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U.S. Air Force News

  • Air Force welcomes four-legged lieutenant

    Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, Air Force Chief of Staff, visited Walter Reed Bethesda to commission a four-legged second lieutenant into the Air Force dog therapy program on March 12.

  • Airman gets lifetime opportunity to brief Queen

    The Air Force prides itself on giving Airmen opportunities. For Capt. Brusle Sherburne IV of the Air Force Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency, his special job afforded him the chance meeting of a lifetime. As the first U.S. Air Force exchange officer at Tactical

  • First F-35 Lightning II arrives at Luke AFB

    Escorted by two F-16 fighting Falcons, Luke Air Force Base's first F-35 Lightning II arrived a little after 11 a.m. March 10 from the Lockheed Martin factory in Fort Worth, Tex.

  • AF undersecretary: Budget uncertainty worries Airmen

    Airmen are worried about budgetary uncertainty, and service leaders pledge to be transparent about priorities and programs available as the service moves forward, Air Force Undersecretary Eric Fanning said here March 11.Speaking to the Defense Writers Group, Fanning told reporters he has heard from

  • Deployed Airman handcrafts hockey rink

    A resourceful Airman’s idea has resulted in the first outdoor hockey rink in this theater of operations.Airman 1st Class Joshua Hanson of the 386th Expeditionary Communications Squadron, developed a proposal to build a nearly arena-size hockey rink at his deployed location here.

  • DOD's top enlisted leader honors ACC Airmen, families

    Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Bryan B. Battaglia, senior enlisted advisor to the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, spoke during Air Combat Command’s annual awards dinner, where he lauded troops for their service and their families for their unwavering commitment.

  • CSAF, CMSAF visit Altus AFB

    Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody and their spouses, Betty and Athena, spent two days here to tour the installation and meet Airmen and their families March 5 and 6. Welsh also served as keynote speaker at the Altus Chamber of Commerce

  • DOD official discusses nuclear deterrence in Congress

    The Defense Department's nuclear deterrent is the ultimate protection for the United States while also assuring distant allies of their security against regional aggression, a senior Pentagon official told Congress March 7.

  • DOD's top doc outlines medical advances

    The Defense Department's top doctor says the innovations and technology in military medicine derived from more than a decade of war in Iraq and Afghanistan have led to advances in caring for the sick and injured.

  • Enrollment for free CCAF-credit culture course now open

    The Air Force Culture and Language Center is now accepting applications for the spring 2014 session of "Introduction to Culture."The ITC course is entirely online, self-paced and is offered at no charge to enlisted active duty Airmen, Air Force reservists or Air National guardsmen enrolled in

  • Program executive officer describes F-35 progress

    Progress remains steady in the F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter’s operational testing, reprogramming, fueling, and stand-up training, the F-35 program executive officer told an audience at Aviation Week’s Defense Technologies and Requirements Conference here March 4.

  • 6 F-15s, KC-135 to augment NATO mission in Baltics

    This week, the United States will send six additional F-15s and one KC-135 to augment the mission, the official said. These aircraft -- currently based at Lakenheath in the United Kingdom -- will be deployed to Siauliai Air Base in Lithuania.

  • Chaplain visits raise morale of missile field Airmen

    For Airmen who work in the missile field here, the hours are long, the workload can be heavy and the location is remote. Recently the chapel here implemented a program here to bridge the gap between the solitude of life in the field and Malmstrom AFB.

  • Social media: Unwanted eyes may be watching Airmen, families

    Social media outlets such as Facebook, Twitter and Flickr can provide an instantaneous and highly entertaining feedback stream of your daily activities to friends and family. The latest videos of dogs running with fireworks in their mouths, kittens tumbling in the snow or Internet memes of celebrity

  • Communications Airmen enable Greek, US flight training

    The success of a flying-training deployment involving U.S. and Hellenic air forces here hinges on an array of variables, and one quick-response communications force is ensuring tactical messages are delivered.

