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  • Kendall cites progress on F-35 performance, schedule, cost

    The F-35 Lightning II program (also known as the Joint Strike Fighter program) is making progress on performance, schedule and cost, Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, told U.S. reporters last week during a teleconference from Norway.

  • Programs provide opportunities for internships, jobs

    Recent college graduates interested in federal employment can take advantage of current open recruiting for the Recent Graduates Program as well as three other programs offered by the Office of Personnel Management (OPM) to make becoming a federal employee easier.

  • French air force visit strengthens partnership

    Since its standup in 2009, Air Force Global Strike Command has worked to build and maintain a strong relationship with its allies in the French air forces.In continuing that partnership, Lt. Gen. Philippe Steininger, the commander of the French air force's Strategic Air Forces Command, along with a

  • BLUE: Human Performance

    Air Force TV here released the latest episode of the Air Force's flagship television program, BLUE.

  • Diamond in the rough: An Airman’s recovery from his haunted past

    Growing up, many of his childhood nights were spent staring through a gaping hole in his bedroom ceiling. He didn't know how it got there, but sometimes it served as a pleasant escape from the surrounding chaos. It gave access to the wide open Oklahoma sky and he positioned his mattress in the

  • SecAF to cadets: ‘Lead Us Into The Future’

    Cadets graduating from the U.S. Air Force Academy as second lieutenants are entering the profession of arms at a time of unprecedented change and challenges, said Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James to the Class of 2015 May 28, in Colorado Springs, Colorado.

  • TAPS families honored at Pentagon event

    Defense Secretary Ash Carter hosted a family night for Tragedy Assistance Program for Survivors families at the Pentagon, May 22, as part of the Military Survivor Seminar and Good Grief Camp for Young Survivors.

  • Tech Report: GPS

    The Global Positioning System is a constellation of orbiting satellites that provides navigation data to military and civilian users all over the world. The system is operated and controlled by the 50th Space Wing, located at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado.

  • Kazakhstan native selected for officer training

    Senior Airman Aigerim Akhmetova, a C-17 Globemaster III supply clerk from the 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron at Al Udied Air Base, Qatar, said she remembers waking up early to stand in line with her mother for loaves of bread while growing up in Kazakhstan when it was a Soviet republic.

  • Aviano F-16s take on Arctic Challenge 2015

    At the invitation of the government of Sweden, More than 150 Airmen and 12 F-16 Fighting Falcons from the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base, Italy, arrived at Norbotten Wing here in support of Arctic Challenge Exercise 2015.

  • AF recognizes a lifetime of service

    Air Force Assistant Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Stephen L. Hoog presented the Air Force Exceptional Service Award to retired Col. Arnald D. Gabriel during an Air Force Symphony performance at the John F. Kennedy Center for the Performing Arts, May 24.

  • Frankenphone: Creech Airman improves RPA communications

    n a crowded room of remotely piloted aircraft sensor operators, it would be easy to overlook him, yet his accomplishments scream for attention. His peers have labeled him a 'jack-of-all-trades' and after getting past his quiet first impression, it's easy to see why.

  • AF assigns new chief scientist

    The Air Force announced the service’s new chief scientist to serve as a science and technology advisor to the secretary of the Air Force and the chief of staff of the Air Force, May 21. Dr. Greg Zacharias will be the 35th chief scientist and is ready to “dive in” to his new role.

  • Deli-bakery contract awarded for 44 commissaries

    A new contractor will start taking over deli-bakery operations next month at 44 Midwest commissaries that were impacted when a contractor-provided service ceased at the end of February, due to performance issues.

  • Luke's 56th Fighter Wing has new mission

    Luke Air Force Base's 56th Fighter Wing conducted a change of mission ceremony May 21, formally including the F-35 Lightning II as part of the wing's new mission statement.

  • Air Force leaders’ Memorial Day message

    Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III sent a Memorial Day message to the Airmen of the Air Force and their families.

  • AF successfully launches the AFSPC-5 mission

    The Air Force and its mission partners successfully launched the AFSPC-5 mission aboard the Space and Missile Systems Center (SMC) procured United Launch Alliance Atlas V launch vehicle at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, May 20, at 11:05 a.m. EST. There were no issues reported with the

  • Joint Task Force 505 begins drawdown in Nepal

    Joint Task Force 505 is drawing down its earthquake relief operations as the Nepalese government and international aid agencies have postured for long-term recovery and reconstruction efforts.

