NATO Air Policing operations

U.S. Air Force News

  • Exercise New Horizons 2019 concludes in Guyana

    Exercise New Horizons 2019 came to an end with a closing ceremony at the Blueberry Hill community center, Aug. 22. Since the start of the exercise in May, the New Horizons team built three community centers and a women’s shelter, as well as participated in several medical outreach events in the

  • DoD to begin next major phase of military hospital consolidation

    On Oct. 1, the Army, Navy and Air Force will begin the final two years of a multiyear transition to shift administration and management of their medical facilities to the Defense Health Agency, changes that are "transformational and far-reaching," said Vice Admiral Raquel Bono, DHA director.

  • Wounded warrior talks resiliency during tactical pause

    In the wake of Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein’s Resiliency Tactical Pause directive, Master Sgt. Jose E. Rijos, Air Force Wounded Warrior ambassador, recounted the traumas of his career with his service dog, Cairo, at his side.

  • Oregon’s 142nd Fighter Wing conducts training with Navy counterparts

    As part of the DACT exercises, the Navy brought six F-18’s and approximately 125 Sailors to engage with the 142nd FW’s F-15C Eagles. The training focused on compliance and capabilities preparation, allowing both units to stay proficient while providing upgrade training to junior pilots.

  • Space Flag holds first exercise with coalition partners

    Space Flag 19-3 integrated approximately 160 coalition participants, observers and distinguished guests in Air Force Space Command’s “Fight Tonight” exercise focused on using current capabilities to deter, deny and disrupt adversarial actions in the space domain.

  • 12th OSS egress training saves lives

    With approximately 1,200 students certified or recertified every year, the program teaches pilots how to properly egress from T-1A Jayhawk, T-6A Texan II and T-38C Talon aircraft.

  • BESPIN-AFIMSC alliance improves mission support capabilities

    BESPIN and AFIMSC are partnering to develop two mobile applications: an app connecting the military community to base events and an app to improve contractor accountability. The apps were two of the top three ideas chosen during AFIMSC’s inaugural Innovation Rodeo March 1.

  • 86th VRS rolls onto virtual highway

    Members of the 86th Vehicle Readiness Squadron at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, are doing exactly that by acquiring a new driving simulator to train Airmen that aren’t familiar with German roads and weather conditions.

  • DoD agency keeps file swaps safe

    Now in the wheelhouse of DISA, the file transfer capability has been rebranded DoD SAFE, or secure access file exchange. The DoD SAFE capability is part of DISA's Defense Collaboration Services suite of applications.

  • AFCYBER presents, participates in DEF CON 27

    Throughout the four-day event, attendees could learn new skills from industry professionals, test those skills during capture-the-flag competitions, network with others, interview for jobs and test out products and simulators, among other things.

  • Hill AFB wins DOE award for energy efficiency

    The annual award recognizes outstanding contributions in the areas of energy efficiency, water conservation and the use of renewable energy technologies at federal facilities.

  • Little Rock AFB EOD supports Ark., surrounding states

    The Explosive Ordnance Disposal team at Little Rock Air Force Base completes countless hours of training and faces ample challenges in order to support the base and the entire state of Arkansas, as well as parts of Mississippi and Tennessee, to support a variety of military installations.

  • Joint-nation alliance meets, trains at Travis AFB

    The purpose of the group, according to Royal Australian Air Force Wing Commander Brady Cummins, Australian representative on the AFIC Management Committee, is to identify and resolve current and future interoperability challenges by leveraging collective expertise.

  • 15th Wing hosts CSAF at Hickam Airfield

    During his visit, Goldfein learned about the unique history, mission and challenges of the 15th Wing, while Mrs. Goldfein toured JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam historic housing and the Child Development Center.

  • Emerging technology may save Airmen’s lives

    This focus on readiness was on display Aug. 5 during a SERE exercise in Vallejo, California, which provided Airmen an opportunity to train using realistic scenarios while testing new technology.

  • Around the Air Force: Resiliency stand down / New GPS satellite

    In today's look around the Air Force Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Kaleth Wright, talks about resiliency as the service announces a stand down day for all wings, and Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, completes testing of a new satellite. (Hosted by Staff Sgt. Anastasia Tompkins)

  • Record-setting first sortie for wing's newest F-35A

    Aircraft tail number 5261 left Lockheed Martin’s Fort Worth, Texas, production facility a little after 8 a.m. Aug. 1, landed at Hill Air Force Base at 10 a.m., and by 3 p.m. had taken off on its first combat training mission.

