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U.S. Air Force News

  • AF introduces Total Force Commissioning Process

    Air Force officials announced the Total Force Commissioning Process July 10. This new process allows the Air Force to provide multiple career avenues for officers being commissioned through Air Force ROTC by offering cadets the chance to pursue opportunities in the Air Force Reserve or Air National

  • Airmen, aircraft continue Greenland mission

    Approximately 70 Air National Guard Airmen and two ski-equipped LC-130 Hercules completed the fourth rotation in the Arctic region to support the National Science Foundation, June 27-30 here.

  • KC-46A groundbreaking ceremony marks giant step forward for air refueling

    A new era in Air Force air refueling capabilities took a giant step forward June 30. Shovels overturned the first piles of dirt during a groundbreaking ceremony for the new KC-46A Pegasus at McConnell Air Force Base. The ceremony symbolized significant progress in the KC-46A program and that

  • RPA unit moves to 'Emerald Coast'

    The 919th Special Operations Wing welcomed the 2nd Special Operations Squadron, its remotely piloted aircraft unit, to the Emerald Coast. The 2nd SOS, comprised of about 140 Air Force reservists formerly located at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., began RPA operations in its new facility at Hurlburt

  • New school directory guides parents of special-needs kids

    A permanent-change-of-station move prompts its own challenges, but family members with special-needs children face another complexity when looking for the right schools at their new home, a Defense Department official said here July 2.

  • SecAF visits missile wings, highlights progress

    Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James visited Air Force Global Strike Command's three missile wings June 30 - July 1 to meet with Airmen and discuss changes made in the force over the past six months.

  • New positions bridge gap at missile wings

    In an effort to bridge the gap between young operators and leadership, Air Force Global Strike Command, through the 20th Air Force, established an assistant director of operations, or ADO, position at each missile wing.

  • Lombardi Trophy goes to McChord

    The 2014 Seattle Seahawks 12 Tour is taking the team's first Vince Lombardi Trophy on a journey through the Pacific Northwest during the summer and to say "thank you" to their fans serving in the armed forces, the Seahawks kicked-off the tour July 1, here.

  • Top wing commander team is honored

    Col. Ricky Rupp and his wife, Charlotte, received the General and Mrs. Jerome F. O’Malley Award during a ceremony June 27, in Washington, D.C.

  • ANG partners with Croatian army for renovations

    Airmen from the 219th RED HORSE Squadron and Minnesota Air National Guard’s 133rd and 148th Civil Engineering Squadrons partnered with the Croatian army June 27, to renovate bathrooms at an elementary school in Ogulin, Croatia.

  • Breedlove: Russian actions bring Europe to decisive point

    Gen. Philip M. Breedlove, NATO's supreme allied commander for Europe and the commander of U.S. European Command, told reporters at the Pentagon that Russia's actions against Ukraine show just how important it is to maintain a forward presence in Europe to reassure the nation's partners and allies.

  • Fifth CMSAF visits Airmen, talks change, taking ownership

    The fifth Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force, Robert D. Gaylor, visited and spoke with Airmen June 26 at the base theater here.The former senior enlisted member of the Air Force shared his personal journey and views on leadership with more than 200 Airmen in attendance.

  • AF awards new combat rescue helicopter contract

    The Air Force awarded a $1.28 billion contract for the initial engineering and manufacturing development phase of the new combat rescue helicopter to Sikorsky Aircraft Company on June 26.

  • Aerial surveillance key to NATO efforts

    The E-3A Component based here is an integrated, multinational, rapidly deployable asset to NATO providing airborne surveillance, command, control, and communication capabilities

  • Philippine and U.S. Airmen renovate school in need

    Airmen from the 374th Civil Engineer Squadron spent 31 days building two classrooms and renovating utilities throughout the Buyong Elementary School in Barangay Maribago, Lapu-Lapu City, Philippines, as part of Operation Pacific Unity 14-6, a bilateral engineering program meant to strengthen ties

  • Airman supports task force in Belize

    Senior Airman Mario Acevedo is one of the busiest airmen assigned to the U.S. Southern Command-sponsored New Horizons exercise in Belize. As the lodging representative, he makes room assignments, tracks personnel accountability and works with the host nation hotel to make sure things such as

