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U.S. Air Force News

  • AFCENT Airmen fight from ultimate high ground

    As adversaries and challenges evolve in dynamic battlefields across the globe, U.S. service members from U.S. Air Forces Central Command are using cutting-edge technology to support and defend joint and coalition warfighters.

  • New course focuses on sortie production at tactical level

    The Advanced Sortie Production Course is the first advanced course specifically focusing on the art and science of sortie production at the tactical level. The new course will take place at the Air Force’s Advanced Maintenance and Munitions Operations School at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada.

  • Tech Report: Air Force Research Lab

    The Air Force Research Laboratory discovers, develops, and integrates affordable warfighting technologies for the Air Force in air, space and cyberspace. In this Air Force Tech Report, learn about the science and technology of AFRL.

  • AETC’s 75th Anniversary and the birth of a professional Air Force

    On Jan. 23, 2017, Air Education and Training Command celebrated its 75th anniversary — a date much more important in our nation’s heritage than a simple mark in time. Jan. 23, 1942, proved to be the birth of a professional Air Force – men and women precisely selected and trained to fly, fight and

  • Travis environmental restoration program is certified, sustainable

    Saving money, reducing greenhouse gas emissions and implementing green and sustainable remediation (GSR) to clean up contaminated groundwater sites recently earned Travis Air Force Base the honor of becoming the first Defense Department installation to receive greener cleanup certification by ASTM

  • Utility of genetics clinical study seeks volunteers across AF

    In partnership with the Coriell Personalized Medicine Collaborative, recruitment has begun for Phase II of the Air Force Medical Service Personalized Medicine Clinical Utility Study. The aim of the study is to evaluate the utility of genetics and genomics in clinical care.

  • AF introduces new Energy Flight Plan

    The Air Force introduced a new Energy Flight Plan, signed by Miranda Ballentine, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment and energy, on Jan. 6.

  • AF agency helps ‘bring life’ to mission innovation

    The Air Force Installation Contracting Agency’s Business Intelligence Competency Cell promotes logical research when it comes to operational acquisition. It may seem simplistic when taken at surface value, but what the BICC is doing within the Air Force is ‘bringing life’ to mission innovation. As a

  • Embracing opportunity: Additive technology used for manufacturing

    It’s a materials scientist’s dream, but as some experts say, an engineer’s nightmare. For scientists and engineers at the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate, additive manufacturing, also known as 3-D printing, can be a powerful tool for rapid innovation.

  • SecAF highlights progress at AFA breakfast

    Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James addressed the Air Force Association’s Air Force Breakfast Series Jan. 6, at the Key Bridge Marriot in Arlington, Virginia.

  • JB Charleston test new equipment, saves AF millions

    An operational evaluation of new synthetic tie downs and winch cables for the C-17 Globemaster III took place here in November 2016. Tie downs are ropes, cords, straps or chains that secure items during airlift operations; winch cables help adjust the tension on tie downs, securing the load.

  • Airman finds potential through EPR

    Enlisted performance reports have the power to affect an Airman’s career. For one Airman, an EPR had the power to change how he saw his life. Staff Sgt. Preston Moten, a 20th Equipment Maintenance Squadron aerospace ground equipment schedule and training monitor, said the rating from his first EPR

  • FY 17 NDAA impact on Airmen

    The approval of the National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA) for Fiscal Year 2017 provides a number of changes for Airmen, retirees, and families, to include stabilizing readiness and end strength, improving pilot retention, modernizing compensation and benefits and enhancing transparency in the

  • BLUE: Generation STEM

    Air Force TV has released the latest episode of the Air Force's flagship television program, BLUE. Maintaining a technological edge in defense requires snagging the best and brightest minds for research and development. In this episode, we introduce you to some of the innovative minds working to

  • ACC hosts chaplain leadership symposium

    Senior religious support teams from around the world met at Joint Base Langley-Eustis in early December for the Air Combat Command Chaplain Corps Leadership Development Symposium.