  • Air Force moves to bring about RPA mission relief

    The Air Force is pursuing a range of options that will, in combination with a reset in the number of sustainable combat air patrols, help alleviate long-term stress on Remotely Piloted Aircraft crews.

  • Barksdale B-52s participates in CENTCOM exercise Eager Lion

    Two B-52 Stratofortress bombers assigned to the 2nd Bomb Wing in Barksdale Air Force Base, Louisiana, returned May 18, from a 30-plus hour, 14,000 mile nonstop mission to the U.S. Central Command area of operations, where they participated alongside Jordanian and other multinational forces in

  • Increased mission requirements open doors for continued service

    The Air Force is introducing several personnel and manpower initiatives to meet increased mission requirements outlined in the fiscal year 2016 President’s Budget. The Air Force is undergoing a concerted effort to stabilize and grow the force by fiscal 2017, to include addressing key gaps in the

  • Initiatives to improve Air Force acquisition

    Addressing an audience of industry and government employees in Lexington, Massachusetts, May 13, the Air Force’s Service Acquisition Executive spoke about acquisition priorities, challenges and initiatives.

  • The business of people: Life as a first sergeant

    Dedication is defined as a feeling of very strong support for or loyalty to someone or something, or the quality or state of being dedicated to a person, group or cause.It is this definition which embodies the attitude of a first sergeant. Colloquially called a shirt or first shirt, unwavering

  • Dispelling remotely piloted aircraft myths

    Public interest in remotely piloted aircraft (RPA) continues to grow thanks to increasing non-military uses and portrayal in popular culture. For the Air Force, remotely piloted aircraft are and will continue to be a vital mission set delivering vital airpower to combatant commanders throughout the

  • Airman returns home to Nepal after earthquake

    When Senior Airman Manoj Khatiwada was asked to join a team of Pacific Air Forces Airmen traveling to Nepal to assist the government with relief operations following a magnitude 7.8 earthquake, he was filled with mixed emotions. Khatiwada was born and raised in Nepal and came to the U.S. in 2009

  • Fixing things: A childhood dream

    In a compound hidden away from prying eyes, the men and women of the 374th Logistics Readiness Squadron vehicle maintenance shop don their blue mechanics overalls and work to ensure that Yokota's wheels on the ground can keep their birds in the sky.

  • True Warrior: An Airman's fight

    The distant roar of hundreds of people hungry for action pulses through the compound, rumbling the stone walls of a dimly lit waiting room.Shoulders hunched, Tech. Sgt. Clinton Williams, a 52nd Component Maintenance Squadron engine manager and mixed martial artist, walks down a hallway, wearing a

  • Sergeant helps others in India

    Staff Sgt. Alexander Cedillo, a 60th Logistics Readiness Squadron day-shift supervisor at Travis Air Force Base, California, recently visited Kolkata, India, where he found peace and answered a calling. In February, he used 30 days of leave to volunteer at a hospice house and a home for the mentally

  • AF recognizes top wing command team

    Col. Mark August and his wife, Cristen, received the General and Mrs. Jerome F. O’Malley Award during a ceremony at the Pentagon, May 8.

  • Nation honors WWII vets on V-E Day anniversary

    They may move more slowly than they did in 1945, but World War II veterans were out in force at the National World War II Memorial on the National Mall here May 8 to remember their comrades on the 70th anniversary of when the guns stopped in Europe.

  • Academy wins DARPA challenge

    The U.S. Air Force Academy won the Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency's Innovation Challenge for the second year in a row, Academy officials said May 6.

  • Mildenhall CDC best in Air Force

    The Royal Air Force Mildenhall Child Development Center was awarded the Air Force's best Child Development Program of the Year for 2014. Competing against 84 other CDCs across the Air Force was no small challenge, and it took an above-and-beyond effort of the whole team.

  • Vandenberg receives conservation award

    Vandenberg Air Force Base recently received the 2015 Military Conservation Partner Award for excellence and exceptional leadership in natural resource conservation, May 4.