  • AFSPC rolls out new enterprise data strategy

    The command’s enterprise data strategy will provide the means to ensure greater mission success. It is a framework that integrates space enterprise data sources into a common, resilient and agile architecture optimized for space domain awareness and responsive multi-domain operations at speed and

  • AFRL’s Digital Hangar to support lifecycle management of aerospace systems

    The Air Force Research Laboratory’s “Digital Hangar,” a concept created by Dr. Rick Graves, an Air Force Research Laboratory’s design and analysis branch aerospace research engineer, is a virtual repository containing digital surrogates of aerospace systems that have been gated through rigorous

  • AF first sergeants gather, train to answer CSAF Squadron Revitalization Call

    More than 210 first sergeants from across the Air Force did their part to aid the CSAF’s squadron revitalization effort, as they gathered at the I.G. Brown Training and Education Center at McGhee Tyson Air National Guard Base in Louisville, Tennessee, July 21-27, for a summit and symposium to become

  • AFIMSC navigates storms, disasters to exceed 84% budget execution

    Managed by the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, the 84.4% execution marks the third consecutive year AFIMSC exceeded Air Force Materiel Command’s execution goal in the I&MS portfolio. It follows last year’s record-setting 84.8% execution rate, said Chris Underwood, AFIMSC’s Budget

  • Eglin AFB pilots receive ratings for new helicopter

    Maj. Zach Roycroft and Tony Arrington completed the five-week contracted course on the civilian counterpart to the Air Force’s new MH-139 helicopter. The helicopter will replace the Air Force’s aging UH-1N Huey.

  • Evolution of space: 2nd SOPS celebrates GPS Block III on-orbit test

    Lockheed Martin presented the 2nd Space Operations Squadron with a GPS Block III model satellite to celebrate the successful on-orbit testing of the new GPS III satellite at Schriever Air Force Base, July 29.Staff Sgt. Joseph Wood, 2nd SOPS mission chief, said the model is a physical representation

  • Academy plays central role in developing tomorrow’s STEM leaders

    Cadets at the Air Force Academy today are immersed in hands-on STEM programs while also exposed to a broad education in the humanities and non-technical disciplines. All cadets take at least two-thirds of their coursework in a cross-disciplinary core and almost half of all their courses are in STEM

  • Environmental restoration summits promote whole-of-government response

    The Air Force Civil Engineer Center, which provides environmental remediation support to Air Force headquarters, major commands and installations, reintroduced the annual summits - an eastern, western and central - in 2016. The goal was to strengthen relationships between the Air Force, state and

  • Air Force brings defense planning into 21st century through modern software

    For much of the defense community, the ease and functionality of modern technology is not translated to military planning systems. While cumbersome acquisitions processes, funding issues and security concerns are often valid causes, many Department of Defense processes (and any software associated

  • AETC welcomes new commander

    Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein presided over the ceremony and emphasized the importance of the AETC mission and he commended members of the command for their efforts. He listed Pilot Training Next, force development, a campaign of learning, squadron commander school and the overhaul

  • AFIMSC changes command

    “To all the warfighters of AFIMSC, (Marian and I) are honored and humbled to be on your team and look forward to meeting you and getting to know each one of you,” Wilcox said.

  • Pilot Prep Program: 'Right answer for the Air Force'

    The new Air Force initiative to fill the need for military pilots was forged by Brig. Gen. Christopher M. Short, director of the Aircrew Crisis Task Force at the Pentagon. It’s one of many Total Force partnerships between the Air Force and its longtime auxiliary, CAP.

  • Air Force Uniform Office seeks feedback on maternity uniforms

    All Air Force women will receive an email message from the Air Force Survey Office with a unique link inviting them to take the survey. To determine who should take the full survey, the Uniform Office is asking participants to respond to the first survey question.

  • Air Force targets drones during latest Pitch Day

    The day-long event began with thirteen pitches from businesses, followed by deliberations by Air Force junior officers and civilians, who chose to award Phase 1 small business contracts to every Pitch Day participant.

