Make That Eight States
New Mexico has thrown its hat in the ring to try to win USAF’s new Cyber Command. Gov. Bill Richardson said his state is forming a US Air Force Cyberspace Command Task Force “to promote New Mexico” for the permanent...
Own Up
Lawmakers in Arkansas and Georgia say the Air Force should reimburse those subcontractors that are out thousands of dollars because of the housing privatization debacle involving Carabetta and its subsidiaries and affecting bases in Arkansas, Florida, Georgia, and Massachusetts. Sen....
More Than Idaho
The Congressional delegation—all Republicans—from Idaho has written to National Guard Bureau chief, Army Lt. Gen. Steven Blum, urging him to seek replacement C-130 Hercules airlifters to replace those taken away by BRAC 2005. TV2 News reports that Sen. Larry Craig,...
Mid-Air Over Mississippi, Crash in Iraq:
Two T-6 Texan II training aircraft collided Nov. 28 around 1 p.m. over the Columbus AFB, Miss., auxiliary airfield in Shuqualak. The four airmen ejected safely; the aircraft crashed. And, in Iraq, the Air Force has lost another MQ-1 Predator...
Air Strikes Find Targets
A US Air Force F-16 dropped a bomb on a house rigged with explosives near Maderiyah, Iraq, on Nov. 25, destroying the building. Soldiers spotted an abandoned house—confirmed by local civilians—with copper wires running out of a window. An explosive...
Worth Repeating
Now that the Air Force has grounded its air superiority F-15 fleet for a second time in one month, it may be worth recalling some prescient comments from Gen. Ron Keys before he retired as head of Air Combat Command....
Ice Age, Raptor Style
The Air Force has just concluded three weeks of cold-weather testing for the new F-22A stealth fighter at Eielson AFB, Alaska. A contingent from the 411th Flight Test Squadron at Edwards AFB, Calif., traveled to Eielson to test the Raptor’s...
Got Some Money in Delaware
Sen. Tom Carper (D-Del.) and Rep. Mike Castle (R-Del.) say the just-signed 2008 defense spending bill includes money to bolster the state’s Air National Guard. Specifically, it will provide about $3 million to replace outdated radars on the eight C-130s...
From Snow to Desert:
The Montana Air National Guard’s 120th Fighter Wing is sending more than 150 airmen and eight F-16s to participate in close air support training at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., reports the Great Falls Tribune. The two-week exercise, which kicks off Dec....
Third Herk Set for AMP Mod:
The West Virginia Air National Guard’s 130th Airlift Wing has delivered one of its C-130 transports to the Boeing facility in San Antonio, where it will be the third Hercules to undergo avionics modernization program upgrades. Boeing VP Mike Harris...
Really Unusual Work:
National Guardsmen in Texas have been supporting the Texas National Guard Counter Drug Task Force by tearing down abandoned homes identified as crack distribution locations. “Crackdown” teams usually comprise four Air National Guard and two Army personnel trained for quick...
CORRECTION:
The F-15s supporting the Continental US NORAD Region are standing down under Air Combat Command’s fleet wide grounding order. We corrected the item in yesterday’s column.
Air Sorties in the Global War on Terrorism
Nov. 28, 2007 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total ISR 30 11 41 CAS/Armed Recon 45 40 85 Airlift 133 133 Air refueling 38 38 Total 75 51 171 297 OIF=Operation Iraqi Freedom OEF=Operation Enduring Freedom ISR=Intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance Airlift includes Horn...