NATO Air Policing operations

U.S. Air Force News

  • The footprint of the Jolly Green Giant leaves its mark

    Tech. Sgt. Mathew Macella, the 56th Rescue Squadron pararescueman blue team NCO in charge, succinctly summed up the explanation for all the stickers of green feet found around Royal Air Force Lakenheath and what they mean for the 56th RQS. The origin of the green feet symbol came from Vietnam, when

  • Kunsan AB hosts Exercise Max Thunder 14-2

    U.S. Air Force, Army, Marine Corps and Navy personnel and aircraft are training with the Republic of Korea Air Force units Nov. 14 - 22, in the semi-annual, bilateral training exercise Max Thunder 14-2, here.

  • SecAF visits Guam during Pacific tour

    Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James visited here Nov. 19-20, to meet with Airmen and gain a better understanding of the central role the island base plays within Pacific Command as part of engagements at Pacific Air Force bases.

  • 479 selected for top enlisted rank

    Of the 2,525 senior master sergeants eligible for promotion to chief, 479 were selected for an 18.97 percent selection rate, Air Force Personnel Center officials announced Nov. 20.

  • Air Force announces AFIMSC candidate bases

    Air Force officials announced today Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Joint Base San Antonio, Scott Air Force Base, and Wright-Patterson AFB as candidate bases to potentially host the headquarters (HQ) for the new Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center (AFIMSC).

  • AFW2 helps Airmen take steps toward recovery

    One would never know the twelve current and retired Airmen walking into the Joint Base Andrews West Fitness Center, Nov. 18, were wounded, ill or seriously injured. Minutes later, it is evident as the bleachers and floor fill with gym bags, volleyballs and prosthetic limbs, while two dogs sit

  • Retrograde in full gear

    As the retrograde mission of transporting equipment and personnel out of Afghanistan continues, Dover AFB personnel are hard at work ensuring the job is done safely, on time and as efficiently as possible.

  • Tools to pencils: Airman makes career a work of art

    In March of 1962, just a few weeks after turning 18, Terry Lee stepped off the bus at then-Lackland Air Force Base, San Antonio, with the hopes of being an Airman. What happened in the years after would make a small-town boy into an Airman who could not only turn a wrench but also draw his way into

  • Kentucky Air Guard completes Ebola-response mission in Senegal

    Airmen from the Kentucky Air National Guard's 123rd Contingency Response Group transferred control of a humanitarian cargo hub to replacement forces here Nov. 18, successfully completing their support of an Ebola-response mission that has processed more than 750 tons of relief supplies for airlift

  • Skydiver places 3rd, donates winnings

    As a canopy pilot, also known as a swooper,a 3rd Space Operations Squadron captain maneuvers high performance parachutes with the goal of flying through a course just inches above the Earth. He then drags his foot across a pond in a controlled manner gaining points in three separate categories:

  • Boom operator soars, rises to challenge

    With nerves pushed aside and the pilots' support, Cash was able to successfully refuel the B-1, allowing the crew to continue their mission with a full tank. At the age of 19, she never thought she would be trusted with so much responsibility.

  • Survival instructor keeps F-35 training afloat

    Within the 33rd Fighter Wing, innovation doesn't end at the flightline, but finds its way into a 12-foot swimming pool where new F-35 Lighting II pilots are now able to seamlessly complete their water survival training.

  • New app to solve basic computer problems across AF

    As the Air Force Enterprise Service Desk goes virtual, Airmen will see a new application on their computers that allows them to immediately tackle and fix their minor information technology issues

  • TACP receives second Silver Star medal

    Master Sgt. Thomas Case, a tactical air control party Airman in the 18th Air Support Operations Group here, received his second Silver Star medal Nov. 13, for heroic actions during a 2009 deployment to Afghanistan.

  • Air Force 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.

  • Mackay Trophy returns to AFSOC

    Under heavy enemy fire Dec. 21, 2013, the crew of Rooster 73 performed expert aerial maneuvers while simultaneously providing medical care to the critically-injured passengers on board their CV-22 Osprey.

  • Providing a FAST deployment role

    Air Force FAST teams play a crucial role in protecting aircrews and airplanes in hostile areas. They fly on specific missions to various deployed locations to ensure the safety and security of aircraft and crew members.

  • Roll Call: Giants among us

    The Air Force’s senior enlisted Airman released the latest installment of Roll Call, urging Airmen to continue to honor veterans, past and present, beyond the holiday.

  • Focused on the future, force improvement marks progress

    Over the past few months, many changes have come to Air Force Global Strike Command. What started as a grass-roots effort has become a monumental effort by Air Force leaders and Airmen to foster positive changes within the command.

  • Research laboratory honors top scientists, engineers

    Air Force Research Laboratory honored 12 outstanding scientists and engineers at the 2014 AFRL Fellows and Early Career Awards Banquet recently for their exceptional contributions to advancing technologies for the warfighter.

  • New lieutenants give back to Academy Prep School

    Every year, the U.S. Air Force Academy adds to the ever-growing Long Blue Line of graduates. The new second lieutenants, after having spent the last four years together, scatter across the world. Few will return to the Academy in a professional context.