  • Ramstein AB hosts first sergeant symposium

    More than 120 military members from nine nations took part in the Kaiserslautern Military Community First Sergeant Council's Annual First Sergeant Symposium here Feb. 18 through 21.

  • U.S. joint capabilities support Thai partners

    The 3rd Wing validated its joint and combined capabilities this week when five C-17 Globemaster III left Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson for Thailand to airdrop paratroopers from the 4th Infantry Brigade Combat Team (Airborne), 25th Infantry Division, to the joint and combined exercise Cobra Gold

  • GPS IIF-5 successfully launched from Cape Canaveral

    The U. S. Air Force officials successfully launched the fifth Global Positioning System (GPS) IIF satellite carried aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV launch vehicle at 8:59 p.m. EST from Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Fla., Feb. 20.

  • As utility costs double, AF attorneys fight back

    The smart use of energy and water saves the Air Force money, but a decreasing demand has not overcome an increasing price. While facility energy use has decreased 37 percent since 1999, costs have increased 100 percent.

  • Aircrews offered a sigh of relief from altitude chamber training

    Capt. Julianne Gillespie, a 62nd Airlift Wing aerospace and operational physiologist, runs the refresher testing at the McChord Field Medical Clinic. The testing is mandatory for all aircrew members in order to learn their own body's warning signs for hypoxia during flight.

  • AF and Israeli Defense Force surgeons general sign agreement

    The surgeon general of the Air Force and his counterpart in the Israeli Defense Force signed an agreement Feb. 5 in Israel to reaffirm their mutual commitment to collaboration between the Air Force Medical Service and the IDF Medical Corps.

  • Security forces members receive nuclear-focused breacher training

    About 100 miles northeast of the base here, the Nuclear Security Combat Training Center at Camp Guernsey, Wyo., provides advanced tactics and marksmanship training for security forces members who guard and secure the Air Force’s Intercontinental Ballistic Missile force.

  • US pilots share skies with former Portuguese classmates

    Two Air Force captains sat in the 301st Fighter Squadron, one of two Portuguese F-16 Fighting Falcon squadrons at Monte Real Air Base, Portugal, while reminiscing about their days at Undergraduate Pilot Training in Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas.

  • Cope North commences on Guam

    More than 1,800 service members and approximately 50 aircraft from the Air Force, Navy, Japan Air Self-Defense Force, Royal Australian air force and South Korea air forces came together to kick off the 85th iteration of Pacific Air Forces' Cope North exercise Feb. 14 on Andersen Air Force Base,

  • Airmen, Soldiers sharpen search and rescue skills together

    Joint-service combat search and rescue training missions were held for the first-time Jan. 28 to Feb. 11 at Cellina Meduna training grounds near Maniago, Italy. The 31st Fighter Wing teamed up with the U.S. Army 12th Combat Aviation Brigade for joint training. There were several aspects to the

  • 'Backbone' of Real Thaw 14 pushes through final week of exercise

    Whether loading training munitions by day or turning wrenches at night, maintainers from the 31st Fighter Wing are continuing to support the 555th Fighter Squadron during their inaugural participation in Real Thaw 14, an international exercise hosted by the Portuguese air force here.

  • Airmen train Marines on aircraft refueling

    Marines from the 9th Engineer Support Battalion at Camp Hansen, Okinawa, Japan, are participating in a six-month field exchange program here with Airmen from the 18th Logistics Readiness Squadron.

  • Detecting spice: research continues at the Academy

    The Navy has a promotional campaign warning against spice; the Army has allowed commanders to order mandatory drug-testing for the first time; and Airmen at the Air Force Drug Testing Laboratory are working to find ways to detect the substance in service members.

  • Top ANG enlisted chief embraces 'one Air Force' concept

    Emphasizing the importance of embracing a “one Air Force” concept, Chief Master Sgt. James Hotaling, command chief master sergeant of the Air National Guard, addressed newly minted Air Force chief master sergeants attending the Air Force District of Washington Chief’s Orientation and Recognition

  • Training key to missileer readiness

    Pulling 24-hour alerts across the 341st Missile Wing's 13,800-square mile missile complex is an around-the-clock responsibility. Missileers here support the Air Force's nuclear deterrence and assurance mission at the wing's 15 launch control centers and missile alert facilities.