  • The evolution of the combat RPA

    In the 1980s, the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency added modern-day technology to the decades old idea of using remotely piloted aircraft for reconnaissance purposes. As a result the Air Force immediately purchased a long-endurance RPA called the GNAT 750, resulting in the creation,

  • Life after loss: One Air Force family’s journey to recovery

    In March 2016, Lt. Col. Melchizedek “Kato” Martinez, a career tactical communications officer, was welcomed home from another combat deployment, a constant in the Martinez family. His wife, Gail, along with their four children, had planned a family retreat to their second home, the one place that,

  • AF selects 58 for test pilot school

    Air Force officials have selected 58 primary and alternate students for the U.S. Air Force and U.S. Naval Test Pilot schools, with classes beginning June 2017.

  • Air Force Agreement Allows Ionospheric Research to Continue

    Because of a recent Cooperative Research and Development Agreement between the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Space Vehicles Directorate and the University of Alaska Fairbanks (UAF), more than twenty-five years of science and atmospheric research will continue at the High Frequency Active Auroral

  • AF partners with OSU for stress evaluation, recovery methods

    The Air Force Research Laboratory, 711th Human Performance Wing, has signed a cooperative research and development agreement with the Ohio State University. Special operations units in the Defense Department are physically and mentally elite due to the training they endure. Since special operations

  • Final phase of C-17 drag reduction testing underway

    When it comes to aviation fuel, the C-17 Globemaster III utilization rate makes it stand out as the largest consumer in the Air Force. This is why a team at the 418th Flight Test Squadron has been working for the past year on the Air Force Research Laboratory’s C-17 Drag Reduction Program.

  • New program to help ISR aircrews cope with different kind of PTSD

    Finding targets by watching and listening is, by nature, intensely personal and can have a long-lasting effect, to include post-traumatic stress disorder, on intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance Airmen involved. The 361st ISR Group is developing a ‘Re-Fit’ program which will assist Airmen

  • AF supports improved method for transporting TBI patients

    Scientists with the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine are playing an important part in the testing and evaluation of a novel aeromedical evacuation stretcher designed to safely transport traumatic brain and spinal injury patients in air and ground vehicles.

  • Unique rehab center gets injured Airmen back on duty

    Not long after receiving innovative care for serious combat-related injuries, 2nd Lt. Marc Esposito gave his future wife a tour of the unique rehabilitation center that helped the Air Force special operator get back to jumping out of planes. The state-of-the-art setting cast with advanced technology

  • Looking to a cloud to share data faster

    The Kill Chain Integration Branch at Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, has begun an experimentation campaign to look at ways to provide warfighters data in the fastest and most efficient ways possible.

  • AFRL program turns junior workforce into rapid innovators

    Junior force personnel within the Air Force Research Laboratory’s Materials and Manufacturing Directorate are making the most of their opportunity to showcase innovation and leadership skills through the Junior Force Warfighters Operations in RX, or JFWORX, program.

  • Licking their wounds: Trained dogs assist, comfort wounded Airmen

    Constant back pain from an injury suffered years ago in combat still troubles Staff Sgt. Ryan Garrison. It wakes him up at night when his medication wears off. It triggers his depression and anxiety, leading to angry outbursts. Several prescriptions and mental health visits didn’t effectively assist

  • STRATCOM welcomes Hyten as new commander

    Gen. John E. Hyten took command of U.S. Strategic Command from Navy Adm. Cecil D. Haney during a change of command ceremony at Offutt Air Force Base, Nebraska, Nov. 3.

