August 21, 2015 - Air Force Magazine

F-35A’s Gun Fires At Full Capacity

The Air Force variant of the Joint Strike Fighter fired 181 rounds from its four-barrel, 25-mm Gatling gun this month in a ground test at Edwards AFB, Calif., the Joint Strike Fighter program office announced Aug. 20. Ground testing started...

Carter: Turkey Needs to Do More in Battling ISIS

By Brian W. Everstine

While the US welcomes Turkey’s decision to open its airfields to coalition aircraft for combat operations against ISIS, Turkey needs to do more in the fight against the terrorist group, Defense Secretary Ash Carter said in an Aug. 19 Pentagon...

RAF Bases Named on ISIS Hit List

By Jennifer Hlad

US European Command is “taking the appropriate precautions to ensure the safety of our personnel” after four Royal Air Force bases in England, including US-run bases RAF Lakenheath and RAF Mildenhall, were named online as ISIS targets. EUCOM officials did...

Women in Combat Decision Expected by Year’s End

By Brian W. Everstine

Defense Secretary Ash Carter will receive reports from military services on Oct. 1 detailing plans for integrating women into all combat roles, as well as any requests for exemptions to the integration, with a final decision expected by the end...

C-130 First US Aircraft to Airdrop Japanese Soldiers on US Soil

C-130s and airmen with the 36th Airlift Squadron assisted in a first on Aug. 12, helping Japanese soldiers airdrop onto US soil. Soldiers with the 3rd Battalion, 1st Airborne Brigade of the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force joined US Army soldiers...

Ramstein Hercs To Romania for Carpathian Summer

By Marc V. Schanz

Some 80 personnel from the 86th Airlift Wing at Ramstein AB, Germany, and three C-130Js deployed to Otopeni AB, Romania, earlier this month to support Carpathian Summer, according to an Aug. 19 release. Though the training event is bilateral, the...

Jet Fuel Removed From F-16 Crash Site in Germany

Army officials from the 7th Joint Multinational Training Command at Grafenwoehr, Germany, have completed assisting German authorities with fuel decontamination and cleanup efforts at a nearby F-16 crash site, according to an Aug. 19 release. The F-16 pilot, assigned to...

India Eyes the Last Globemaster Slice

By Arie Church

The Indian Air Force is seeking to purchase Boeing’s last unspoken for C-17 Globemaster III after Qatar sealed a deal to snap-up four of the remaining five aircraft back in June, India’s Economic Times reported. India ordered a total of...

Fairchild Rescuers Now a Squadron

Officials elevated the 36th Rescue Flight to squadron-status in a redesignation ceremony at Fairchild AFB, Wash., last Friday, according to a release. “The flight has been preforming at a squadron level for years,” said Lt. Col. Jason Snyder, the commander...

Army, McCain Seek Arlington Cemetery Expansion

By Jennifer Hlad

Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), chairman of the Senate Armed Services Committee, is urging the Army to do everything possible to expand Arlington National Cemetery, including using land freed up by the demolition of the Navy Annex. At its current size,...