  • Secretary praises, thanks veterans, service members

    Every year, we set aside Veterans Day to honor all the men and women who've served our country in uniform. We celebrate veterans from generations past. We welcome a new generation of veterans home from war. And we thank our future veterans, still serving at home and abroad.

  • Injured EOD Airman returns to fuller life

    In an instant, he went from living his dream to being utterly destroyed on a dusty road in Iraq. An improvised explosive device exploded about two feet from his face, throwing him about 20 feet and leaving him unrecognizable. As his arm dangled to his side, he stumbled up and yelled for the medic.

  • Air Force updates AF Instruction 1-1

    Air Force officials approved Air Force Instruction 1-1, Air Force Standards, on Nov. 7, 2014 to clarify guidance on Airmen’s religious rights and commanders’ authority and responsibility to protect those rights.

  • Services continue strong recruiting through September

    All four active services met or exceeded their numerical accession goals for fiscal year 2014 through September, and each service also exceeded Department of Defense quality benchmarks for new recruits, DOD officials announced Nov. 10.

  • Commentary: Airmen Powered by Innovation program launches new site

    In April of this year we launched the Airmen Powered by Innovation program aimed at turning your ideas into real cost savings for our Air Force. Since coming online API has received and reviewed more than 2,400 ideas and that number continues to climb. Thank you and keep the great ideas flowing.

  • ISR aircraft hones in on strategic agility

    Intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities have been in high demand from combatant commanders. In order to meet this new operational demand, Air Force officials answered the call back in 2008 by rapidly acquiring and deploying the MC-12W Liberty.

  • Veterans in Blue Volume V out now

    For decades, Airmen have answered the call to serve and protect the nation’s interests, people and cherished freedoms that underpin it all, risking their lives for others, and thus, becoming heroes in the eyes of those they protected.

  • Benefits claim process for voluntary separatees

    Records for all Airmen separated or retired under the fiscal year 2014 Voluntary Separation Pay program were updated Nov. 5 to reflect eligibility for transitional medical benefits.

  • AFRL 3-D audio research helps to make cockpit safer

    The Air Force Research Laboratory, Human Effectiveness directorate, Battlespace Acoustics Branch, has developed 3-D sound technology that creates a sound environment that mimics the way the human body receives aural cues -- much like 3-D movies create the perception that the viewer is part of the

  • Reservist celebrates 6 years of cancer remission

    When her husband threatened to take her to the emergency room, she made an appointment with a cardiologist and later had her blood drawn. An urgent call from the doctor later sent her to the emergency room, where she was as stunned as everyone else with the diagnosis -- Acute Myelogenous Leukemia

  • Reserve Airmen support Ebola fight on the ground

    About 15 air transportation specialists from the 446th Airlift Wing here are scheduled to depart for Dakar, Senegal, Nov. 8, to support ground personnel for the campaign against Ebola during Operation Unified Assistance.

  • Airlift squadron established for Ebola response in Senegal

    More than 35 Airmen and two C-130J Super Hercules from Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, arrived in Dakar, Senegal, this week to establish the 787th Air Expeditionary Squadron and to fly humanitarian cargo into Liberia as part of Operation United Assistance, the mission to fight Ebola in West Africa.

  • AF awards new launch, test range service contract

    The Air Force awarded the Launch and Test Range Integrated Service Contract (LISC) to RGNext on Nov. 6. The total contract value, including all potential options and potential award fee is $2 billion. LISC will provide the government with a single prime contractor responsible and accountable for

  • AF leaders share Veterans Day message

    Air Force senior leaders sent a Veterans Day letter to all Airmen, reminding them to proudly uphold the legacy of service interwoven in the Air Force's fabric. Airmen were thanked for their service and encouraged to thank fellow veterans on this day of remembrance.

  • Air Force 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.

  • Poinsett Range: the environmental mission

    The Poinsett Electronic Combat Range, previously called Poinsett Bombing Range, opened in 1952 to be used as a real-world training range for military personnel.

  • Past, present CE leaders meet to share knowledge

    Former Air Force civil engineer senior leaders joined forces with their present-day counterparts to talk about the current CE operating environment, offer feedback and reconnect with colleagues during the Air Force Directorate of Civil Engineers’ annual Founders Day Oct. 30 in Crystal City, Virginia

  • AF engineers log record-breaking accelerated engine test

    A highly successful accelerated mission test (AMT) of Pratt & Whitney's F135 conventional take-off and landing/carrier variant (CTOL/CV) engine was recently completed in the Sea Level 3 test cell (SL-3) at the Arnold Engineering Development Center.

  • Air Force pilot develops plan to reduce jet fuel consumption

    The Air Force spends more than $9 billion annually on energy. Aviation consumes 86 percent of that amount. In support of the Air Force Energy Strategic Plan to foster an energy aware culture and reduce aviation fuel consumption, an instructor pilot from the 5th Flying Training Squadron has

  • Air Combat Command salutes new leader

    Gen. Hawk Carlisle assumed command of Air Combat Command from Gen. Mike Hostage during a ceremony at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, Nov. 4.

