NATO Air Policing operations

U.S. Air Force News

  • CSAF celebrates life of Parker Greene

    It’s a rare quiet morning on Moody Air Force Base. A crowd begins to amass in a hangar with their heads held high and smiling as they greet one another, all the while mourning the loss of the most influential civic leader and advocate Moody AFB, and many argue the Air Force, has ever had.

  • U.S. Air Force B-52s deploy to Europe

    A Bomber Task Force deployment of B-52 Stratofortress aircraft, Airmen and support equipment from the 2nd Bomb Wing, Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, have arrived in the U.S. European Command area of operations for a deployment to conduct theater integration and flying training.

  • AMC extends Osprey capabilities

    CV-22 Osprey aircraft, assigned to the 20th Special Operations Squadron, performed Tactical Air-Refueling missions with a KC-10 Extender aircraft March 7-11, over the Southwest region of the U.S.

  • 4th Special Operations Squadron receives first AC-130J Ghostrider

    The 4th Special Operations Squadron at Hurlburt Field, is now home to Air Force Special Operations Command’s newest aircraft – the Block 30 AC-130J Ghostrider gunship.Similar to the Block 20 AC-130Js flown by the 73rd Special Operations Squadron, the Block 30 upgrade marks a major improvement in

  • XQ-58A Valkyrie demonstrator completes inaugural flight

    The XQ-58A Valkyrie demonstrator, a long-range, high subsonic unmanned air vehicle completed its inaugural flight March 5, 2019, at Yuma Proving Ground, Arizona. The Air Force Research Laboratory partnered with Kratos Unmanned Aerial Systems to develop the XQ-58A.

  • Army names 362nd TRS instructor best of quarter

    Tech. Sgt. Casey Andersen, 362nd Training Squadron Detachment 1 UH-60 helicopter maintenance course instructor, at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia was recently recognized as Distinguished Instructor of the Quarter for the Army’s 128th Aviation Brigade, the best out of more than 500 instructors.

  • 2018 Air Force Safety Awards announced

    Maj. Gen. John T. Rauch Jr., Air Force chief of safety, recently announced the recipients of the five Secretary of the Air Force and Chief of Staff Safety Awards, as well as the Chief of Safety Awards for 2018.

  • AFSFC begins delivery of new Air Force-wide handgun

    The Air Force Security Forces Center, in partnership with the Air Force Small Arms Program Office, has begun fielding the new M18 SIG Sauer Modular Handgun System to security forces units as part of the Reconstitute Defender Initiative and its effort to modernize weapon systems and increase

  • Wilson’s glide path for a more lethal, ready Air Force of the future

    Emphasizing priorities that will largely define the year ahead, Secretary of the Air Force Heather Wilson stressed the need to modernize and grow the force. She also highlighted how streamlining acquisitions will inject innovative ideas and tools faster and more reliably into every corner of the

  • F-35A maintainers, special ops team up for forward refueling

    For the first time, Airmen from the 388th Fighter Wing at Hill Air Force Base, Utah and Airmen from the 26th Special Tactics Squadron and the 27th Special Operation Logistics Readiness Squadron at Cannon AFB, trained and carried out a Forward Air Refueling Point operation from the MC-130J Commando

  • Commanders, senior raters to select IDE attendees

    Beginning with the 2019 Developmental Education Designation Board, wing commanders and some senior raters will be able to select one Line of the Air Force officer per academic year to attend Intermediate Developmental Education in residence.

  • Supporting warfighters: Two workforces come together with one mission in mind

    Child care, golf, bowling, community center, lodging operations and outdoor recreation. These operations, and many more, are designed to support the morale, welfare and recreation of Airmen and their families and rely heavily on one thing to make them tick … nonappropriated fund, or NAF, employees.

  • Industry gets schooled on MDC2

    Hanscom Air Force Base, Massachusetts, projected its quiet power during the Multi-Domain Command and Control (MDC2) Industry Day, Feb. 20, at the Minuteman Educational Center, according to speaker Eileen Vidrine, the Air Force's chief data officer.

