Air Force Secretary Michael Donley told lawmakers last week that the service is still determining how to proceed with the Light Air Support competition now that it has terminated the original contract. “It’s very likely that we will need to...

Adm. Samuel Locklear succeeded Adm. Robert Willard as head of US Pacific Command in a ceremony at Camp H.M. Smith, Hawaii. “I’m extremely privileged to assume this command that is well-led, well-organized, and . . . has clear strategic intent...

Air Force Space Command announced that it will inactivate the 3rd Combat Communications Group at Tinker AFB, Okla., as part of the Air Force's overall force structure changes to meet the Obama Administration's new strategic guidance. "The inactivation of the 3rd CCG is part of a larger Air Force effort to shape the force," said Col Joseph Scherrer, commander of the 689th Combat Communications Wing at Robins AFB, Ga., the group's parent organization. As part of the new strategy, "the Air Force is reducing deployable communications capabilities to match the reduction in combat air forces, added Scherrer. The group's inactivation will affect 600 military billets at Tinker. Airmen from the group will transition to other units, said Scherrer. With the inactivation of the 3rd CCG, the 689th CCW will be left with one group: the 5th CCG at Robins. (See also the Air Force's presentation slides with state-by-state breakdown of force structure changes.)

Lt. Gen. Charles Davis has been tapped for assignment as military deputy in the Air Force Secretariat’s acquisition office. Davis has been commander of the Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass., since last September. He’ll replace Lt. Gen. Janet...

Affordability will be one of the prime objectives for space acquisition going forward, said Gil Klinger, deputy assistant defense secretary for space and intelligence. "We are stressing affordability even in our ongoing programs. We are stressing with our industrial partners to place as much emphasis on engineering for cost control and affordability as we have historically placed on engineering for performance," Klinger told members of the House Armed Services Committee's strategic forces panel last week. That raises the question, "How well do we have to do something?" he added. In other words, it may not be possible to strive for the 100-percent solution anymore. "This is a fundamentally different business model for many of us in the space acquisition community," said Klinger. (Klinger's prepared testimony)

The international community must sustain a "fairly robust aid network" in Afghanistan after US troops withdraw in 2014 in order to ensure that the country doesn't revert to a safe haven for terrorists, said Marine Corps Gen. James Mattis, head of US Central Command. Speaking before the House Armed Services Committee last week, Mattis said the process of helping the Afghans reach self-sufficiency has been difficult since Afghanistan was a nation "where literacy and any kind of governmental organization [was] totally lacking." However, the need for foreign aid will eventually taper off as the Afghan economy grows, he noted. "Afghanistan is starting to get some economic vitality showing up from extraction industries," said Mattis. Its education system, he continued, is starting to churn out people "directly employable to do things that are more than just subsistent farming." He said the United States and its coalition partners have helped build logistics schools for the Afghan military so that it can "maintain the military infrastructure and equipment we're giving them." (Mattis' written statement)

The Air Force has not provided Congress with the details of the analysis used to justify its proposal to reduce the size of the air mobility fleet, claim GAO auditors. “In weighing the Air Force’s proposal, decision-makers would benefit from...

After receiving final tests and touches at Hill AFB, Utah, three of the last few F-22s built at Lockheed Martin’s plant in Marietta, Ga., arrived at JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska. One of the Raptors—aircraft No. 4190—promptly assumed its place as the...

Australian F/A-18 Hornets are sharing the flight line with British Tornado GR.4s and Air Force fighters, including F-22s, for the Red Flag air combat training exercise at Nellis AFB, Nev. “With our fighter force about to transition to the [F-35]...

Airmen at JB Langley-Eustis, Va., are testing a modification that allows fuel trucks to pump fuel directly from tanks under the flight line to waiting aircraft—as opposed to filling the aircraft with fuel carried by the fuel trucks. The standard...