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U.S. Air Force News

  • Airfield Pavement Evaluation team ensures mission-ready airfields

    The Air Force Civil Engineer Center’s Airfield Pavement Evaluation team set a milestone while supporting not only typical flight operations around the world, but also in response to three natural disasters, including Hurricane Michael, a hurricane that slammed into Tyndall AFB in 2018.

  • Goldfein offers optimistic update on Air Force’s evolution and future

    Creating a system that uses data, machine learning and state-of-the art software to seamlessly link “sensors to shooters” across all domains – air, land, sea, cyber and space – is among Goldfein’s highest priorities as the Air Force’s highest-ranking military officer.

  • MacDill AFB awards contracts to small businesses

    At MacDill AFB Pitch Day, small-business vendors presented proposals to help fulfill requirements, close capability gaps or provide potential technology advancements at the 6th Air Refueling Wing.

  • AETC, AMC team up on VR solutions for modern C-130 training

    Headquarters Air Force, Air Mobility Command, and Air Education and Training Command have been working on a virtual-reality platform for maintenance training through Mass Virtual, a contractor that scans real-world objects to create virtual environments.

  • 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.

  • DoD innovation units join forces to engage small business

    Over the past few months, AFWERX, Army Futures Command, NavalX, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency and the National Security Innovation Network have joined forces to make this experimental concept an interagency initiative to bridge the gap between startups, small businesses and government.

  • USAFE-AFAFRICA builds partnership with Malawian air force

    Since 2018, the USAFE-AFAFRICA Manpower, Personnel and Services Directorate, Force Development team, has been coming to Malawi to partner with the Malawian air force to provide them with tools to build, sustain and stand up an independent air force.

  • I-WEPTAC 2020 registration opens

    Hosted by the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, the annual conference is the Air Force’s only innovation forum for members of the installation and mission support community. It draws experts from the various Air Force combat support core functions to address I&MS shortfalls and help

  • US, Japan forces welcome new year with bilateral jump

    This is the first year the Air Force participated in the event featuring the bilateral collaboration between U.S. and Japanese forces, utilizing aircraft from both the Air Force and Japan Air Self-Defense Force and jumpers from the U.S. Army and the Japan Ground Self-Defense Force.

  • DRAGON simulator to augment AWACS training

    DRAGON, replaces 1970s analog technology with digital, automated aircraft navigation functions, and it ensures E-3 aircraft are compliant with current and future air traffic control requirements.

  • 18th Wing, joint partners execute first WestPac Rumrunner exercise

    With the evolving security environment in the Indo-Pacific and to further support a safe and secure region, the 18th Wing spent months designing WestPac Rumrunner as an exercise to train counter-air capabilities and strengthen joint interoperability. In addition to air tactics and joint

  • Air Force announces Spark Tank 2020 selectees

    Spark Tank also offers Airmen the opportunity to get their ideas in front of key enabling agencies that can share expertise and resources such as funding or personnel for the projects being presented and demonstrate pathways for intrapreneurs to make their initiatives successful.

  • HH-60W enters soundproof chamber for defense systems testing

    Testing the HH-60W in J-PRIMES will characterize the performance of the helicopter’s systems before electronic warfare flight-testing. The tests ensure it is capable of defeating hostile threats while performing its designated combat search and rescue mission.

  • Air Force to solicit 75th birthday theme ideas

    Concepts for the 75th birthday theme should consider inclusiveness of multi-domain operations, capture Airmen’s innovation and reflect the Air Force’s heritage over the last 75 years.

  • 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.

  • KC-46A Pegasus completes first around-the-world flight

    The first global circumnavigation for the KC-46A Pegasus provided extensive training opportunities for maintainers and aircrew at multiple locations on a seven-leg, 13-day journey that included its debut at the 2019 Dubai Air Show, or DAS. The first global circumnavigation for the KC-46A Pegasus

  • With the stroke of a pen, U.S. Space Force becomes a reality

    President Trump signed into law Dec. 20 the sprawling, $738 billion defense bill, making history by creating the Space Force as a stand-alone, sixth branch of the U.S. military and guaranteeing for the first time 12 weeks of paid parental leave for federal workers.

  • 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.

  • Air Force names newest helicopter ‘Grey Wolf’

    The Grey Wolf is the command's first major acquisition in its 10-year history. The name Grey Wolf is derived from the wild species that roams the northern tier of North America, which also encompasses the intercontinental ballistic missile bases in AFGSC.

  • 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.

  • First virtual pitch day contract awarded

    U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa A8I Operational Innovation Branch and the 764th Enterprising Solutions Squadron awarded their first virtual Pitch Day contract, Dec. 13.

  • 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.

  • Operation Christmas Drop delivers critical supplies, holiday spirit

    Now in its 68th year, Operation Christmas Drop has not only served as the world’s longest running airdrop training mission, providing critical supplies to 55 Micronesian islands like Woleia, but has also served as a coming together for elders and their communities on their respective islands across

  • VCSAF meets with nuclear scientists, engineers about future operations

    The visit gave the leaders an opportunity to discuss future operations and algorithmic warfare – the method by which battles are fought using artificial intelligence and machine learning as a weapon system – with members of the Defense Department’s sole nuclear treaty monitoring center and the

  • AETC Learning Wi-Fi Service begins roll out across command

    In an effort to expand learning opportunities for Airmen and enable training and education from any device, Air Education and Training Command has begun the Learning Wi-Fi Service project to install commercial wireless internet across the command’s installations.