  • Combat metals: The modern-day blacksmiths

    While there are a lot of precautionary measures in place to prevent bird strikes and other aircraft incidents, they are not 100 percent preventable.When these incidents occur, there’s a small group of Airmen who are called upon to do patchwork to get the aircraft back to base and to fix the damage

  • Phase dock keeps F-16s in top shape for Operation Inherent Resolve

    With each strike, coalition partners move a step closer to the defeat of ISIS’ so-called physical caliphate. The 55th Expeditionary Fighter Squadron’s relentless pursuit supporting Operation Inherent Resolve comes with an insatiable maintenance need for the F-16C Fighting Falcons at the 407th Air

  • Army GLO connects ground intent to air action

    Communication between the Air Force, Army, Marine Corps, Navy and Coast Guard is similar to trying to understand a different language because each service uses different lingo and acronyms in their daily operations.

  • CRW delivers agile mobility expertise during exercise Green Flag Little Rock

    The sound of gunfire echoed across the open field at the Geronimo Landing Zone as Airmen from the 621st Contingency Response Wing based out of Travis Air Force Base, California, responded to a simulated base attack during a training mission in support of Green Flag Little Rock exercise, Feb. 6-17.

  • Davis-Monthan AFB exercise balances flexibility, survivability, lethality

    Landing in an austere location, a small number of Airmen move at a rapid pace to accomplish a very specific mission. With only the supplies needed to survive for a week, they begin to unload food, shelter and equipment. After unloading, they set up a campsite as home base for their operations.

  • FARP: Land, refuel, leave

    FARP, a specialty within the petroleum, oils and lubrication career field, trains Airmen to effectively refuel aircraft in remote locations when air-to-air refueling is not possible or when fueling stations are not accessible.

  • Conventional Rotary Launcher upgrade tested

    An upgrade to the B-52 Stratofortress and the Conventional Rotary Launcher was tested, Feb. 11. The change is designed to increase mission flexibility and make the B-52 more lethal in a combat environment.

  • MacDill Guardsman saves life, receives Airman’s Medal

    Airman 1st Class Peejay Jack, a 290th Joint Communications Support Squadron vehicle maintainer with the Florida Air National Guard, was awarded the Airman’s Medal by Maj. Gen. Lenny Richoux, the Joint Enabling Capabilities Command commander, during a ceremony at MacDill AFB Feb. 9.

  • Red Flag strengthens F-35A maintainers

    After more than two weeks launching F-35A Lightning II sorties at Red Flag 19-1, maintainers with the 388th Fighter Wing are impressed with the jet and the young airmen who help maintain it.

  • Airmen, dignitaries celebrate KC‐46 arrival

    Reserve Airmen assigned to the 730th Air Mobility Training Squadron, dignitaries and Air Force leaders accepted the new KC‐46A Pegasus during a historic arrival celebration Feb. 8 at Altus Air Force Base.

  • 'Trial by Flag' for new F-35A pilots

    F-35A pilots who recently graduated their initial training and are currently deployed to Nellis Air Force Base as part of exercise Red-Flag 19-1. Now they are being battle-tested.

  • Pilot training moving at the speed of innovation

    The 80th Flying Training Wing is moving at the speed of innovation and is bound to only get faster as visionaries incorporate the latest in mixed realities to boost undergraduate pilot training.

  • Total force exercise sharpens combat-ready skills

    Aerial porters, defenders and medical personnel from the 433rd Airlift Wing joined the 502nd Air Base Wing defenders, the San Antonio Military Medical Center doctors and helicopter crews from Texas Army National Guard, 2nd Battalion, 149th Aviation Regiment in Operation Dust Storm Feb. 1 at

  • Helping F-35A pilots operate, survive at Red Flag

    The F-35 Lightning II is lethal and survivable in almost any environment, but it’s just a machine, unable to do anything without a skilled pilot. Those pilots need gear to interface with the jet, operate and survive.

