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U.S. Air Force News

  • Air Force sets foundation for energy optimization, lethality

    As 2020 approaches and the Air Force prepares to take on the challenges of the next decade, we must also review our successes and lessons learned from the last year. For Air Force Operational Energy, 2019 was a year for laying the foundation to build a more optimized and lethal force in the years to

  • F-16 downs drone during cruise missile defense testing

    The 85th Test and Evaluation Squadron shot down a subscale drone using an AGR-20A Advanced Precision Kill Weapon System laser-guided rocket Dec. 19, providing a proof of concept for using rockets queued from an F-16 Fighting Falcon targeting pod as viable munitions to perform cruise missile defense.

  • AF Week in Photos

    This week's photos feature Airmen from around the globe involved in activities supporting expeditionary operations and defending America. This weekly feature showcases the men and women of the Air Force.

  • Hill AFB fighter wings receive final F-35A Lightning II

    The first operational F-35As arrived at Hill Air Force Base in September 2015, and since then, the active duty 388th and Air Force Reserve 419th Fighter Wings have flown more than 17,500 sorties and more than 33,000 flying hours.

  • MacDill AFB integrates MWDs, joint force counter-IED training

    The 6th Civil Engineer Squadron explosive ordnance disposal flight held an integrated training with 6th Security Forces Squadron military working dog teams, aeromedical technicians with the 927th Aeromedical Staging Squadron and veterinary technicians with the U.S. Army Public Health Activity, Fort

  • Dyess AFB Airmen complete BACE exercise

    During the exercise, three C-130J Super Hercules aircraft from the 317th Airlift Wing and the 19th Airlift Wing transported the equipment and personnel needed to successfully maintain and support flying operations for two B-1B Lancers from the 7th Bomb Wing’s 9th Bomb Squadron.

  • Wilson honors 2018 O’Malley Award recipients

    Brig. Gen. Julian Cheater and his wife, Camila Cheater, stood out among the 147 highly-selective wing command teams across the operational Air Force in their selection for the 2018 O'Malley Award.

  • Massive funding influx expedites Tyndall AFB rebuild

    Under the June 2019 Supplemental Appropriations for Disaster Relief Act, Operations and Maintenance funding assigned $56 million to sustain regular base operations with an additional $358.4 million allotted for Hurricane Michael recovery.

  • AFRL completes initial Ultra LEAP flight tests

    The Air Force Research Laboratory’s Center for Rapid Innovation has successfully completed initial flight tests for the revolutionary unmanned aerial system with a customizable suite of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance tools that supports extended missions.

  • AF Week in Photos

    This week's photos feature Airmen from around the globe involved in activities supporting expeditionary operations and defending America. This weekly feature showcases the men and women of the Air Force.

  • Florida resilience chief gets look at Tyndall AFB rebuild

    The Tyndall Air Force Base leadership team briefed Dr. Julia Nesheiwat on the current state of the installation and the commitment to incorporate resiliency, innovation and technology as main components of the rebuild plans.

  • Final CALCM missile package retired

    The CALCM missile has been employed in combat operations to include Desert Storm, Desert Strike, Desert Fox, Allied Force, Enduring Freedom and Iraqi Freedom. Decades later, the final missile package was disassembled to become demilitarized.

  • AFMC announces 2020 Spark Tank finalists

    The Liquid Cooled Plate Carrier and Virtual Visitor Control Center projects were selected from more than 15 submissions from across AFMC as having the highest probability of delivering game-changing impact for Air Force needs.

  • Safety: A key component in any good holiday celebration

    Throughout the past decade, 35 Airmen lost their lives to on- and off-duty preventable accidents during the holidays. Last winter alone, Airmen suffered 251 accidents that took them out of work at least one day, with a cost to readiness of nearly 11 work years.

  • SecAF, CSAF end overseas tour with visit to Ramstein AB

    While visiting Ramstein Air Base, Secretary of the Air Force Barbara M. Barrett and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein met Airmen from the 86th Airlift Wing, 435th Air Ground Operations Wing and 521st Air Mobility Operations Wing as they presented an array of capabilities to give the

  • B-52 bomber crews complete live-fire training with Army in Hawaii

    During two separate days, two B-52 bomber crews coordinated with members of the 25th Air Support Operations Squadron and U.S. Army Pacific 2nd Brigade, 25th Infantry Division, 2nd Brigade Combat Team joint terminal attack controllers, also known as JTACs, to deliver a mixed payload of unguided,

  • Fit to fight: one fighter wing at a time

    To ensure pilots are ready at a moment’s notice, the 1st Fighter Wing has embedded Capt. Michelle Jilek, a physical therapist with the 633rd Medical Operations Squadron, to help increase mission effectiveness.

