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  • Air Force receives newest Global Hawk

    The seventh Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle touched down here Feb. 14 after its flight from Air Force Plant 42 in nearby Palmdale, Calif., where it was built by lead government contractor Northrop Grumman.This latest Global Hawk is the program's final advanced concept technology platform and is

  • Future threats envisioned during technology game

    Warfighters, leading scientists and engineers from across the United States met Feb.11 to 13 in McLean, Va., to contemplate what the battlefield will be like in 25 years.The futurists gathered to take part in the Air Force Technology Seminar Game II, sponsored by the Air Force Research Laboratory

  • Unit commanders get more control of leave program

    A recent policy change returns the authority to unit commanders to approve permissive temporary duty and terminal leave of more than 90 days.The Air Force's current instruction on military leave requires members wanting a combination of permissive TDY and terminal leave of more than 90 days to seek

  • Air bases in Germany getting change of guard

    German troops will start providing some security at three Air Force bases in Germany this month to help ease the workload on security forces there.An historic memorandum of understanding signed Feb. 13 by U.S. and German military officials cleared the way for the unprecedented assistance, said Maj.

  • Family donates historic revolver to museum

    A .38-caliber Smith and Wesson service revolver used by a World War II hero to shoot down a German attack plane will soon be on display at the Air Force Museum at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.The family of retired Air Force Tech. Sgt. Paul Posti Sr., who died in December at age 89, donated

  • Transition help vital, chief tells Congress

    For airmen who plan to hang up their uniforms and say goodbye to the military, whether after four years or a career, the future can be filled with uncertainty.A changing economy coupled with a competitive job market makes the idea of finding a good job a bit scary, Chief Master Sgt. Elizabeth S.

  • AFIT stands up systems engineering center

    Air Force Institute of Technology officials have established a center for systems engineering.The center will help focus efforts to revitalize systems engineering within the Air Force."Many of our current system-acquisition programs are suffering from a lack of attention to or inconsistent

  • Pentagon monitoring deployment health care

    Defense Department officials have changed the way they will track and assess the health care given military people before, during and after deployments, a senior Pentagon health official said Feb. 11.DOD's new strategy emphasizes health care surveillance of deployed people, said Dr. Michael

  • Teets: Space access vital to warfighting efforts

    America needs to redouble its efforts to make sure the nation has a vigorous and successful national security space program, the Defense Department's executive agent for space said.According to Peter B. Teets, undersecretary of the Air Force and director of the National Reconnaissance Office, access

  • Air Force identifies new race categories

    Airmen are now able to identify more than one race in their official personnel files because of a change in how the Air Force records racial information.Some race designations will automatically change to fit the new categories as part of the data conversion. The new categories are part of a

  • AF, Navy weather shops join forces

    The 40th Expeditionary Operational Support Squadron combat weather team completed its merger with the Naval Central Meteorology and Oceanography Detachment recently.At the beginning of the Air and Space Expeditionary Force 7/8 rotation, officers in charge of the Air Force and Navy weather shops

  • Priest tackles life at Tinker

    He is new at cooking, new at cleaning and relatively new at English, but the new chaplain here still counts his blessings.In his Midwest City apartment, the Chaplain (Capt.) Gildardo Garcia could not be happier."Here, I live like a king," he said.Hundreds of miles from his family in Colombia, Garcia

  • C-17 test team conducts airdrop tests

    An Air Force test team set out from here Feb. 2 on a C-17 Globemaster III to conduct egress and airdrop tests with help from soldiers at Fort Bragg, N.C.Each of the tests supports a combat mission needs statement from Air Mobility Command. The egress testing will evaluate the emergency procedures

  • Starbase teaches children how to fly

    On her 11th birthday, Catherine Newcome gripped the yoke of a Cessna airplane and learned a lot about flying. She crashed the first time she tried to land, but quickly regained her composure, paid attention to her coach from the West Virginia Air National Guard, and took off and landed safely on

  • Air National Guard supports shuttle efforts

    Air National Guard airmen joined the grim and painstaking search for debris from Space Shuttle Columbia soon after it disintegrated over Texas.Two F-15 Eagles from the Louisiana Air Guard's 159th Fighter Wing began an aerial search for wreckage over the vast region of eastern Texas and southwestern