  • 435th CRS teaches offload methods in Poland

    During Aviation Rotation 19-3, a bilateral training exercise to improve joint functions between the U.S. and Polish militaries, members from the 435th Contingency Response Squadron worked to teach combat offload procedures at Powidz Air Base, Poland.

  • Kentucky Air Guard home to DoD’s only search and rescue dog

    In response to scenarios like the Haitian earthquake, Parsons spearheaded a new approach, developing the squadron’s Search and Rescue K-9 program. The effort, launched in 2018, is designed to increase the capabilities of disaster response teams in locating and recovering personnel through the use of

  • 100th surgical team completes robotic surgery training

    This milestone is significant for Keesler’s InDORSE program, showing how far the curriculum has come since the program first stood up in March 2017 with just one robot. Now, InDORSE has acquired a second robot, allowing them to train more military surgical teams across the Department of Defense as

  • 349th ARS secures Air Force-level award

    The Senior Master Sgt. Albert Evans Outstanding Air Refueling Section Award is presented every year to the top boom operator section in the Air Force. This is the first time the 349th ARS has won the award.

  • Donovan visits the ‘World’s Premier Gateway to Space’

    50 years after the U.S. first put man on the moon, Acting Secretary of the Air Force Matthew Donovan – along with Vice President of the United States Mike Pence, NASA employees and thousands watching across the world – looked back on this historic moment at the Apollo 11 anniversary event at the

  • Vt. ANG prepares for F-35 arrival

    The partnership between the 158th FW consists of the visiting staff from BAE Systems, Inc., Lockheed Martin and Pratt & Whitney aerospace company who are assisting members through the technical phases of induction.

  • Donovan visits B-21, X-37B facilities, L3 Harris Technologies

    Acting Secretary of the Air Force Matthew Donovan visited Northrop Grumman’s B-21 Design and Development Headquarters and the Kennedy Space Center to review the X-37B Orbital Test Vehicle Processing Facility, as well as the newly merged L3 Harris Technologies, Inc.

  • 380th AEW AWACS provide the big picture to combatant commanders

    Staff Sgt. Joshua Payne, 968th Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron senior surveillance technician, works within a crew that regularly reaches more than 20, each having their own specific purpose on a very technical level. Their role is to help the pilot expand this limited scope of data, and

  • Goodfellow AFB embraces National Defense Strategy

    Falling under the Air Education and Training Command, Goodfellow AFB builds a more ready, resilient and rapidly innovative force by modernizing learning inside its 250,000 square feet of secure training facilities.

  • Artist to Airman: Street artist to art of war

    Muralist, painter, street artist and 315th Airlift Wing Reservist, Staff Sgt. Corban Lundborg, combat photojournalist with the 4th Combat Camera Squadron at Joint Base Charleston, used his creative talent and public affairs training to win 2018 Air Force Photographer of the Year and first place in

  • Final AC-130U Spooky returns from combat deployment

    While still on alert to respond to contingencies as needed for the next few months, the Spooky is being replaced downrange by the AC-130J Ghostrider, the most lethal and innovative gunship in the world.

  • ACC commander speaks at Joint Warfighting Forum

    Air Force Gen. Mike Holmes delivered remarks to the audience of military and industry partners about the future of armed conflict and the importance of integrated systems of command and control.

  • Convoys: Going where no one else can

    Airmen from the 726th Air Control Squadron offer an inside look on what makes a successful convoy while supporting Hardrock Exercise 19-2 July 14, at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho.

  • RAF Lakenheath breaks ground on future F-35 infrastructure

    Through the partnership with the DIO, as well as Kier and VolkerFitzpatrick construction groups, the installation will be ready to welcome the first F-35A Lightning II aircraft in late 2021. The infrastructure projects will include a flight simulator facility, a maintenance unit, new hangars and

  • AFMC conducts focus groups across enterprise

    The AFMC We Need enterprise-wide initiative, launched in late June 2019, seeks inputs and recommendations from AFMC civilian and military Airmen that can help posture the command to best support the National Defense Strategy today and in the decades to come.