  • Defense, industry partners plan for future multi-domain conflicts

    Experts from across the Air Force and the Department of Defense’s joint community, as well as industry partners, came to CyberWorx to analyze a single, yet complicated problem-set: how do we operate in contested environments ensuring a steady-state of tactical C2 support?

  • AFIMSC announces topics for I-WEPTAC 2020

    The topics have been selected for the Installation and Mission Support Weapons and Tactics Conference 2020, and the chairpersons will be on board this month. What remains is determining who will fill the ranks of the four Mission Area Working Groups charged with tackling some of the Air Force’s

  • AF Week in Photos

    This week's photos feature Airmen from around the globe involved in activities supporting expeditionary operations and defending America. This weekly feature showcases the men and women of the Air Force.

  • Connectedness key to defeating the enemy

    For Tyndall Air Force Base, identifying the enemy has taken on a heightened sense of urgency since Hurricane Michael’s landfall on Oct. 10, 2018. The storm not only leveled the base, it also wreaked havoc on the lives of Airmen, civilian employees and family members displaced and impacted. Since

  • Friday night Wright: CMSAF, Airmen bond through gaming

    Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Kaleth O. Wright focused his discussions on how Airmen can work together to foster an environment of inclusiveness, resilience, increased morale and enhanced rapport between Airmen and the teams they work with.

  • University students help JSTARS innovate scheduling

    Operators of the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System are teaming up with Mercer University’s computer science department in Macon, Georgia, to advance an antiquated software system.

  • 16th Air Force to streamline cyber weapon systems

    Launched on July 1, 12N12 aims to replace, reduce and consolidate the tools, systems and applications operators and analysts employ within the cyberspace security and defense mission area by July 1, 2020.

  • 52nd FW conducts CFE treaty exercise

    Airmen escorted an exercise inspection team from Romania, members of the Defense Threat Reduction Agency and members of the German Verification Agency for an inspection of facilities throughout the installation.

  • US Air Force exchange officer soars with partners down under

    U.S. Air Force Maj. Thomas Larner is serving with the Royal Australian Air Force No. 1 Squadron, based at RAAF Base Amberley, Australia, as part of the U.S. Air Force military personnel exchange program. The program allows service members the opportunity to integrate into military units of foreign

  • Air Force requests proposals for light attack aircraft

    The Air Force plans to purchase two to three light attack aircraft from each manufacturer to help support the National Defense Strategy’s focus on building allies and partner capacity, capability and interoperability via training and experimentation.

  • AFIMSC Airman earns USMC leadership school distinction

    Master Sgt. Paul Willson, an explosive ordnance disposal and emergency management training and support manager in the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center Expeditionary Support Directorate, earned distinguished graduate honors when he completed the school in September.

  • USAFE Band unites US, Ukrainian armed forces through music

    At the invitation of the U.S. Embassy in Ukraine, the 15-member team hosted master classes for local music students, jam sessions in the community and concerts in Lviv, Ivano-Frankivsk, Chernivtsi, Vinnytsia, Desna Military Training Centre and Kyiv.

  • 6th CTS activates new TACP training detachment

    Air Force TACP specialists embed with Army and Marine units on the frontline and are responsible for directing air and artillery strikes from forward ground locations. These highly trained experts go through intense physical, mental and technical training in order to withstand the demanding

  • SERE: Teaching how to survive

    The responsibility of ensuring these pilots are safe and have the knowledge and skills to make it home safe in any situation they might endure lies heavily on the shoulders of survival, evasion, resistance and escape specialists.

  • US EOD, air advisors train Nigerian Armed Forces

    To expand the U.S. and Nigerian partnership, members of the 768th EABS explosive ordnance disposal team, assisted by 768th EABS Security Forces air advisors, trained Genie Unit members of the Nigerian Armed Forces during the course, which is part of a curriculum spanning several months.

  • Senate confirms Barrett to be Air Force secretary

    The 85 to 7 vote makes Barbara Barrett the third consecutive woman confirmed to lead the Air Force and its 685,000 total force Airmen. Barrett replaces Heather Wilson who resigned in May. Undersecretary Matthew Donovan served as acting secretary in the interim.