  • Captain nearly loses identity

    The mysterious $644 debit could easily have gone unnoticed last November. The identity thieves preferred it that way. But, Capt. Greg Wood, 90th Space Wing executive officer, noticed the out-of-place debit and quickly investigated its appearance."I asked my wife if she got me something extra

  • First sergeant changes benefit entire AF

    Air Force officials are touting recent changes made to first sergeant assignments and hope that more senior noncommissioned officers take advantage of what some are calling "the best job I've ever had in the Air Force."The Air Force converted the career field into a special-duty assignment in

  • Eglin engineers test bombs with brains

    Determining if warheads can penetrate underground targets and detonate after counting floor levels or measuring depth was the focus of recent sled testing on a Hard Target Smart Fuze here.HTSF engineering team members placed the fuze in an inert warhead on a 2,000-foot test track and sent it through

  • Four defenders work like dogs

    Working like a dog. This simile relates to someone who works tirelessly throughout a busy day. For four exclusive members at the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing, "working like a dog" is more than a simile. It is their daily life.Arkie, Tasja, Athos and Dutchy are part of the military working dog

  • Secretary, chief send Columbia message

    The following is a joint message from Secretary of the Air Force Dr. James G. Roche and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper:"On Saturday, 1 February 2003, our nation and the world lost seven courageous, talented individuals when the Space Shuttle Columbia Orbiter (STS-107) experienced

  • Runway's end home for 'Warthog' launchers

    The end of the runway is one of the worst places to work at windswept Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan, which is located at the foot of the Hindu Kush mountains.It is cold and wind gusts kick up clouds of choking dust, said Staff Sgt. Chris Bolt. But the weapons loader spends 12 hours a day, seven days

  • DOD supporting shuttle search effort

    The Department of Defense assets currently involved in search, security and transportation operations related to the loss of Space Shuttle Columbia include:-- Air Force: C-141 aircraft from McGuire Air Force Base, N.J., will be used to transport NASA's rapid response team from Kennedy Space Center,

  • Happy New Year!

    South Korean air force's 38th Tactical Fighter Group commander, Col. Kwong O Sung, and Col. Timothy Byers, 8th Support Group commander, present offerings to their ancestors as part of the Korean Lunar New Year celebration here. Offerings often include fruits and liquors. The Koreans assigned here

  • February's Citizen Airman magazine now available

    At Moody Air Force Base, Ga., airmen of the 39th Flying Training Squadron are using their civilian corporate knowledge to help teach fighter fundamentals to new Air Force pilots. Read about the direct impact these reservists have on the future of the Air Force as well as the nation's security in

  • Postal service unveiling stamp at museum

    U.S. Postal Service officials announced Jan. 24 that the U.S. Air Force Museum here will be the venue for a ceremonial first-day issue of the 100th Anniversary of Powered Flight Commemorative Stamp.Dayton Postmaster David Ashworth revealed the museum as the location for a May 22 unveiling ceremony

  • Foam dome

    A new fire suppression system is tested in the main hangar belonging to the 174th Fighter Wing here. The wing, part of the New York Air National Guard, flies F-16 Fighting Falcons. (Photo by Senior Airman Michael Dickson)

  • 'Emergency data cards' move to Web

    More than a week before its planned launch, the new Web-based 'emergency data card' helped more than 1,000 airmen in Alaska mobilize for a real world deployment.Scheduled to kick off Jan. 27, the program began early to help airmen deploy from Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska, Air Force Personnel

  • Bagram duty has its hazards

    Talk of the Tampa Bay Buccaneers' win in the Super Bowl stopped abruptly Jan. 27 when a work crew uncovered an unexploded bomb at Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan.A team working in an area behind the base's control tower unearthed an unexploded Russian-made anti-personnel bomblet. The Air Force

  • Rhein-Main maintains air bridge to Afghanistan

    Airman 1st Class Nate Hill had one thing in mind: getting his C-17 Globemaster III cargo plane airborne so it could get on with its mission.That is "Job 1" at this once-again busy airlift base outside Frankfurt, and if to do that means standing in a steady, cold drizzle most of the day, so be it,