  • Wright-Patterson AFB opens cyber defense facility

    One of the Air Force’s ongoing challenges is to create processes, infrastructure and capabilities to counter threats to its weapon systems. To address this, organizations are looking at creative ways to forge partnerships and alliances to advance the cyber resiliency of weapon systems by protecting

  • Mountain Home AFB hosts largest off-station F-35A operation to date

    The squadron, normally stationed at Hill AFB, Utah, is functioning as a detachment with about 300 Airmen in operations, support and maintenance. They arrived at Mountain Home AFB with 17 jets and will build up to 24 as they continue to receive and process new aircraft being delivered from the

  • Airmen cultivate leadership qualities through Ranger Assessment Course

    Twenty-three Airmen from across the Air Force recently converged on a training camp for a 3-week Ranger Assessment Course near Schofield Barracks, Oahu, Hawaii. The purpose of the 19-day course is to prepare, assess and evaluate Air Force candidates for Army Ranger School at Fort Benning, Georgia.

  • Rescue helicopter pilots showcase VR capability to ACC leadership

    The trainer allows four people to don VR headgear and simultaneously enter a server to fly a virtual HH-60G Pave Hawk combat search and rescue helicopter in simulated training missions. The controls are the same equipment the helicopter uses to add further realism to the VR environment.

  • Vice President Pence visits Vandenberg AFB

    Vice President Michael R. Pence made his way to the Combined Space Operations Center where he was greeted by Maj. Gen. Stephen N. Whiting, 14th Air Force commander, and received briefings on the evolution of launch operations at the Western Range and CSpOC operations, which concluded with an

  • Overnight radar replacements for NEXRAD

    The NEXT RADAR, or NEXTRAD replacement, completed at Cannon AFB in February in one night, is part of an ongoing effort there and 24 other Air Force installations worldwide. The Air Force’s 25-site replacement program is part of a three-agency U.S. government effort to standardize the 180 radars that

  • First BMT trainees experience M-4 training, qualification

    Basic Military Training trainees were the first to experience M-4 carbine weapons familiarization course at the range, which closed in November 2018, due to improper rainwater drainage. Since then the range has undergone refurbishing efforts to divert water runoff.

  • ACC commander holds NAF integration town hall

    Air Combat Command announced the plans for this reorganization in April of this year as a way to better integrate cyber effects, intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance operations, electronic warfare operations and information operations. The synergy between cyber, ISR, EW and IO will increase

  • JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst hosts first-ever base-level Pitch Day event

    The two-month process, which started in April, began when the 87th Contracting Squadron published problem statements from the 87th Air Base Wing, 305th Air Mobility Wing, 621st Contingency Response Wing and Expeditionary Operations School, requesting innovative solutions from small businesses to

  • Online worksheet to replace biannual AGR review board

    One significant change to the program was the elimination of an AGR Review Board, or ARB, which was held twice a year. The board was co-chaired by the deputy to the chief of Air Force Reserve and the deputy commander of the Air Force Reserve Command, with the purpose of determining career status for

  • ‘1200 in 12’ initiative succeeds as final new hire pledges oath

    The Warner Robins Air Logistics Complex announced its initiative during a press conference Aug. 15, 2018. The task at hand was to hire 1,200 new workers within 12 months, or by the end of fiscal 2019. At the time, 7,200 personnel worked for the complex, providing maintenance and repair for several

  • LEGACY youth program builds interest in STEM careers

    The Leadership Experience Growing Apprenticeships Committed to Youth, or LEGACY, program is an Air Force program aimed at building interest in science, technology, engineering and math through summer craftsman camps and paid summer apprenticeships while showing how STEM applies to the world around

  • U.S., Indonesian air forces wrap up Cope West ‘19

    Cope West is designed to advance interoperability and build upon already-established partnerships between U.S. military forces and Indonesian air forces, with the end goal of enhancing both sides’ combat capabilities and unit readiness.

  • Air Force gathers innovators for Tyndall AFB rebuild

    To that end, members of the Tyndall Program Management Office, along with Air Force experts, industry and community leaders participated in an AFWERX-sponsored workshop June 25-26 in Las Vegas to rebuild the installation as a “base of the future.”

  • Aircrew gets new anti-smoke goggles

    With innovation, the new ASGs are now a three-part system. The suspension frame itself is still made the same with the nape pad attached, while the goggles and oxygen mask portion have been upgraded.