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  • 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

  • AF chief scientist visits AFRL, receives service honor

    Dr. Mica Endsley, the chief scientist of the Air Force, met with Air Force Research Laboratory leaders at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, May 5-7, reviewing key Air Force science and technology programs, and attending a preview of the technology displays AFRL will feature at the Department of

  • ANG European theater security package arrives in Bulgaria

    The U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa commander spoke to U.S. and Bulgarian Airmen and local community leaders about the Air Force's first European theater security package (TSP) of F-15C Eagles deployed to Graf Ignatievo Air Base, near Plovdiv, Bulgaria, May 11.

  • 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

  • EOD's classroom: Training takes the fear away

    Every explosive ordnance disposal mission can be lethal, considering EOD technicians must locate, identify and disarm explosives, of which there are thousands of possible variations our enemies can use.

  • Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge test last flight

    A team of researchers from the Air Force Research Laboratory, NASA and FlexSys Inc., accomplished a long sought goal in aviation research April 22, with the last flight of the Adaptive Compliant Trailing Edge (ACTE) Flight Research program.

  • 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.

  • C-17 fleet celebrates 3M flying hours

    The C-17 Globemaster III has proved again that it remains the world's premier airlifter after the total C-17 fleet celebrated the historical milestone of achieving 3 million flying hours on May 5.

  • 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.

  • PAF marks milestone, integrates with Air Force AWACS crew

    For the first time in Philippine Air Force history, PAF air battle managers controlled aircraft while airborne by integrating with the U.S. Air Force's 961st Airborne Air Control Squadron as part of exercise Balikatan 2015.

  • 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.

  • Ramstein awarded $250,000 for innovation

    Gen. Frank Gorenc, the U.S. Air Forces in Europe and Air Forces Africa commander, presented the 86th Airlift Wing here a $250,000 check and the Lt. Gen. William H. Tunner Trophy May 1, for winning the USAFE-AFAFRICA Innovation Madness tournament.

  • Emerging from the fog: A story of loss, healing, new beginnings

    On the way to the hospital, after nine months of anticipation, Luke and JoAnne Lokowich were getting ready for what's typically the most important moment of a married couple's life. Hours later, the memories and happiness were overtaken by grief and sadness as JoAnne, after giving birth to daughter

  • 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.

  • USDA dogs sniff out snakes

    With the utilization of 17 active-detector dog teams, 3,400 traps and toxicants, the U.S. Department of Agriculture captured approximately 8,300 brown tree snakes on Guam last year.

  • Emerald Warrior-15 a complete success

    More than 2,100 members participated in Emerald Warrior, an annual Air Force Special Operations Command two-week joint service, interagency and partner nation exercise that concluded here May 1.

  • 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.”

  • AMC to relocate KC-135 simulator to Pittsburgh

    As Air Mobility Command fields the KC-46A Pegasus, displaced KC-135 Stratotanker simulators are being designated for relocation to improve efficiency and effectiveness across the total force mobility enterprise by maximizing flying hour cost avoidance through improved simulator access.

  • 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.

  • STRATCOM commander hosts ICBM stakeholders meeting

    During his visit to F.E. Warren Air Force Base April 27-28, Navy Adm. Cecil D. Haney, the U.S. Strategic Command commander, reinforced how essential the intercontinental ballistic missile mission is, and some face to face engagement allowed Haney to seek bottom-up feedback from Airmen of all ranks.

  • 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.

  • 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

  • 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.

  • LA Air Guard deploys to Bulgaria for NATO training exercise

    The Louisiana Air National Guard's 159th Fighter Wing from Naval Air Station-Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, is participating in a bilateral flying training deployment with the Bulgarian Air Force at Graf Ignatievo Air Base, Bulgaria, April 16-May 5.

  • 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.

  • Medics participate in Ultimate Caduceus 15

    Members of the 22nd Medical Group, and units from across the U.S., participated in Ultimate Caduceus 2015, giving them the opportunity to conduct aeromedical evacuation training, April 16-18, at Naval Air Station Joint Reserve Base New Orleans, Louisiana.

  • AF releases new integrated priority list

    The Air Force released its second comprehensive two-year integrated priority list (IPL) this month.The IPL strategically orders requirements for facility sustainment, restoration, modernization, environmental, energy, dormitory and demolition projects across the Air Force.