  • Manassas airport hears ‘true sound of freedom’

    There’s no mistaking the sound of four Wright Cyclone 1,200-horsepower engines pulling a B-17 Flying Fortress into the air. The press and local dignitaries watched as two B-17s, a B-24 Liberator and the only remaining airworthy B-29 Superfortress taxied down the ramp at Manassas Regional Airport,

  • Nepal relief airlift expands with deployment of Yokota aircraft

    As U.S. efforts to support the government of Nepal is recovering from the earthquake that struck the country April 25, the 374th Airlift Wing here sent four C-130 Hercules and accompanying personnel to aid Joint Task Force-505 (JTF) in its mission.

  • AFSAS home page redesign helps to streamline layout and navigation

    The Air Force Safety Automated System (AFSAS) home page was recently updated, providing more capabilities to safety professionals and leadership and giving them the ability to identify trends and to produce analyses that lead to recommendations and mishap prevention.

  • Airman turns career around after confinement

    Boxed in by cold white bricks and murky blue floors with nothing but a rickety desk separating his twin-size bed from a closet full of rank-less uniforms, in October 2007, Airman Basic Council Jones hit the lowest point of his life.

  • AFIMSC activates AETC detachment

    The third of 10 Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center (AFIMSC) detachments was activated in a ceremony here May 6.

  • Taking care of people for mission’s sake

    Military members are often told the mission comes first, but for Jane-Marie Kopycinski, military members and their families are the mission -- and some might argue the most critical component of the force.

  • Health specialists keep forces active

    It’s an everyday routine for Airmen and other base personnel to pour into the dining facility for their daily intake of breakfast, lunch and dinner.

  • DOD Lab Day to showcase groundbreaking technologies

    The Air Force Research Laboratory will have a unique opportunity to showcase some of its groundbreaking technologies at the first ever Department of Defense Lab Day to be held at the Pentagon in Washington, D.C., May 14.

  • Active-duty Airmen to have direct access to physical therapy clinics

    The Air Force Medical Operations Agency has recently directed all Air Force military treatment facilities (MTF) to establish direct access physical therapy clinics for active-duty members. The policy shift will now allow an active-duty member with an acute musculoskeletal injury to make an

  • Website improves, simplifies military child care search

    With frequent moves, Air Force families face the challenging, and often frustrating task of making new child care arrangements every few years. A new Defense Department website is helping ease those moving transitions by simplifying the search and registration process for child care.

  • AF celebrates Public Service Recognition Week

    PSRW is a nation-wide campaign to recognize people who serve the nation as federal, state, county and local government employees. It's to highlight their contributions and to say “thank you for your service.”

  • Global Strike maintainers win 2014 AF-level maintenance award

    The men and women of Air Force Global Strike Command's Logistics, Installation and Mission Support Directorate recently earned the 2015 Gen. Wilbur L. Creech Maintenance Excellence Award. The award is given to the major command demonstrating the most improved performance in the category of aircraft

  • Brothers in arms fly together

    Members of the U.S. military oftentimes have relatives that serve alongside them, and this is the case for the Allen brothers, they were recently reunited at exercise Max Thunder 15-1 in South Korea.

  • Elmendorf force support squadron earns LeMay award

    The 673rd Force Support Squadron earned the Air Force Curtis E. LeMay award for best large installation-level FSS of the year in the Air Force for 2014. The award recognizes the 673rd FSS leadership, customer service, support and quality-of-life programs provided to joint military members and their

  • AF Safety Center sponsors Fall Protection Focus weeks

    Air Force Ground Safety is sponsoring Fall Protection Focus weeks from May 4-15. This initiative is a partnership with the Occupational Safety and Health Administration and National Institute for Occupational Safety and Health's campaign, "National Safety Stand-Down."

  • Military child to AF leader

    From his cradle in a small village in western Germany to the position of the 81st Training Wing commander, Brig. Gen. Patrick Higby has learned the value of being a military child and the resources available to others who have grown up in the military life.

  • Air Force focuses on assured access to space

    Ending America’s reliance on the Russian-built RD-180 rocket engine was the primary topic of conversation during a hearing with the Senate Armed Services Committee, Subcommittee on Strategic Forces, April 29.

  • AF Reserve, Guard leaders testify before the Senate

    The chief of the Air Force Reserve and the director of the Air National Guard testified alongside the other services’ Reserve chiefs and Guard directors before the Senate Appropriations Committee Subcommittee on Defense, April 29.