  • AMC commander: Airmen, partnerships, technology key to mobility’s future

    The Air Mobility Command commander showcased the impact of mobility Airmen on current global operations while highlighting ways in which partnership and technology will shape the future, in a presentation during the 48th annual AMC and Airlift/Tanker Association Symposium here, Oct. 29.In a nod to

  • Health Profession Education Program candidates selected for 2017

    Air Force officials have selected more than 200 officers for the Air Force Medical Service Health Profession Education Program.Development team boards held this summer for the Biomedical Sciences Corps, Medical Service Corps and Nurse Corps selected 216 officers from 20 career fields for the

  • Air Force’s first robotic surgery training course established at Keesler

    The Keesler Medical Center recently acquired two da Vinci Xi robotic surgical systems, one for surgeries and the other for training, which is one of the newest systems out there and the first of its kind for the Air Force. Also, Keesler’s Clinical Research Laboratory has set up a training facility,

  • AFRL system revolutionizes research process

    The Autonomous Research System (ARES) may not look like “Johnny Five,” the famous robot from the 1986 movie “Short Circuit,” but this robot’s ability to integrate robotics, artificial intelligence (AI) and data science is altering materials research in a big way at Air Force Research Laboratory.

  • DARPA transfers advanced space debris Telescope to AF

    The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency has worked with the Air Force to develop an advanced telescope that already is revolutionizing space situational awareness and helping prevent potential collisions with satellites or planet Earth.

  • Guardsmen, ski-equipped planes begin annual migration to South Pole

    Airmen and ski-equipped aircraft from the New York Air National Guard's 109th Airlift Wing have started their annual journey to Antarctica. Two ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules and 23 Airmen left Stratton Air National Guard Base Oct. 18 to participate in the wing's 29th season supporting Operation Deep

  • Hanscom looks to leverage industry to improve air picture

    A program office at Hanscom Air Force Base is working to improve and upgrade a system that provides comprehensive air surveillance and defense with a recent request for information and industry days.The Battle Control Systems Fixed, or BCS-F, provides a comprehensive air picture for North America

  • Exceptional Family Member Program provides support to Airmen, families

    Military families are often asked to leave their homes, schools and friends to go where they are needed. The combination of goodbyes and making moving arrangements, it can be a very stressful time.Recently, a family of three was asked to do just that. In the middle of an already complicated process

  • James named honorary Tuskegee Airman

    Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James was named an honorary Tuskegee Airman and was presented the Tuskegee Airman red jacket during the Air Force Memorial’s 10th anniversary ceremony in Arlington, Va., Oct. 14.

  • Around the Air Force: Oct. 14

    On this look around the Air Force the Air Force Research Laboratory has developed a new flexible lithium-ion battery, Airmen bring humanitarian aid to Hurricane Matthew victims in Haiti and the Air Force is looking to develop new anti-icing technology.

  • New test force focuses on autonomy

    The 412th Test Wing has a new organization that will explore the Air Force warfighting capabilities of tomorrow.The Emerging Technologies Combined Test Force was officially activated in early July and its mission is to provide agile, innovative flight test capabilities for emerging

  • Flexible batteries: Evolving energy for the ‘new’ reality

    By using highly conductive, flexible carbon nanotube mats, scientists at the Air Force Research Laboratory have developed a new type of flexible lithium-ion battery that not only stores energy, but can be folded, bent and manipulated hundreds of times without voltage fluctuations, revolutionizing

  • Break the cycle of bullying

    Bullying is not just a part of life that stops in the schoolyard; it can have consequences that stretch into adulthood and impact people for the rest of their lives.

  • New office looks to shape future force

    The Air Force of the future is taking greater focus as the new Air Force Strategic Development Planning and Execution Office is actively pursuing its mission and the experimentation campaigns that it has been chartered to execute. The office will be responsible for supporting Air Force development

  • AMC consolidates with MAC

    The secretary of the Air Force announced recently that Headquarters Air Mobility Command will consolidate with Headquarters Military Airlift Command, effective Oct. 1, 2016. With this, AMC will add 51 years to its history, tracing its lineage back to May 29, 1941 and the Air Corps Ferry Command.

  • A timeless task

    In the dark confines of a deployable van, a Defense Department unit at Beale Air Force Base, California, provides the production, exploitation and dissemination of U-2 aerial film. To some, the operation could be considered a relic of the Cold War, but to the Airmen of the 9th Intelligence

  • Competitive career opportunities exist via officer crossflow program

    One of today’s opportunities for officers to broaden career options comes from the nonrated line officer crossflow program, which currently has openings for officers on active duty in certain career fields to volunteer for retraining into undermanned career fields.