  • Behind the scenes look shows AFGSC Airmen at work

    In the nearly six decades since the Minuteman Intercontinental Ballistic Missile system was first conceived in the late 1950s, the weapon system has evolved to meet new challenges and assume new missions. Staff Sgt. David Clark takes us to Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., and introduces us to the

  • Unmanned QF-4 crashes near Holloman

    An unmanned QF-4 Aerial Target assigned to the 82nd Aerial Target Squadron here, crashed Feb. 7. The crash site is located inside the White Sands National Monument, which was closed in advance of the test mission.

  • New AC-130J completes first test flight

    After more than a year of modification maintenance, the newly created AC-130J Ghostrider took to the sky for the first time as a gunship here Jan. 31.

  • POW receives medal seven decades later

    For a former U.S. Army Air Force veteran, a seven-decade long wait ended when Col. James C. Hodges, the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst and 87th Air Base Wing commander here, presented the former prisoner of war the POW Medal for services during World War II, Jan. 27, 2014, in the presence of

  • One for one: JB Charleston goes international

    As the sun begins to rise over the Australian outback, the very same sun is setting for Royal Australian air force Sgt. Daniel Humphreys, currently assigned to the 17th Airlift Squadron as an exchange loadmaster. Humphreys will be calling Charleston, S.C., his home for the next few years. In

  • CSAF thanks Edwards AFB Airmen, talks keys to AF success

    Almost a thousand Airmen, government civilians and contractors filled the base theater to hear Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III talk to Edwards Air Force Bases Airmen about current issues and future challenges involving the service.

  • SecAF visits Joint Base San Antonio

    Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James met with several Airmen during a visit Jan. 31 at Joint Base San Antonio. She served as the reviewing official for the basic military training graduation parade, toured dormitory facilities and visited with officials at the 24th Air Force Headquarters

  • DOD electronic health records help VA disability claims

    The Defense Department has made troops' health records electronically available to the Veterans Affairs Department to speed up the adjudication of disability claims, a DOD health information technology official said.

  • AF to replace aviator locator beacons

    The Air Force will replace thousands of unreliable aircraft personnel locator beacons across the fleet, a service official said Jan. 16, here.

  • Maintainers ready gunships for retirement

    After more than 40 years of providing close air support, air interdiction and force protection for special operations forces, the preparation for the eventual retirement and phase out of the AC-130H Spectre, recognized as "world's deadliest conventional weapon" by the Military Channel and Fox News,

  • Real Thaw 14 kicks off in Portugal

    Approximately 260 Airmen from the 31st Fighter Wing arrived in Monte Real Air Base, Portugal, in support of Real Thaw 14 -- a two-week close air support exercise hosted by the Portuguese air force.

  • AF radar controllers unplug from Kyrgyzstan

    The 376th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron radar air traffic control liaison positions deactivated here Jan. 31, after 10 years of safely sequencing and separating aircraft.

  • Hagel promotes partnership at Aviation Detachment

    Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel visited with U.S. and Polish airmen from the 52nd Operations Group Aviation Detachment here, Jan. 31. Hagel traveled to Poland to discuss U.S. and Polish partnerships and defense alliances across a range of global security issues. He also thanked them for their support

  • How AF locates, recovers downed aviators

    An isolated military member may be equipped with many survival tools, but perhaps the most important is confidence in the people tasked to conduct his or her rescue. The Air Force’s ability to rapidly deploy and attack the enemy at a moment's notice comes with risk for pilots and other service

  • SecDef makes surprise calls to Malmstrom AFB officers

    Flying back to Washington D.C., from the Munich Security Conference aboard an E-4B aircraft, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel made a series of surprise phone calls to six officers currently pulling alert in three of the 341st Missile Wing's launch control centers

  • Hagel ends Poland trip with U.S., Polish airmen

    Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel spent the last afternoon of his first official visit to Poland by stopping at an air base where U.S. and Polish airmen work side by side, and later at a historic church where his great grandparents were married in 1882.