  • Force modules give commanders 'playbook'

    The Air Force is developing a "playbook" that will allow combatant commanders to better manage their air assets, particularly in the area of opening and establishing forward bases.According to Maj. Gen. Timothy A. Peppe, special assistant for air and space expeditionary forces at the Pentagon, the

  • Artists document Air Force history with art

    First-time visitors to the Pentagon might expect to see star-studded generals and high-tech "war rooms." What they might not expect is that the walls of this 60-year-old building not only frame its famous catacomb hallways, but also double as an art gallery.The Air Force Art Program is responsible

  • B-52 sees biggest improvement in 15 years

    After three years of planning, Air Force flight test experts here introduced a new offensive avionics system for the B-52 Stratofortress.Flight testing of the B-52 Avionics Midlife Improvement, known as AMI, began in mid-December and is scheduled to continue through March 2004, with 80 sorties

  • Center training civilian journalists

    Air Mobility Warfare Center instructors here began training 60 journalists Jan. 20 during Joint Service Media Orientation and Training.The course, also known as "media boot camp," is a Department of Defense initiative that puts journalists through a weeklong, hands-on block of classes and field

  • FEGLI has new premiums, other changes

    Some Air Force civilian employees and retirees will see a change in the cost of their Federal Employees Group Life Insurance premiums. They may find themselves placed into a new age group.A recent review of the Federal Employees Group Life Insurance premiums by office of personnel management

  • Lights of Dover

    Dennis Major inspects new lights on the taxiway here. Dover is one of two Air Force installations using new diode lights that use less electricity than older models and are brighter. By design, an aircraft can hit a light and the tube will snap off the base, but the lighting unit itself will not

  • New simulator provides medical training

    Thirty-three students from the Air Force School of Aerospace Medicine here recently simulated caring for sick and injured patients aboard a Boeing 767 without ever leaving the ground.In an effort to provide realistic hands-on training, school officials recently acquired a full-size 767 fuselage that

  • Air commandos perform mission of mercy

    Quick actions of three airmen helped save a Japanese woman's life following an auto accident outside the base gate here Jan. 15.While returning to Kadena from another military installation about 4 p.m., three members of the 353rd Special Operations Group were stopped at a traffic light about a mile

  • AF cancels B-1 defensive upgrade

    Air Force officials recently announced that the service was canceling the B-1B Lancer's Defensive System Upgrade Program because of cost overruns and schedule slips, but remains committed to improving the aircraft's combat capability.The DSUP was intended to replace the B-1's current defensive suite

  • Idea earns sergeant $10,000

    A noncommissioned officer here recently earned $10,000 from the Air Force's Innovative Development through Employee Awareness program. He received the money for writing an inspection and maintenance manual for the Department of Defense and the Air Force concerning metal shipping containers.Tech.

  • New short-term enlistments coming

    A new military short-term enlistment program will begin Oct. 1 aimed at expanding the opportunities for all Americans to serve the country.Congress authorized the National Call to Service enlistment option as part of the fiscal 2003 National Defense Authorization Act.The program allows the military

  • Pilot follows in father's footsteps

    The weather on Jan. 10, 1973, was overcast as Navy Lt. Michael McCormick, an A-6 Intruder pilot, and Lt. j.g. Robert Clark, a bombardier navigator, stepped out to their plane and prepared for a mission over North Vietnam. It would be their last one - forever.It was the last mission Attack Squadron

  • Air Force moves to institutionalize enterprise architecture

    Leaders of the Air Force's information technology, warfighting integration and operations communities took a major step recently to further the service's transformation efforts by creating the Air Force enterprise architecture council structure.Enterprise architecture is a formal process designed to

  • Savings bond holding period increases

    Department of Treasury officials have announced that the minimum holding period for Series EE and I bonds increases from six to 12 months beginning Feb. 1.This means people who purchase EE or I bonds on or after Feb. 1 must wait one year before they may redeem those bonds.People who purchase bonds

  • Edwards gets F-16s from 'bone yard'