  • Eielson AFB reactivates 356th Fighter Squadron

    Eielson Air Force Base reactivated the 356th Fighter Squadron and named a new commander on Oct. 10, in preparation for the arrival of the Air Force F-35A Lightning IIs to interior Alaska. Air Force Lt. Col. James Christensen will lead the 356th FS, which is the first of two combat fighter squadrons

  • Exercise Polar Force tests Agile Combat Employment

    Exercise Polar Force 20-1 allowed Soldiers and Airmen from units across Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, to develop and strengthen the skills required to operate in austere environments and in adverse situations.

  • ENJJPT molds international guardians of freedom

    Since 1981, the Euro-NATO Joint Jet Pilot Training program has played a significant role in NATO-wide pilot production. Comprised of 14 signatory nations, 13 of which are currently participating, it is one of four undergraduate pilot training programs in the Air Force.

  • CSAF, CMSAF visit US Air Force Expeditionary Center

    During their visit, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth O. Wright toured the center to engage with Airmen and gain a better understanding of its mission.

  • Air Force integrates missions, strengthens information warfare capabilities

    Sixteenth Air Force activated at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Oct. 11, integrating Twenty-Fourth Air Force, to include Air Forces Cyber, and Twenty-Fifth Air Force into a single headquarters that will provide global intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance, cyber, electronic warfare and

  • AF Week in Photos

    This week's photos feature Airmen from around the globe involved in activities supporting expeditionary operations and defending America. This weekly feature showcases the men and women of the Air Force.

  • No effort spared to bring wounded Soldier home

    In mid-August, Air Mobility Command’s 618th Air Operations Center was notified of an injured Soldier in need of urgent aeromedical evacuation out of Bagram Air Base, Afghanistan. Immediately, AOC Airmen started to build a mission – REACH 797 – to help save one Soldier whose survival was in question

  • AFGSC tests Minuteman III missile with launch from Vandenberg AFB

    The test demonstrates that the United States’ nuclear deterrent is robust, flexible, ready and appropriately tailored to deter 21st century threats and reassure our allies. Test launches are not a response or reaction to world events or regional tensions.

  • 31st Fighter Wing executes Rapid Buzzard exercise

    U.S. Airmen deployed from Aviano Air Base, Italy, and Ramstein Air Base, Germany, to Graf Ignatievo Air Base, Bulgaria, to participate in a bilateral exercise with the Bulgarian Air Force.

  • Air Force recognizes Energy Action Month 2019

    During Energy Action Month, the Air Force will emphasize the need for smart energy solutions and inform Airmen, Air Force senior leaders, policy makers and aligned organizations about what they can do to effectively distribute, generate and manage resilient and reliable energy across the enterprise.

  • Airman to swim in 2019 World Military Games

    The 15 best swimmers in the Department of Defense have earned the opportunity to compete in the swimming component of the 2019 World Military Games. The youngest team member is Airman 1st Class Michael Yoo, 366th Maintenance Squadron avionics backshop technician, from Mountain Home Air Force Base,

  • AF Week in Photos

    This week's photos feature Airmen from around the globe involved in activities supporting expeditionary operations and defending America. This weekly feature showcases the men and women of the Air Force.

  • AETC hosts women's fly-in event

    The AETC Women’s Fly-In event recognized, valued and leveraged the differences and similarities which make the Air Force better and stronger--a diversity that is necessary to become a more lethal force.

  • 380 AEW first responders exercise readiness, interoperability

    A variety of agencies including medics, firefighters and security-forces defenders participated in the exercise to test their readiness, knowledge of emergency procedures and interagency cooperation amongst the wing’s first responders.

  • Air Force reduces barriers for pregnant aviators

    Effective immediately, remotely piloted aircrew, missile operations duty crews and certain fully qualified pilots are authorized to perform their assigned duties during pregnancy without a medical waiver.

  • Joint service members team up for MEDEVAC exercise

    U.S. Army veterinarian clinical specialist worked together with emergency medical responders, sharing life-saving measures for MWDs in case of extreme emergencies where veterinary technicians might not be available.

  • Wright-Patterson AFB hosts 23rd Air Force Marathon

    The Air Force Marathon is a host of fitness and family events, including a 1K kid's race, a full marathon, half marathon, 10K and 5K runs, with rain delaying the start of the 10K, full and half marathons.

  • Reserve readiness for today and the future

    The reemergence of long-term strategic and great-power competition necessitates that the Air Force Reserve grows its capabilities to meet the demands of the future operating environment while integrating with Air Education Training Command and the Air National Guard.