  • AFLCMC aids Kessel Run in recruiting new rebels

    An innovative effort to speed up talent acquisition for the Air Force compressed a months-long employment process to just weeks, when 28 on-the-spot job offers were made to candidates at the Kessel Run hiring event in Boston held January 23-24.

  • Registration opens for 3rd annual I-WEPTAC

    The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center announces registration for the third annual Installation and Mission Support Weapons and Tactics Conference is open.

  • Air Force announces 2019 Spark Tank finalists

    The Air Force recently announced the 2019 Spark Tank finalists who will showcase their innovative ideas to Air Force senior leaders Feb. 28, in Orlando, Florida, at the Air Force Association Air Warfare Symposium.

  • Biomedical Sciences Corps appreciation week

    The 96th Medical Group will observe Biomedical Sciences Corps Appreciation Week beginning Jan. 23 to recognize the organization’s efforts and contributions to Air Force medicine.

  • 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.

  • Virtual, augmented reality may hold key to future Air Force training

    A demonstration of how virtual reality and augmented reality (VR/AR) can benefit Air Force training processes took place Jan. 8.The demonstration was geared toward Airmen within the aircraft armament systems and munition systems, and gave a glimpse of how VR/AR applications can aid in providing an

  • CSAF lauds combat RPA innovation

    Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David L. Goldfein visited Creech Air Force Base to meet with 432nd Wing and 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing Airmen, Jan. 15.

  • The 736th SFS are defenders of the force

    The dictionary defines the word “defender” as a person who defends someone or something. It’s no coincidence security force members throughout the Air Force use this moniker. Defender is well-suited; however, just one word could not speak to their flexibility, warrior ethos or enormous

  • Email in the cloud: CHES phase 1 completion

    On Nov. 8, 2018, the Air Force Network Integration Center, or AFNIC, concluded the first phase of the Air Force’s transition to Cloud Hosted Enterprise Services, completing the migration of 555,000 continental U.S. based Air Force hosted e-mail accounts to a Microsoft Office 365 collaboration

  • Beneath the skies: Aircraft maintainers

    One of the largest support structures here at the 332d Air Expeditionary Wing can be broadly defined as aircraft maintainers. This not only includes those individuals who perform pre-flight, thru-flight (where an aircraft returns from a mission then embarks on another mission within a couple hours)

  • Kessel Run announces hiring event

    Kessel Run is looking for talent who can help the Air Force tackle its most vexing software issues, including the global Air Operations Center Weapon System and the F-35 Lightning II’s Autonomous Logistics Information System, or ALIS.

  • REDHORSE and Prime BEEF building up ADAB

    The 1st Expeditionary Civil Engineer Group provides theater-wide engineering technical services, light and heavy troop labor construction and repairs within the U.S. Central Command area of responsibility in order to engineer combat power and establish and sustain combat platforms for USCENTCOM and

  • JB Langley surgical team goes 'purple'

    A joint surgical team comprised of three separate branches assembled at U.S. Air Force Hospital Langley at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Virginia, in December 2018 to perform an operation.

  • Innovation in tight spaces

    As Hurricane Michael churned toward the Emerald Coast of Florida, F-35A Lightning IIs from the 33rd Fighter Wing evacuated to Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, to avoid the storm’s path and potential catastrophic damage. As Michael passed, narrowly missing Eglin AFB, a different type of storm

  • US, Polish SOF enhance abilities through culmination exercise

    Clouds make way for the first pass of combat controllers from the U.S. and Polish forces as they free fall out of an MC130J Commando during a culmination exercise near Krakow, Poland recently. The joint team is determined to put all their recent training into action as they steer their parachutes

  • Fighter exercise Sentry Aloha 19-1 completed

    More than 800 Airmen, Sailors and Defense Department civilians from nine states completed exercise Sentry Aloha, a large-scale fighter exercise, , Dec. 19, at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam.