    Two F-16 Fighting Falcons joined the test operations facility here recently to help support flight test programs. The aircraft are the first of nine F-16s making their way to Edwards this year.The aircraft arrived from the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Center at Davis-Monthan Air Force

  • Leaders announce new core competencies

    The Air Force's senior leaders debuted the service's new approach to describing its core competencies this week.Secretary of the Air Force Dr. James G. Roche and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper made this announcement in two separate messages to all airmen. Roche released his first "The

  • ACC begins F/A-22 operations

    Air Combat Command entered a new era Jan. 14 as America's newest fighter-attack aircraft touched down here.Raptor 00-012, the first F/A-22 to be delivered directly to the command, was flown from Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., to Nellis by Lt. Col. David Rose, chief of Nellis' F/A-22 integration

  • Dyess aircrews poised for bomb runs over Iraq

    While the United States prepares for a possible war with Iraq, aircrews at this B-1B Lancer base have not changed their training routine.The airmen are not yet part of the huge U.S. military buildup that has taken thousands of troops to bases in the Middle East, but they know they will play a key

  • Air Force risks air dominance without F/A-22

    Without the F/A-22 Raptor, the Air Force could face losing its lead in fighter aviation to other nations, said Maj. Gen. John D. W. Corley, director of Air Force Global Power Programs at the Pentagon."We need this aircraft," Corley said. "It's the only new U.S. aircraft that will be able to put

  • Officials say draft not necessary

    The all-volunteer force took nearly a generation to come to fruition, but has since proved its worth in combat.Thirty years after then-Defense Secretary Melvin R. Laird established the all- volunteer force, some politicians are again calling for resumption of a military draft. Defense leaders are

  • Air Force Museum displaying aviation art

    More than 250 original paintings by aviation artists will be featured when the Air Force Museum here offers "A Centennial Celebration of Aviation Art" for a limited engagement during 2003.To commemorate the Centennial of Flight, this art collection epitomizes the aviation history and recalls a

  • Comedian donates $1m for welcome center

    Bob and Dolores Hope have donated $1 million to the Air Force Enlisted Foundation to build a facility here to honor retired Col. Robert W. Gates, a pilot on many of the comedian's United Services Organization jaunts across the globe.The 6,500 square foot welcome center will be built next to the

  • Mounted security forces patrol Little Rock

    Base security got a boost recently with the addition of three horses to form the 314th Security Forces Squadron mounted patrol.The horse patrol covers a designated area of Little Rock Air Force Base every day and focuses on remote areas of the perimeter, wooded areas behind housing and hunting areas

  • Keeping mail flowing while deployed

    On a daily basis, the morale of people deployed to the 320th Air Expeditionary Wing weighs on the minds of the base postal flight, and they want nothing more than to deliver."We're big-time morale boosters," said Airman 1st Class Jonathan Morgan, an information manager by trade. "That's our main

  • Operation Gray Eagle unites military people with retirees

    Veterans and new recruits seldom move in the same circles. But that has changed here.The base has started a trial program, Operation Gray Eagle, which unites veterans living in the Denver area with students in the base's airmen leadership school for a session that seeks to pass experience and

  • Air Force transforms, merges property operations

    The Air Force recently created a new agency to handle all of its real estate transactions.The Air Force Real Property Agency resulted from the merging of two agencies: the Air Force Base Conversion Agency and the Air Force Real Estate division. The move, said the director of the AFRPA, is expected

  • Congress funds more than $2 billion in construction projects

    Congress approved more than $2 billion to fund Air Force construction projects over the next year.The fiscal 2003 National Defense Authorization Act includes $1.3 billion in funding for Air Force military construction, including dormitories, fitness centers, force protection projects and operational

  • Building a boomtown

    Tech. Sgt. John Deyo guides a panel through a machine being used to construct a new transportation building at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar. Devo is a structural craftsman with the 819th/219th Expeditionary Red Horse Squadron. Squadron people are working 12-hours a day, six days a week to build

  • Booklet offers help for identity theft

    A Federal Trade Commission booklet offers guidance for people who have fallen victim to a fast-growing crime: identity theft.Defense Department officials believe that it is possible that some Tricare beneficiaries could be subject to identity thievery because of the Dec. 14 theft of office