  • Performance wing team researches human-machine trust

    A research team in the 711th Human Performance Wing’s Airman Systems Directorate at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, focuses on how humans make reliance decisions with technology or, in other words, how humans develop, maintain and lose trust.

  • 4-star returns to 1st assignment for WiSE keynote address

    The Air Force’s third-ever female four-star general returned to her first assignment to deliver keynote remarks at the Air Force Technical Applications Center’s (AFTAC) Women in Science and Engineering Symposium (WiSE) Sept. 7.Gen. Ellen M. Pawlikowski, commander of Air Force Materiel Command,

  • Meston 2, Cancer 0

    In the summer of 2014 Staff Sgt. Ryan Meston, space system operator with the 4th Space Control Squadron at Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado, went through surgery, chemotherapy and radiation for testicular cancer. He was in remission and things were looking good.During a follow up visit in early

  • Civil Air Patrol honored for 75 years of service

    The Civil Air Patrol received the Air Force Organizational Excellence Award during the Air Force Association Air, Space and Cyber Conference in National Harbor, Maryland, Sept. 20 in honor of their 75th anniversary.

  • Getting to know the 12 OAY

    In August, Air Force officials selected the service's top enlisted members, naming the 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2016.

  • Senior Pentagon leaders visit AFTAC’s community school

    Senior officials from the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force Manpower and Reserve Affairs toured Endeavour Elementary School in Cocoa, Florida, during their visit to the Air Force Technical Applications Center Sept. 7 for the center’s annual Women in Science and Engineering

  • AFRL discovering what’s “bugging” military aircraft

    As any aircraft maintainer can attest, corrosion is a major factor affecting the overall health of military aircraft. Anything from changing temperatures to environmental factors can precipitate corrosion. One major contributor, however, is often overlooked -- microbes.

  • WWII female pilot honored among brothers, sisters

    More than 70 years later, as the last of “the greatest generation” dwindles and the WASPs’ male counterparts are laid to rest in Arlington National Cemetery with befitting honors, a WASP is at last also being honored for her service. During a military funeral service Sept. 7, Elaine Danforth

  • Lost, found, repatriated

    In early May 2016, Andy Fuller, a groundsman from Royal Air Force Honington, England, swept his metal detector over the soil of what used to be known as RAF Knettishall. Once designated as U.S. Army Air Force Station 136, the base was home to the B-17 Flying Fortress, an aircraft utilized for

  • AF lab investigating microscopic crack formations, metal fatigue

    The B-52 Stratofortress is one of the oldest legacy aircraft in the Air Force. Since the 1950s, the B-52 has led the force in its dominance as the world’s best; however, just as humans begin to age, so do aircraft. Repeated loading and unloading, changes in air pressure, exposure to altitude and

  • Influenza vaccine update for Airmen, families

    This year's influenza vaccine will be different for service members due to a recommendation from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention to not use the live attenuated influenza vaccine, commonly known as FluMist.

  • Fueling the future: AF works to ‘home-grow’ biofuels for DOD, industry

    A need to address increases in petroleum costs with an environmentally friendly fuel source has led to a new way of looking at production—and the Defense Production Act Title III Program Office, part of the Air Force Research Laboratory, is playing a critical role in commercializing this technology.

  • Former AFMC commander talks innovation, third offset

    Innovation and the nation’s third offset strategy were topics brought forth by retired Gen. Gregory S. Martin, a former commander of Air Force Materiel Command, as he spoke with service members at Edwards Air Force Base, California, Aug. 24.

  • Open architecture bringing benefits to Air Force DCGS

    A battle management team is working to improve capabilities for warfighters who process and disseminate intelligence information. The Air Force Distributed Common Ground System is the Air Force’s key system for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance information. There are dozens of DCGS sites

  • Research analysts develop F-22 efficiency tool

    Operations research analysts assigned to the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center’s operations research team at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, were recently recognized by the Military Operations Research Society for developing the F-22 master plan scheduling tool, which is credited with

  • Windows 10 to deploy across AF

    The Air Force is slated to upgrade to Windows 10 during the next couple years to improve the Air Force’s cybersecurity posture, lower the cost of information technology and streamline the IT operating environment.

