The Missouri Air National Guard F-15C that crashed Nov. 2 possibly disintegrated during flight, reports the Washington Post. The Air Force grounded its entire F-15 fleet the next day, pending results of the accident investigation. It is flying the fighter...

Now that aged F-15s are falling out of the skies, we would direct your attention to a recent report prepared by retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, a combat veteran of Vietnam and the Gulf. His comments were contained in a six-page "after action report" prepared after visiting air bases and talking with airmen of all ranks. He wrote: "The US Air Force is badly underfunded, its manpower is being drastically cut and diverted to support of counter-insurgency operations, its modernization program of paradigm-shifting technology is anemic--and its aging strike, lift, and tanker fleets are being ground down by non-stop global operations with an inadequate air fleet and maintenance capabilities. ... We should create a US national security policy based principally on the deterrence capabilities of a dominant, global Air Force and Naval presence. ... The US Air Force is our primary national strategic force. Yet it is too small, has inadequate numbers of aging aircraft, has been marginalized in the current strategic debate. ... The next Administration must fix the manpower, aircraft, and funding shortfalls of the US Air Force or we will place the American people in enormous peril. ... We lack the equipment, Airmen, and money to adequately defend America in the coming 15 years. We are placing our national security at enormous risk if we do not soon act to correct these crucial shortfalls." McCaffrey went on quite a bit more, but you get the idea.

Retired Army Gen. Barry McCaffrey, in his memo (see above), proposes a seven-step get-well program for the Air Force. It is eye-popping. The seven “imperatives” (McCaffrey’s word) are these: 1. F-22A fighter. “There is no single greater priority for the...

Apparently when Air Force Secretary Michael Wynne told Congress last month that the Air Force expected to award the combat search and rescue helicopter replacement program contract—for a second time—in February, he didn’t have the latest information. Jim Wolf of...

Airmen from the New York Air National Guard’s 105th Airlift Wing, with a little help from a West Virginia Air Guardsman, flew a C-5 to Soto Cano AB, Honduras, where they loaded a team of 19 airmen and soldiers and...

Many airmen are resorting to “authorized online sources” to purchase the Air Force’s new Airman Battle Uniform, reports Holly Birchfield. The service doesn’t expect all airmen to have or wear the new ABU before November 2011, but some are anxious...

The Tuesday editions of USA Today contained interesting poll results on the subject of Iran’s nuclear weapon program and what Americans think the US should do about it. The USA Today/Gallup Poll, conducted over the past weekend, found that a...

The Defense Department has identified the remains of Air Force Maj. John L. Carroll, a forward air controller who was killed by enemy forces after his O-1G Bird Dog aircraft was hit and forced to land. The Decatur, Ga., airman...

Nov. 4, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 23 12 35 CAS/Armed Recon 52 26 78 Airlift 164 164 Air refueling 44 44 Total 75 38 208 321 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...