  • Building a bond like no other

    Walking through the 366th Security Forces Squadron dog kennel, barking erupts from all directions. Staff Sgt. Benjamin Vanney makes his way to his new military working dog, Rony. He smiles at the sight of Rony jumping around in excitement, ready for a new day of training. Having only been together

  • Supplements: Awareness is a serious matter

    Health, fitness and energy are important considerations for all Airmen, but when does pursuing them result in potential and real problems Supplements, health foods and energy drinks may be popular and even come with approval from the U.S. Department of Agriculture, but that doesn't ensure compliance

  • Assistance program provides GS employees counseling, more

    Personal and family problems can diminish a person's happiness, health and ability to be their best at home or at work. With help from the Employee Assistance Program, employees of authorized federal agencies can resolve these matters and become happier, healthier and more effective.

  • AF will defend, boost space assets

    Space is absolutely vital to the American way of life and it is also vital to the protection of the nation, the commander of Air Force Space Command told the Defense Writers’ Group here April 28.

  • A day in the life of a dental lab technician

    Dentures, crowns and night guards are just some of the unusual products made at the Peterson Area Dental Lab for personnel worldwide. Senior Airman Jonathon Stambaugh has been a lab technician for the ADL for more than two years, working on crowns along with other projects. He also trains and

  • Joint Warrior: It's what we train for

    They train for air-to-air combat missions, are rapidly deployable, execute worldwide combat search and rescue (CSAR), and sustain operations around the world during both war and peace.

  • Elmendorf Airman named Alaska bodybuilding champion

    Airman 1st Class James Jones, a 673rd Communications Squadron cyber systems operator, participated in the 2015 National Physique Committee Alaska State Championships on April 4. He spent more than a year preparing, chiseling at his physique slowly but surely every day. Hundreds of hours in the gym,

  • Acquisitions enterprise: Agility and people key to reform

    Dr. William LaPlante, assistant secretary of Air Force acquisition, along with the Navy and Army acquisition secretaries testified on acquisition reform before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Subcommittee on Readiness and Management Support, April 22.

  • AF Test Pilot School applications due in June

    The 2015 Air Force Test Pilot School (TPS) selection board will convene July 20-24 to consider candidates for July 2016 and January 2017 classes. Applications are due to the Air Force Personnel Center by June 5.

  • Air Force nuclear mission embraces culture of empowerment

    The top military leaders for strategic forces from the Department of Defense, Navy and Air Force testified on the state of the nuclear enterprise to members of Congress April 22, during an Armed Services Committee hearing.

  • Students participate in AFRL design challenge at Natick

    More than 150 students from 17 colleges and universities and three service academies were on hand at the Natick Soldier Systems Center April 13-17, as they participated in the 2015 Air Force Research Laboratory University and Service Academy Design Challenge.

  • AF wins 2 DOD environmental awards

    The Defense Department announced on April 23, that the Air Force is the recipient of two 2015 secretary of Defense environmental awards.

  • AFIMSC vice commander speaks at commanders’ school

    The vice commander of the Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center spoke to a class of Air Force leaders attending the Commanders' Professional Development School at Air University April 20 on how the new center will provide installation and mission support programs and services.

  • AFSPC commander discusses priorities at symposium

    Gen. John E. Hyten, the commander of Air Force Space Command, identified several key actions to be taken to ensure U.S. strength in space for the future during the 2015 Space Symposium April 14.

  • Orthotic tech helps military working dog walk again

    Army Maj. Andrea Henderson, the veterinarian at the Department of Defense Holland Military Working Dog (MWD) Hospital here, first started treating SStash last October. A degenerative disease had led to one of SStash's hind legs needing surgery.

  • From Colorado to South Korea, 3 generations serving on the peninsula

    Most Airmen arrive at Kunsan Air Base, South Korea, with the expectation of seeing new faces and forming new relationships at the start of their yearlong unaccompanied tour. But for a father and son of the Colorado Air National Guard, when they stepped onto the Korean Peninsula, they continued a

  • Kirtland’s FSS marketing team tops in Air Force

    Despite having just three employees on the marketing team -- Joanne Perkins, director; Amanda Chavez, graphic designer; and Meaghan Russo, social media specialist -- the 377th Force Support Squadron recently earned the 2014 Air Force Marketing Program of the Year award.

  • Cody visits Soto Cano Air Base

    Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody visited with Airmen during a trip April 13-15, at Soto Cano Air Base, Honduras. Cody visited numerous sections within the 612th Air Base Squadron and talked with Airmen on a personal level, holding several face-to-face conversations during his visit.