  • Airman discovers grandfather's World War II story

    An Airman here recently discovered that his grandfather was among a small group of Americans who joined the Canadian military to thwart the tyranny of Nazi Germany prior to America entering World War II.

  • AF surgeon exceeds expectations in Afghanistan

    When receiving a set of orders for a deployment, many service members are left with an assortment of questions: “What will I do, where will I go and will I make a difference?’ For Maj. Jonathan Forbes, a neurosurgeon assigned to the 455th Expeditionary Medical Group here, knew he would be deploying

  • Losing the 16 pound burden, Airman makes difficult decision for his family

    At age 28, Tech. Sgt. Jason Caswell was an athlete who was well on his way to becoming an Air Force rugby player. While stationed in England, whenever Caswell wasn’t on the flightline working, he was out on the field playing his sport. From there, his dream was to take the next step of joining the

  • Historic hangars merge past with present

    Two historic hangars were fitted with solar walls last year, and the effort is saving the installation as much as $100,000 per year in utility costs. In addition to cost savings, the systems are expected to reduce greenhouse gas emissions by more than 470 metric tons per year -- the equivalent of

  • BTZ brothers bring out each other’s best

    Growing up in Athens, Texas, in a single income home didn't leave Juan Antonio and his brother, Antonio Antonio, much to fall back on, but they never dwelled on what they didn't have. They just did the best with what they had, which was each other.

  • Keep fighting: Air Guard officer beats cancer

    “We like to feel like we have control of our destiny, and plan it out. I wasn't going to let this illness derail me. Everybody who has had cancer has their own battle, and you need to know up front that the battle can be successful.”

  • Lasting impressions of an AF honor guardsman

    Walking tall throughout the base, it's apparent that Master Sgt. Andre Moore stands out from the rest of the Airmen. His uniform is sharp and he carries himself with pride. He has the mark of an Air Force honor guardsman. Not unlike a tattoo, the Air Force Honor Guard experience is impressed upon

  • F-35 engine fix coming

    Air Force Lt. Gen. Christopher C. Bogdan, the head of the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter program office, said by the end of December he expects to have decided on a permanent solution for a design issue that caused an F-35A engine to fail in June at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida.

  • Air Force 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.

  • Enlisted promotion system changes continue with weighted factor adjustments

    This January, changes to the Weighted Airman Promotion System (WAPS) will continue with adjustments to the scoring model for promotions to technical sergeant and below, all designed to help ensure job performance is the most important factor when evaluating and identifying Airmen for promotion.

  • Air Force completes historic fuel conversion

    The Air Force took an important step in fiscal responsibility and supply chain efficiency as it converted its final stateside installation from Jet Propellant 8 (JP-8) fuel to the more common and commercially available Jet A fuel, Oct. 29 at Wright Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

  • Dyess Airmen deploy in support of 'United Assistance'

    More than 35 Airmen and two C-130Js from the 317th Airlift Group and 7th Bomb Wing deployed Oct. 29, 2014, to an air base in Western Europe, where they will provide tactical airlift support for Operation United Assistance.

  • Wingman now a part of BMT culture

    Glamorized during the ‘80s movie ‘Top Gun,’ the concept of a wingman was to always keep the lead pilot safe, even at the cost of veering off to fight the enemy. For the past few years, “wingman” has become a pledge, promise and commitment between Airmen to take care of themselves and those around

  • Defense Department officials establish Ebola medical support team

    When Capt. Stacey Morgan’s squadron commander sent her a text message saying that she needed to immediately call him, her first thought was, “Uh-oh. What did I do?” But after a minute or two of talking to her commander, her apprehension was quickly replaced by anxious excitement, as he asked her to

  • Missileer gears up, pulls first alert

    Early October, 2nd Lt. Holley Macpherson, a 320th Missile Squadron deputy missile combat crew commander, took a major step in her career. She manned a launch control center (LCC) for the first time.

  • Senior NCOs lead wingman tactics process, foster culture of innovation

    Senior NCOs from the 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing are leading the charge in the wing's newly created Wingman Tactics Process, created to collect and review best wingman practices already in place throughout the wing, and then share those ideas with the rest of the wing.

  • Airmen lead the way in last pre-Ranger course

    Twenty-one Airmen from around the Air Force were put to the test both physically and mentally in their pursuits to attend the U.S. Army Ranger school during the Ranger Assessment Course (RAC) Oct. 2-16, at Silver Flag Alpha range, Nevada.

  • AF to implement DOD TDY policy changes

    The Defense Department recently implemented two TDY policy changes impacting travel reimbursements for Airmen.The first change took effect Oct. 1, and made changes to the Joint Travel Regulations (JTR), Reimbursable and Incidental Expense Policy. The second will be a change in long-term TDY per diem

  • Minot AFB awarded most reading minutes

    Minot Air Force Base was awarded first place for the 2014 Summer Reading Program, for the most minutes read, with more than 1.1 million minutes of reading time.