  • AF news team preps for ‘28-days in AFGSC’

    Two photojournalists and a broadcaster from the Air Force Public Affairs Agency here are gearing up for a 28-day trek to provide and inside and in depth look at the Air Force Global Strike mission and the Airmen who make it happen.

  • Offutt AFB Airman heading to Hollywood

    A vocalist in the Air Force Heartland of America Band received three yeses from the judges when she tried out for American Idol Oct. 14 at the CenturyLink Center in Omaha, earning her a ticket to Hollywood Week.

  • Ramstein AB Airmen lead Rwandan port operations

    In an effort to confront destabilizing forces and violence within the Central African Republic, France and the African Union have requested U.S. support to move Rwandan forces into the region.

  • Official discusses Chinese air force, missile trends

    U.S. intelligence officials visiting Capitol Hill Jan. 30 reported to the U.S.-China Economic and Security Review Commission on the steady progress made by the People’s Liberation Army Air Force and the implications of that development to the United States.

  • Weapons Airmen bring bombs to fight

    The chill in the morning air and the dark before dawn didn’t deter the Airmen from the 366th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron as they prepared training munitions for aircraft participating in combat exercise Red Flag 14-1 here. By providing realistic combat training in a contested, degraded and

  • Space squadron optimizes wideband communication constellations

    Late in 2013, the 3rd Space Operations Squadron’s mission -- "Warfighters ensuring reliable wideband communications to national authorities and U.S. and Allied forces" -- was proudly displayed as the unit repositioned its eighth satellite during a nine-month effort to optimize the military wideband

  • Super Bowl preparations include air defense exercise

    Fighter jets from the Continental United States North American Aerospace Defense Command Region, also known as CONR, along with the command’s interagency partners, are preparing to protect the sky around MetLife Stadium in New Jersey, the site of Super Bowl XLVIII Feb. 2.

  • Red Flag returns to Nevada

    The latest iteration of the Air Force's premier air-to-air combat training exercise kicked off Jan. 27 as allied and U.S aircraft launched to simulate battle in the sky over the Nevada Test and Training Range.

  • Deployed bandsmen calm troops during mortar attack

    Sirens screaming in the night alerted airmen to take shelter in protective concrete bunkers during an enemy mortar attack. Forward-deployed members of the Air Force Central Command Band waited with fellow wingmen for the ‘all clear’ signal when one airman requested a song.

  • Cadets sweep national soaring competition

    Academy cadets left their competition in the dust by winning their ninth consecutive National Sailplane Racing Championship for 2013 and earning the Collegiate Soaring Association's Robert B. Evans Trophy for the 15th time in 19 years.

  • Two deployed friends combine 78 years of AF service

    Two Airmen with the 455th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, have both been turning wrenches on jet engines longer than most people in the Air Force have been alive.

  • Father and son share A-10 legacy

    Already anxious about the first day of high school football practice, a young junior donned his gear and was calmed as he looked to the sidelines to see his father there watching. For the junior, a life of uncertainty and unfamiliarity was something he was used to. The next day his father, an A-10C

  • CJCS' top enlisted advisor speaks to DOD initiatives

    On the cusp of one of Minot Air Force Base's most demanding inspections this year, Airmen here welcomed the Senior Enlisted Advisor to the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, Marine Corps Sgt. Maj. Bryan Battaglia.

  • Ugandan troops support US airlift missions

    As U.S. airlift missions operating at the request of the French government and African Union authorities continue, Uganda maintains their role as a key U.S. strategic partner.

  • Official urges support for Afghan counternarcotics efforts

    A senior Defense Department official has warned about the growing threat of narcotics originating in Afghanistan and has urged continued support for efforts to eradicate production. Erin Logan, the Defense Department’s principal director for counternarcotics and global threats told the Senate Caucus