Armed Recon 62 46 108 Airlift 160 160 Air refueling 51 51 Total 83 55 211 349 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...