  • New Year's flight

    While his wingman flies formation, a Marine AV-8B Harrier takes on fuel from a KC-10 Extender over Afghanistan, Jan. 1. The KC-10 and its crew are currently assigned to the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing at Al Udeid, Qatar. (Photo by Capt. Don Langley)

  • Prototype saves fuel, money, environment

    It is economical, environmentally friendly, and definitely fuel-efficient. And so far, only the 149th Fighter Wing of the Texas Air National Guard is using it.It is the PH1000EL Self-Contained Fuel Transfer Unit, better known as the "fuel buggy." Members of the 149th Maintenance Squadron are using

  • Directorate cleans up with new water-based solution

    Maintainers here recently replaced their chemical-based cleaning solvent with a water-based product that is proving safer for workers. The new solvent will also saves thousands of dollars each year in environmental disposal and compliance costs, said officials.The water-based cleaning fluid,

  • Pets traveling to UK still require quarantine license

    Currently, cats and dogs coming into the United Kingdom from the United States must still be licensed into quarantine, according to British Department for Environment, Food and Rural Affairs officials.The U.K. government extended the Pet Travel Scheme to the United States as of Dec. 11. This

  • Now showing: Dec. 23 edition of Air Force Television News

    The Dec. 23 edition of Air Force Television News is the first of four special productions of the program to be seen in December, January and February. This first of the four is the annual "Year in Review" edition, and is dedicated to the men and women of the Air Force and the job they do both on

  • Tricare computers, files stolen

    Officials from the Tricare Management Activity announced Dec. 23 that computer equipment and files were stolen Dec. 14 from its Tricare Central Region health contractor, TriWest Healthcare Alliance Corp. in Phoenix.TriWest contracts with the military health system to provide health services to

  • This is a test

    The first Air Force C-5 Galaxy featuring new avionics upgrades takes off from here on its maiden flight Dec. 21. The upgrades include flight displays, a navigation system, and installation of the Terrain Awareness and Warning System and the Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System. The

  • Air Force leaders send holiday message

    The following is a holiday message from Gen. John P. Jumper, Air Force chief of staff, and Dr. James. G. Roche, secretary of the Air Force:"In this season of thanksgiving and reverent celebration, we send our warmest wishes to our entire Air Force team of active, Guard, Reserve, civilian and retired

  • Air Force's top chief sends holiday message

    The following is a holiday message from Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Gerald R. Murray:"To the Air Force men and women protecting our nation at home and abroad: My wife, Sherry, and I want to wish each of you the joy and peace of the season."The demands of the past year have been great, and

  • Elmendorf, Yokota teams secure pummeled base

    Despite the devastation of Typhoon Pongsona, which pummeled the island of Guam Dec. 8, force protection remained a priority here as base officials called for help.Answering that call were teams of security forces members from Yokota Air Base, Japan, and Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska."We heard

  • Watch for signs of holiday blues

    Television portrays the holidays as a time filled with love and sharing. But the holidays aren't picture-perfect for everyone.People all over the world seem to go through holiday depression, now known as the holiday blues, said Capt. Pamela Novy, commander of the 5th Medical Group's behavioral

  • Centennial of Flight kicks off year of festivities

    A yearlong recognition of aviation began here Dec. 17 with the U.S. Centennial of Flight Commission's national kickoff.Among those in attendance were a retired member of the Tuskegee Airmen and a former Air Force pilot who flew with the Flying Tigers during World War II.Wilbur and Orville Wright

  • New system speeds up overseas check cashing

    Many of the Air Force's overseas cashier cages will soon use a new paperless check cashing system.The Military Paper Check Conversion system, developed by the U.S. Treasury, instantly converts paper checks presented to the cashier into an electronic image to be processed by the financial

  • New TRICARE mail order pharmacy to open March 1

    More than 400,000 military pharmacy mail order customers will be switched March 1 to a new TRICARE mail order pharmacy program, according to Army Col. William D. Davies of the TRICARE Management Activity.Services will continue under the National Mail Order Pharmacy contract until Feb. 28, he said.