  • Retired Airman’s resilience sets leading example

    Karah Behrend’s tattooed arms and wild blue hair aren’t the only reasons she stands out on the rugby field. Rugby is a relatively new hobby for Behrend, though her practiced technique paints a different picture. She performs with the intensity, coordination and endurance of an experienced athlete.

  • Air Force Marathon registration to open January 1

    WRIGHT PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio (AFNS) -- Registration for the 23rd Annual Air Force Marathon opens at midnight Jan. 1, 2019.  Runners can register at www.usafmarathon.com by clicking the registration tab.“We’re excited about offering an almost entirely new race experience that we believe

  • Joining forces: Test team completes fourth Orange Flag of 2018

    In the skies above California, an F-35 Lightning II and F-16 Fighting Falcon from Edwards Air Force Base, are joined by an F-15E Strike Eagle and F-22 Raptor from the 422nd Test and Evaluation Squadron out of Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, along with a Navy F-18 Hornet from Air Test and Evaluation

  • Santa, Elves jump for Operation Toy Drop 2018

    Santa Claus and his elves delivered toys to children via military freefall and static-line jumps as part of the 7th annual Operation Toy Drop event on Alzey Drop Zone, Germany Dec. 11-13, 2018.

  • 421st Fighter Squadron and AMU receive first F-35A

    The 421st Fighter Squadron here received its first F-35A Lightning II Dec. 12. The squadron is the last of three squadrons in Hill Air Force Base’s 388th Fighter Wing to take possession of combat-ready aircraft, bringing the 388th Fighter Wing closer to full strength.

  • AFIMSC Innovation Office seeks game-changing ideas

    The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center Innovation Office will launch a program in the new year to help Airmen implement their innovative ideas. The campaign, open Jan. 1-31, 2019, gives military and civilian members of mission support groups worldwide a chance to fund their ideas and

  • Bunch nominated to command AFMC

    Lt. Gen. Arnold W. Bunch Jr. has been nominated by the president for a fourth star to become the next commander of Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

  • How the Air Force got smarter about its aviation fuel use in 2018

    Did you know the Air Force is the largest consumer of fuel in the Department of Defense? This may not surprise you, if say, you’ve ever watched a sortie of F-35 Lighting IIs complete an aerial refueling, or witnessed a C-5 Galaxy lift (seemingly) effortlessly into the sky. In fact, the Air Force

  • Grit and determination: AFSOC Airmen slide with Team USA bobsled

    Two Airmen within Air Force Special Operations Command were selected to compete with the USA Bobsled team this year. Capt. Dakota Lynch, a 34th Special Operations Squadron U-28A pilot, and Capt. Chris Walsh, a 24th Special Operations Wing special tactics officer, are push athletes who are ultimately

  • 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.

  • AFIMSC resources team shores up Tyndall AFB

    In the immediate aftermath of Hurricane Michael’s devastating trek across Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, a critical mission unfolded: One of a handful of F-22 Raptors that couldn’t be moved before the storm arrived sat under the threat of a destabilized concrete wall.

  • One step at a time

    Senior Master Sgt. David Snyder put on his physical training uniform and fought the tension inside his chest. It was the day of his annual PT test. Like all his tests before, he had been preparing for months. But this time, he was a lot more nervous.

  • Kentucky Air Guardsmen earn Bronze Star Medals

    Five members of the 123rd Special Tactics Squadron were awarded Bronze Star Medals during a ceremony at the Kentucky Air National Guard Base Nov. 17, for outstanding selflessness and bravery in the defense of the United States.

  • AFCENT publishes October Airpower Summary

    “Our mission is to deliver decisive air and space power on behalf of U.S. Central Command for the security and stability of the region. We do this mission proudly, alongside our international, joint and interagency partners,” said Lt. Gen. Joseph Guastella, Combined Forces Air Component commander.

  • Air Force fields next generation CBRN protective masks

    In November 2018, the Air Force will complete fielding of an improved chemical, biological, radiological and nuclear protective mask for aircrew on rotary wing aircraft, allowing operational units to achieve full operational capability.