  • STEM scholarships available to college students

    Eric Wineman completed both his undergraduate and master’s degrees with no student loan debt and now works for the Air Force as an electronics engineer, courtesy of the Science, Mathematics and Research for Transformation Scholarship for Service Program.

  • Moody Airman's innovation 'triggers' AF-level change

    One innovative Airman at Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, used attention to detail paired with problem solving skills to remove unnecessary and costly stages of maintenance that will save the Air Force money, resources and manpower.

  • An AF first for aircraft research, development

    For the first time the Air Force has a means to conduct airworthiness assessments on non-Defense Department military type aircraft. This process enables the Air Force to gain a much deeper understanding of the state of civil aviation, while providing industry with an expert, independent evaluation

  • Archaeologists discover proof of wetlands, ancient life on Utah range

    A team of archaeologists recently working on the Utah Test and Training Range under the direction of the Hill Air Force Base Cultural Resource Program discovered a 12,300-year-old hearth -- an archaeological "feature" -- and artifacts, which tell the story of North America's earliest inhabitants and

  • New AF violence prevention specialists training begins

    Representatives from the major commands and more than 30 Air Force installations attended training at Dobbins Air Reserve Base July 18-29 to become violence prevention specialists. The Specialists for the Primary Prevention of Violence is being set up as a new helping agency for Airmen and their

  • Leader training on Blended Retirement System available via mobile app

    The online Blended Retirement System leader course, released in June, is designed to educate leaders on the new retirement system. The training provides both military and civilian leaders of Airmen with a working knowledge of the BRS and the Defense Department plan to educate the force prior to

  • Fighting terror with diversity

    In the 711th Human Performance Wing and across the Air Force, Airmen are encouraged to bring everything they have to the fight. Capt. Patrick Mudimbi, an environmental health consultant for the U.S. Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine, has some unique weapons in his arsenal -- he’s from the

  • Professional bad guys: Space aggressors prepare Airmen for the enemy

    Walking out to an F-16 Fighting Falcon, Staff Sgt. Erick Vega is told upon landing that the pilot experienced loss of GPS. An hour passes before Vega, an avionics specialist from Aviano Air Base, Italy, determines that adversaries have degraded the system through an attack on space assets.

  • AF begins study on noise exposures

    An Air Force Surgeon General initiative called Total Exposure Health will soon advance from a concept to a real-world demonstration at an operational base. Total Exposure Health focuses on primary prevention, which includes exposures in the workplace, the environment and lifestyles, in order to

  • Research, technology aid effort to help TBI patients

    Since the Vietnam War, doctors have seen an increase in service members returning from combat with traumatic brain injuries from blasts. At the National Intrepid Center of Excellence (NICoE), a directorate of Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland, doctors and therapists

  • Teens learn to BOUNCE back in first AF teen resiliency course

    Twenty-four teenagers participated in the Air Force's first resiliency teen camp, named BOUNCE, from July 11-15 at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina. BOUNCE, which stands for Be optimistic, Observe thoughts, Use strengths, Never give up, Communicate effectively and Embrace you, is a weeklong

  • Scott air ops center’s routing initiative could save millions

    Miranda Balentine, assistant secretary of the Air Force for installations, environment and energy, is excited about Airman-powered innovation and believes one significant way forward in reducing the service’s aviation energy demands is through the ingenuity of Airmen.

  • National Intrepid Center zeroes in on traumatic brain injury

    Defense Medical Surveillance System and Theater Medical Data figures show that more than 339,000 service members have been diagnosed with traumatic brain injury since 2000. For service members on their roads to recovery, the National Intrepid Center of Excellence in Bethesda, Maryland, stands ready

  • Around the Air Force: July 12

    In this look around the Air Force, eight new bases are nominated as possible battlefield Airmen training bases, a new undershirt helps keep Airmen cool, and a U.S. Air Force Academy graduate makes the Olympic team.