  • Forces rotate for Operation Northern Watch

    More than 1,000 airmen are replacing Operation Northern Watch veterans as the Air and Space Expeditionary Force system performs its regular three-month rotation from late November through the first part of December.Based at Incirlik Air Base, Turkey, the new airmen join Turkish and British coalition

  • Air Force, FAA share data network

    A new $4.5 million data acquisition and transmission network implemented by the Air Force Flight Test Center here and the Federal Aviation Administration is up and running. The new network will improve test efficiency and accelerate the ability to get information to the warfighter.The East Data

  • F-16s restored after years in storage

    Pilots here will be flying training, photo-chase and test-support missions, and instructing pilots using brand new old F-16s Fighting Falcons -- four of them resurrected and regenerated from more than a decade of storage.The aircraft were originally part of a deal U.S. officials brokered with the

  • Group rescues man at sea

    A medical emergency at sea turned into a dramatic humanitarian mission for the 920th Rescue Group here Dec. 8. The emergency also provided the unit its first chance to use a new satellite-based tracking and communications system during a rescue.Crews from Air Force Reserve Command's 920th RQG was

  • Now showing: Dec. 9 edition of Air Force Television News

    The potential problem of recruiting members of the Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve because of lengthy mobilization and operations tempo is featured in the latest edition of Air Force Television News. Both Assistant Defense Secretary Thomas Hall and Deputy Defense Secretary Paul Wolfowitz

  • Assignment system upgrades in progress

    The nearly 30,000 officers and enlisted members who access the online Assignment Management System each day are experiencing technology's classic "good news, bad news" story.An upgrade will improve access speed and allow AMS to support the total force development concept, but until it is complete,

  • Alaskan squadron delivers Christmas

    The 517th Airlift Squadron here made its annual pilgrimage to a remote Alaskan village Dec. 3 with Christmas gifts and cheer.The 517th AS "Firebirds" have been making the trip to Arctic Village for more than 30 years.The tradition began in 1967 when the porcupine caribou herd - the villagers'

  • Students take giant steps using new technology

    Airman David Golas is a lot more confident working with the KC-10 Extender aircraft because he has observed, close up, the systems that make the aircraft work.With the education he received here at the 373rd Training Squadron's Detachment 1, he can trace electronic circuits, track fuel flow and

  • Next generation Web portal testing begins

    The next generation of the Air Force Portal will debut at Langley Air Force Base, Va., on Dec 6.Air Force people assigned to Air Combat Command headquarters and several other units at Langley will participate in the first command- and base-level test of the redesigned portal.Air Force Materiel

  • Airman shares Afghanistan experience

    Staff Sgt. Matt never expected to live in a mud hut in the middle of Afghanistan, but that is exactly what he did for nearly 140 daysMatt is a terminal attack controller with the 25th Air Support Operations Squadron at Wheeler Army Airfield, Hawaii. When he deployed to Afghanistan in support of

  • Contact center expands hours

    Airmen stationed overseas can now get real-time help with personnel issues without having to wake up at 3 a.m. thanks to the expanded hours of the contact center at the Air Force Personnel Center here.Beginning Dec. 2, the new hours, 5 a.m. to 11 p.m. CST, will give people overseas a chance to talk

  • U.K. pet quarantine no longer required

    Starting Dec. 11, military members bringing dogs and cats to the United Kingdom will no longer have to place their animals in a six-month quarantine period upon entering the country if they meet certain criteria.The Pet Travel Scheme, or PETS, is a new system created to help those who are moving to

  • Crews prove mettle as mother gives birth at home

    As the Anaheim Angels and San Francisco Giants battled during the third game of the World Series recently, an Eglin couple brought their own little angel into the world -- in the hallway of their on-base home.While Staff Sgt. Jim and Crystal Taylor were watching the game, Riley Dale, 8 pounds, 6

  • Airmen put a new roof over their heads

    Twenty-five "Project Orphanage" volunteers replaced a dilapidated ceramic tile roof with sheet metal recently on a covered outside play area for children at the Adana Orphanage here.The roof gives the 150 children at the orphanage a place to play during Turkey's upcoming rainy season and shade