  • 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.

  • Senators frustrated by uneven pace addressing privatized housing problems

    Secretary of the Air Force Barbara M. Barrett insisted to the Senate Armed Services Committee Dec. 3 that the service is moving aggressively to fix chronic problems with privatized housing while also acknowledging that the “Air Force owns part of the responsibility” for dangerous and unhealthy

  • Travis AFB Airmen train for arctic weather

    The purpose of the training was to gain qualification and certification on aircraft de-icing, de-ice vehicle operations and an opportunity to perform aircraft maintenance during cold weather conditions.

  • 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

  • MacDill AFB supports joint force exercise

    Using a C-5M Super Galaxy and two C-17 Globemaster III aircraft in a show of Total Force mobility, the 512th Airlift Wing from Dover Air Force Base, Delaware, and the 445th Airlift Wing from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, transported the assets needed by the 305th Rescue Squadron from

  • 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,

  • VCSAF visits Nigerien Air Base 201

    Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Stephen W. Wilson met with Airmen from Nigerien Air Base 201 in Agadez, Niger, Sept. 23. The stop was one of eight bases included in the vice chief's tour focused on the initiatives of Airmen in deployed locations.

  • SecAF, CSAF visit Bagram Airfield to thank Airmen

    As part of their first trip together to the U.S. Air Forces Central Command area of responsibility, Secretary of the Air Force Barbara Barrett and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein stopped by Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, to meet with and thank Airmen assigned to the 455th Air

  • MacDill AFB fuels the fight

    Through precise training, the Airmen of the 927th and 6th Air Refueling Wings stationed at MacDill Air Force Base remain ready to deter near-peer adversaries.

  • 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

  • Retiring chiefs leave wisdom for mil-to-mil couples

    After a combined 52 years of service, this couple of chief master sergeants retired from the U.S. Air Force Oct. 25, 2019. Their 14 years as military-to-military spouses were full of challenges, victories and lessons to pass on.

  • Craftsmen keep world’s largest wind tunnels running at peak conditions

    Those at the National Full-Scale Aerodynamics Complex at Moffett Field in Mountain View, California, who observe their contributions every day agree the craftsmen employed there are not only integral to the work at NFAC but play a vital role to the Arnold Engineering Development Complex mission as a

  • Air Force welcomes small businesses to pitch their space ideas

    The two-day event will feature esteemed keynotes, expert panels, innovative startup pitches, a dynamic expo floor of more than 60 booths and the potential for the participating small companies to win an on-the-spot contract with the Air Force.

  • Royal Air Force Museum American Foundation honors Berlin Airlift veterans

    The Royal Air Force Museum American Foundation celebrated the 70th anniversary of the end of Berlin Airlift at their annual “Spirit of the Battle of Britain” banquet last month to honor these veterans for their contributions to the alliance between the United States and the United Kingdom.

  • 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.

  • Vandenberg AFB awarded best DoD fire department for 7th time

    As a space wing, Vandenberg Air Force Base lacks the aircraft and heavy use of its runway that would reflect greatly on a fire department during award season. Even in the lack of these two arenas, the 30th Civil Engineer Squadron fire department has been awarded not only the “Best Fire Department in

  • Chance encounter at A/TA reveals impact of Berlin ‘candy bomber’

    As a special guest speaker and attendee at the 51st annual Airlift/Tanker Association Conference in Orlando, Florida, Oct. 23-26, Air Force 1st Lt. Gail Halvorsen shared his personal memories flying many of the Berlin Airlift’s 278,000 flights into the blockaded city between June 1948 and September

  • Airmen train to transport infectious patients

    The TIS is a device used to transport Ebola patients, either by C-17 Globemaster III or C-130 Hercules aircraft, while preventing the spread of disease to medical personnel and aircrews en route to a U.S. hospital equipped to treat them.

  • 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.

  • SecAF visits first base: F.E. Warren AFB

    Secretary of the Air Force Barbara M. Barrett visited various facilities to gain a better understanding of the pivotal nuclear mission that defends the U.S. and its allies.

  • X-37B breaks record, lands after 780 days in orbit

    The spaceplane conducted on-orbit experiments for 780 days during its mission, recently breaking its own record by being in orbit for more than two years. As of today, the total number of days spent on-orbit for the entire test vehicle program is 2,865 days.

  • 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

  • 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.

  • Air Force releases findings of civil airport, aircrew lodging policy review

    The review, led by AMC’s deputy commander, focused on existing guidance and policies and how they are applied. Specifically, the review looked at aircrew lodging, the associated processes and procedures and the application of those policies to the use of civil airports and the advisability and

  • 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.

  • Mobility, Air Force leaders kick off A/TA’s 51st convention

    The conference, which runs through Oct. 26, is a professional development opportunity offering AMC personnel and Total Force mobility partners exposure to forums, speeches, seminars and workshops geared toward bolstering knowledge of the mobility enterprise.

  • Squadron commanders play key role in building alliances through LEAP

    However, squadron commanders are the key enablers who make the scholars’ efforts possible by investing in their deliberate language development. While accomplishing their missions, the commanders also are winning the future by strengthening partnerships today through these scholars.