  • 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.

  • AF celebrates Earth Day by focusing on mission today, tomorrow

    Air Force leaders are reminding Airmen to keep the mission in mind as the Air Force observes the 45th annual Earth Day April 22. The service has encouraged Airmen around the globe to focus on recycling efforts this year, in line with its 2015 theme, “Conserve Today – Secure Tomorrow.”

  • 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

  • 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.

  • Doolittle Raiders share Congressional Gold Medal with the world

    On April 18, 1942, 80 men inspired a nation by flying 16 B-25 bombers off the deck of the USS Hornet and dropping ordnance on Tokyo. Now, 73 years later, Congress honored these men with the Congressional Gold Medal, presented to the Raiders in Washington D.C., April 15.

  • General’s mentorship leads 2nd Lt. back to AF

    Second Lt. Matthew Ruden didn't always plan to stay in the Air Force, but he plans to stay now. Ruden, an acquisitions manager for the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center's F-15 Eagle Division, will be promoted to first Lieutenant on May 1. Maj. Gen. Tom Masiello, the Air Force Research

  • Husband, wife tackle first deployment together, support bomber presence

    B-52H Stratofortress teams have been rotating to Andersen Air Force Base for the last 11 years to maintain the U.S. Pacific Command's continuous bomber presence (CBP). Hundreds of Airmen deploy every six months to support this mission that strengthens regional security and stability of the

  • SecAF delivers message of confidence

    Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James spoke to an audience of military and commercial space professionals, and space enthusiasts at the 31st Annual Space Symposium here, adding to an already familiar message.

  • What it takes to be a boom operator

    Boom operators on an Air Force KC-135 Stratotanker have the ability to pump thousands of pounds of fuel to any capable aircraft, thousands of feet above the ground, flying at 200 knots, all while only 47 feet from colliding into each other. However, before any of this is possible, they had to go

  • AF report to Congress: Pursues retention of C-130Js at Keesler

    As part of a required Air Force report to Congress on the C-130 Hercules force structure, the Secretary of the Air Force released a force structure amendment pursuing the retention of 10 Air Force Reserve Command C-130J aircraft at Keesler Air Force Base.

  • 45th Space Wing supports 6th SpaceX re-supply mission

    The 45th Space Wing supported Space Exploration Technologies' (SpaceX) successful launch of their Falcon 9 Dragon spacecraft headed to the International Space Station from Space Launch Complex 40 at Cape Canaveral Air Force Station, Florida, April 14.

  • AF announces KC-46A candidate bases

    Air Force officials announced April 14 that Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma; Seymour-Johnson AFB, North Carolina; Westover Air Reserve Base, Massachusetts; and Grissom ARB, Indiana are candidate bases for the first Air Force Reserve-led KC-46A Pegasus location.

  • Kisling NCO Academy recognized as best of best

    The U.S. Air Forces in Europe's Kisling NCO Academy was named the 2014 U.S. Air Force Professional Military Education Team of the Year. This is the fifth time in the past six years they have been recognized for their accomplishments in the development of NATO NCOs.

  • Q&A with the CMSAF

    Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody and his wife, retired Chief Master Sgt. Athena Cody, visited Laughlin Air Force Base from March 31 to April 2. During his visit, Cody met with Airmen to discuss morale, welfare, and the future of the Air Force. Before his departure, the 47th Flying

  • Defense Secretary visits Osan AB

    Defense Secretary Ash Carter visited Osan Air Base, April 9, where he held a troop call and briefly spoke about the importance of the United States' role in Asia.

  • SECDEF honors military children at Yokota AB

    In Japan, the secretary held a military family town hall at Yokota Air Base to celebrate April as the Month of the Military Child, established in 1986 by then-Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger.

  • Second runway increases Bagram capability

    After months of planning and construction, the wing expanded its ability to support flying missions throughout the region with the addition of a second operational runway. The ancillary runway provides an alternate site for aircraft taking off and landing should the primary runway be damaged or

  • AF takes partnership approach to wildland fire management

    The Air Force has taken a new approach to Air Force wildland fire management by maximizing the use of interagency partnerships to address fire management and suppression requirements -- an initiative that is expected to save time and money for all parties involved.

