Gen. Norton Schwartz, at his Senate confirmation hearing to be Chief of Staff of the Air Force yesterday, said that he thinks the F-22 should be kept in production … for now. Offering his “personal opinion” to Senate Armed Services...

We’ll know in 30 days whose heads will roll—if anyone’s—in the affair of ICBM parts shipped to Taiwan, cited by Defense Secretary Robert Gates as the “trigger” for removing USAF’s top uniformed and civilian officials in June. That’s the word...

Sen. Bill Nelson (D-Fla.) asked Gen. Norton Schwartz at Tuesday’s confirmation hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee (see above) what he thought of news reports that indicated Russia might base nuclear capable bombers in Cuba if the US persists...

Members of the Senate Armed Services Committee at Tuesday’s confirmation hearing (see above) took different tacks over the Air Force’s newly announced mobile command workspaces for senior leaders. Sen. John Warner (R-Va.) called the details reported widely in the media...

The Air Force’s newest unmanned aerial vehicle, the MQ-9 Reaper, on July 18 started operating in Iraq, offering increased weapons capability, longer dwell time, and larger intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance payload than its smaller brother the much-in-demand MQ-1 Predator. USAF sent the Reaper...

Air Force officials at Bagram AB, Afghanistan, on July 22 announced the crash of an MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle in the southern part of that country on July 21. There was no other information available. The service lost two...

US Air Force fighters, bombers, and unmanned aerial vehicles, and US Navy fighters dropped a variety of weapons and provided numerous show-of-force actions against enemy forces throughout Afghanistan on July 20, according to a July 21 release from Air Forces Central. USAF F-15Es dropped 2,000-pound joint direct attack munitions around Gardez and Khowst and 500-pound JDAMs near Nangalam, while also around Nangalam a B-1B dropped 500-pound and 2,000-pound JDAMs and near Khowst dropped a 2,000-pound JDAM. A Navy F/A-18F dropped a GBU-12 laser-guided bomb on enemy vehicles with improvised explosive devices near Qarah Bagh, and F/A-18Es dropped 500-pound JDAMs during operations near Khowst. An Air Force MQ-1B Predator fired a Hellfire missile against an enemy mortar team in the action near Gardez. Joint terminal attack controllers pronounced all the missions successful.

Airmen of Air Force Reserve Command’s 919th Special Operations Wing at Duke Field, Fla., dropped the last of the operational “Daisy Cutter” bombs July 15 at the Utah Test and Training Range. Flying an MC-130E, members of the 711th Special...

TSgt. Justin Jackson over the course of 15 deployments and seven years has amassed more than 2,000 combat flying hours. He is a cryptologic linquist with the 42nd Electronic Combat Squadron, a dedicated EC-130H Compass Call training unit at Davis-Monthan...

Airmen have deployed to locales around the world recently to provide support to local residents, including medical aid and training and civil engineering work. The Maryland Air National Guard’s 175th Wing has sent mainly civil engineers to Bosnia to help...

The Air Force medics deployed to Manas AB, Kyrgz Republic, a facility that serves as a major way station for aircraft and personnel headed toward operations in Southwest Asia, now have a hard-walled hospital. For the past seven years, since...

Air Sorties in War on Terrorism, Southwest AsiaJuly 20, 2008 Sortie Type OIF OEF OIF/OEF Total YTD ISR 30 15 45 6,242 CAS/Armed Recon 45 69 114 18,375 Airlift 134 134 25,289 Air refueling 65 65 8,822 Total 358 58,728...