The Air Force and airpower are playing “the dominant role” in national security right now, with respect to the three biggest security challenges to the US: China and the Pacific, resurgent Russia, and the fight against ISIL, Defense Secretary Ashton...

The Air Force is staying mum on the process of upgrading an Air Force Cross for one of its special operators to a Medal of Honor to avoid “impeding the independence” of the process, CMSAF James Cody said. A review of the seven Air Force Crosses awarded in the Global War on Terror showed one case had the potential to be upgraded to a Medal of Honor. “We’ve done our part as the Air Force,” Cody said at ASC15 on Wednesday. A congressional sponsor now must take up the upgrade process, and the Air Force wants to avoid overreaching. The potential award will go to a special operator. Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold, commander of Air Force Special Operations Command, said his command found one commando possibly worthy of the award. The seven airmen who have been awarded the Air Force Cross are Capt. Barry Crawford, MSgt. Ivan Ruiz, TSgt. John Chapman, SSgt. Robert Gutierrez, SrA. Jason Cunningham, SrA. Zachary Rhyner, and SrA. Dustin Temple.

Following a successful deployment of the F-22 to Europe, the head of US Air Forces in Europe-Air Forces Africa will be lobbying for more such visits, but the issue of a permanent detachment or basing there remains unsettled. “You can...

The F-22—in combat operations for less than a year—is proving “even better than we thought,” Air Combat Command chief Gen. Hawk Carlisle told reporters at ASC15. “We won’t send airplanes into certain areas” of the Syria/Iraq battlezone “unless they have...

The United States needs to do more to battle the extremist ideology of ISIS, said Secretary of Defense Ash Carter during his keynote speech at ASC15. “We are having strategic impact eliminating leadership, [the] ability to mobilize, organize, and so...

China is continuing to test anti-satellite capabilities and Air Force Space Command is taking both classified and unclassified measures to survive, deter, and respond to attacks against space assets. “You just have to go back to 2007 to see the...

Answering critics of the scale and disposition of OIR strikes on ISIS forces, Lt. Gen. John Hesterman told ASC15 attendees Sept. 16 that airmen are taking out enemy forces at an unprecedented rate, and that the last two months have...

Additive, or 3-D, printing is one of those technologies with “huge implications” for the Air Force’s ability to affordably sustain its forces, Air Force Materiel Command chief Gen. Ellen Pawlikowski said Tuesday at ASC15. Especially given the fact that so...

Pacific Air Forces boss Gen. Lori Robinson said she is very concerned about China’s efforts to militarize the South China Sea. “Even though there are other nations that have done some land reclamation, over 3,000 acres have been claimed by...

The Air Force’s holistic approach to engaging international partners not only increases interoperability and effectiveness, but reduces risk and makes potential adversaries rethink assumptions around the world, Deputy Undersecretary of the Air Force for International Affairs Heidi Grant told attendees...

Air Force cyber operators are looking at how to operationalize cyber capabilities, including ways to integrate cyber technology into existing air and space capabilities. For example, cyber operators have found that they can put a tool onto an electronic warfare...

Geographic commanders must keep lines of communication open in order to ensure important demands don’t go unfilled, a panel of USAF commanders told ASC15 attendees on Sept. 15. Pacific Air Forces’ boss Gen. Lori Robinson said USAF only has so...

The 4,000 airmen the Air Force hopes to add if its budget request is approved would go toward areas where the service has been falling short of what it needs, largely in the maintenance career field, said CMSAF James Cody...

The Defense Department does a poor job of providing civilian employees stable and rewarding career paths comparable to those of uniformed service members, Defense Secretary Ashton Carter said at ASC15 Wednesday. “I can’t really claim we have a good system...

Funding the nation’s nuclear triad separately from the services’ other accounts—an idea put forward by Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James at last year’s Air & Space Conference—doesn’t seem to be in the cards, based on Wednesday’s remarks from Defense...

A laser-armed AC-130 gunship will take to the skies by 2020 if industry takes up Air Force Special Operations Command boss Lt. Gen. Bradley Heithold’s challenge. “I call this my John F. Kennedy challenge … to get a high energy...

CMSAF James Cody invited Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh to be inducted into the Air Force Order of the Sword, the highest level of recognition that can be awarded by the enlisted force. During the enlisted force update Wednesday...

Enlisted leaders should never discourage fellow enlisted airmen from pursuing a commission if that is their goal, several former chief master sergeants said Wednesday. “You have to realize, as a leader, people are going to ask you questions along the...