  • CSAF describes Air Force of the future

    In the future, the Air Force’s core missions will probably not change, but the way they are carried out will, said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III on April 8.

  • `Swoosh’ welcomed as 334th FS pilot for a day

    He's nine years old, loves basketball, and has a heart as big as his smile.Jeremiah Seaberry, also known by his call sign "Swoosh," was made an honorary member of the 334th Fighter Squadron during a 4th Fighter Wing Pilot for a Day (PFAD) event, April 3.

  • Ready, set, retrograde

    As the United States seeks to lessen its footprint at locations across Southwest Asia, the word retrograde has been on the lips of Department of Defense decision-makers for months. When applied to military operations in Afghanistan, retrograde, which is defined as having a backward motion or

  • AF sexual assault prevention: moving in the right direction

    “I was raised in a household where you take responsibility for your own actions and don’t blame others for your downfalls,” said Tech. Sgt. Kathleen Thorburn. “Instead of seeing a crime that had occurred, all I could see were my mistakes. Why did I go to that party? Why did I accept the drink? Why

  • Sacrifices of the military child recognized during April

    Established by then-Defense Secretary Caspar Weinberger in 1986, the Month of the Military Child recognizes some 1.9 million U.S. military children ranging in age from infants to 18 years old, who have one or both parents serving in the armed forces.

  • Defending the nation's ICBM force

    Before the sun has had a chance to peek up above the horizon, a two-person team opens the front door and steps out of a missile alert facility (MAF) into the chilly blackness. Their flashlights click on and they set off on a perimeter check. With one on the outside of the fence surrounding the MAF

  • Generating airpower with hydraulics

    The 35th Maintenance Squadron's hydraulics systems back shop maintains F-16 Fighting Falcon’s hydro systems, including landing gear systems, brakes and flight controls.

  • Missile testing unit validates strategic deterrent

    The 576th Flight Test Squadron, which conducts Minuteman III launches from Vandenberg Air Force Base, California, holds the unique distinction as the sole intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test unit in the Department of Defense.

  • University Relations seeks to bolster AFRL partnerships, recruiting

    Employment recruiting efforts at the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) are expanding via its University Relations program. The program is part of a multi-faceted AFRL effort to seek out and attract the best and brightest scientists and engineers (S&Es) and carry out its mission of providing

  • Total force SMSgt evaluation static closeout date to be July 31

    Enlisted evaluation and promotion changes announced in July 2014 continue with establishment of a July 31 enlisted performance report static closeout date (SCOD) for regular Air Force, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve senior master sergeants, effective April 3, Air Force Personnel Center

  • CSAF discusses Air Force’s need to reset

    The Air Force Association hosted its monthly Air Force breakfast with Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, Chief of Staff of the Air Force, as the key note speaker, April 2, at the Key Bridge Marriott in Arlington, Virginia.

  • AF Nuclear Weapons Center reorganizes

    The Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center (AFNWC) reorganized its structure March 30, realigning responsibilities, authorities and accountability to better serve the nuclear enterprise.

  • 1,000th F-35 training sortie flown at Luke AFB

    The 56th Fighter Wing flew its 1,000th F-35A Lightning II training sortie March 31, making it the fastest F-35 wing to reach the 1,000-sortie milestone in the Defense Department.

  • $25,000 up for grabs in Air Force Club Scholarship Program

    The 2015 Air Force Club Scholarship Program is accepting applications through midnight CDT, May 1. Now in its 17th year, the program has provided almost $400,000 in college tuition assistance to more than 400 Air Force Club members and their families. This year, the program will award 40

  • DARPA uses open systems to boost airpower

    The Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency (DARPA) is unveiling a new program to boost U.S. air superiority by separating payloads such as weapons and sensors from the main air platform, and using open-system architectures to seamlessly integrate plug-and-fly modules into any kind of platform.

  • Reaper maintainers ensure ISR mission accomplishment

    Supporting the largest Reaper unit in the Air Force, Airmen assigned to the 451st Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Squadron work 24 hours a day to ensure the Reaper fleet is fully operational and ready to launch at a moment’s notice.