  • Medics demonstrate new decon system

    Staff Sgt. Denise Brown (from left), Senior Airman Jennifer Miranda and Senior Airman Kari England, members of the 325th Medical Group here, wash down a manikin to demonstrate the new in-place patient decontamination capability. The system is designed to rapidly decontaminate victims in the

  • Public Health keeps airmen out of 'Danger Zone'

    Each week, Tech. Sgt. Marlon Muthuveeran puts the food service operation at the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing dining facility through a rigorous series of tests. He evaluates down to the minutest detail, everything from food storage temperatures to the concentration of the cleaning solution used to

  • Delta IV roars to successful first launch

    America's newest space launch vehicle got off to a rip-roaring start Nov. 20 with a lift-off that lit up the skies over Central Florida and beyond.The Delta IV blasted off at the top of the launch window at 5:39 p.m. EST. Approximately 37 minutes later, the satellite separated from the rocket and

  • That new car smell

    The 48th Fighter Wing here received the first two of 10 new F-15E Strike Eagles bought under contract from the Boeing Co. They are the first new F-15s the wing has received since 1996. The E-model has two Pratt and Whitney F100-P&W-229 engines, each generating 29,000 pounds of thrust. The

  • Air Force program provides care for mildly ill children

    The Air Force has begun a six-month test of a new program to provide child care for mildly ill children who are unable to remain in regular, on-base facilities.The Mildly Ill Childcare Program is designed to reduce parents' overall costs for child care and the time they must be away from their jobs

  • Iraqi forces fire on aircraft

    Iraqi forces fired anti-aircraft artillery Nov. 17 and 18 at coalition airplanes enforcing the northern no-fly zone over Iraq.Both attacks came from positions northeast of Mosul, defense officials said. In both instances, coalition aircraft responded by dropping precision-guided munitions on Iraqi

  • Dirty bird gets a bath

    Staff Sgt. Rick Casto guides a B-52 Stratofortress from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., into the wash rack at a forward-deployed location supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. The wash racks here recently received new foam sprayers that cut the washing time of a B-52 in half. Casto is a crew chief

  • Air Force's top chief discusses issues

    The most important thing any airman can do is "recognize that what you do is valuable to our nation's very existence and what we stand for," said Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Gerald Murray during his visit here Nov. 8."When I speak to young airmen, I let them know that their service is

  • Contact center adds new online service

    People can now get real-time help with personnel issues online, from anywhere in the world, thanks to new Web features offered by the Air Force Contact Center here.The online features let users view a database of frequently asked questions, chat live online with a customer service representative or

  • New history section debuts on Air Force Link

    Air Force Link, the official Web site of the U.S. Air Force, launched a new history and heritage section Nov. 8 to coincide with Veterans Day and the upcoming 100th anniversary of powered flight.The new section documents the achievements of airpower, starting from the early days of wooden-wing

  • C-5 fleet safer with anti-collision upgrade

    Maintenance people installed a Traffic Alert and Collision Avoidance System, or TCAS, on final operational C-5 Galaxy transport aircraft Oct. 31, according to program officials here.The system, part of an overall upgrade program designed to keep the transport giant flying until 2040, will reduce the

  • Keen eye leads to safety of 1,200 F-16s

    An astute observation by a noncommissioned officer here has resulted in widespread changes to maintenance requirements affecting more than 1,200 F-16 Fighting Falcon aircraft.While performing inspections on an F-16, Tech. Sgt. Jason Anderson, a 56th Equipment Maintenance Squadron nondestructive

  • T-38C fleet undergoes propulsion upgrades

    Air Education and Training Command's first T-38C Talon with modified ejectors, engines and inlets will be delivered to Moody Air Force Base, Ga., the week of Nov. 4th by pilots from the 415th Flight Test Flight here.Following on the heels of the recent avionics upgrade program, these new upgrades,

  • New Information Management Tool software now available

    A new software tool designed to improve the efficiency of the Air Force information system is now available across the service.The new Information Management Tool viewer software from PureEdge Solutions Inc. is a replacement to the long-used FormFlow form filler software and is available from local