  • NCO uses humor during life-threatening battle with cancer

    Master Sgt. Sean Arnold takes most things in stride, even being diagnosed with testicular cancer. The 60th Operations Group resource manager said he's "not even remotely shy about this," cracking jokes and making puns about the life-threatening battle he's faced during the past 19 months in the most

  • USAFE Band sets stage for APF Senegal

    The U.S. Air Forces in Europe six-person rock band "Afterburner" kicked off African Partnership Flight here June 13, with weekend performances and continues to reach new audiences.The band is in Senegal as part of APF Sengal, a week-long program featuring eight African nations meeting to discuss and

  • ANG, Army test earthquake response

    More than 100 members of the Kentucky Air National Guard’s 123rd Contingency Response Group and the U.S. Army’s 688th Rapid Port Opening Element deployed here June 16-19 for an exercise that will test their ability to respond to a major earthquake along the New Madrid Seismic Zone.The exercise,

  • SecAF outlines changes for nuclear force

    Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James outlined new incentives and measures designed to change the culture of the service's nuclear force June 17. Following a cheating scandal involving intercontinental ballistic missile launch officers at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, and the subsequent

  • Afghan air force learns self-sustaining casualty evacuation care

    The flightline is filled with aircrew and C-130 Hercules engines are starting up for another Afghan air force casualty evacuation mission.Within two years, the Afghan air force has made significant improvements to their casualty evacuation capabilities...

  • BMT quarters temporarily housing immigrant minors

    A former BMT facility was turned into a temporary shelter May 18 by the Department of Health and Human Services' Administration for Children and Families. The shelter is for unaccompanied Central American minors who have been caught illegally crossing into the U.S.

  • Malmstrom completes final Minuteman III configuration

    Air Force Global Strike Command met a major milestone June 16, when maintainers at Malmstrom Air Force Base, Montana, removed the last multiple independently targetable reentry vehicle in the Air Force intercontinental ballistic missile inventory from a Minuteman III.

  • Generating Airpower: The heart of an F-16

    When Airman 1st Class Ashton Youngblood was 17 years old, he spent an entire year rebuilding a Ford F-150 pickup truck from the ground up. He didn't know it at the time, but it was just a minor tune-up for what his career had in store.

  • Old Glory, 'Star Spangled Banner' represent America's strength, perseverance

    Fort Mc Henry, Maryland, likes Flag Day so much, they’re celebrating America’s most recognizable symbol of patriotism twice this year—in June and in September. Annually, June 14th commemorates the day in 1777 when the Continental Congress replaced the symbol of the Grand Union flag with the stars

  • Wounded warrior battles life, career, competition

    He had known about the cancer, but until his trip to the emergency room that day in 2007, he hadn’t been told how far it had spread throughout his body. The doctor then shared with the master sergeant that his chances of survival over the next five years were at 55 percent and if he was willing to

  • Libraries launch 'Paws to Read' summer reading program

    Summer is just around the corner and right now is the perfect time to begin putting together your family's summer reading list.Air Force libraries have launched the summer reading program, "Paws to Read" and are planning a host of activities for children, teens and adults. Activities will range by

  • Cheating in ALS: Zero tolerance for compromise of core values

    The best way to succeed in Airman Leadership School, and not resort to cheating, is to be open and honest with leadership before enrolling, understand the gravity of the demanding coursework, and be prepared for it, said Senior Master Sgt. Leyla Gillett, Langley Air Force Base ALS commandant.

  • AF test pilot school applications due in June

    The 2014 U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School, or TSP, selection board will convene here Aug. 5-8 to consider candidates for July 2015 and January 2016 classes, Air Force Personnel Center officials said.

  • 1st Space Ops assumes space surveillance mission

    The 1st Space Operations Squadron at Schriever AFB, Colorado, will assume command and control of the Geosynchronous Space Situational Awareness Program (GSSAP) this summer. The satellites are a space-based capability that will operate in the near-geosynchronous orbit regime supporting U.S. Strategic

  • Airman expresses self through spoken-word poetry

    "Spoken-word is a platform," said Airman 1st Class Christopher Malone, 56th Medical Support Squadron medical laboratory apprentice at Luke Air Force Base, Arizona. "It's not the poetry you write, put in a book and sell. It's revolutionary. It's a movement." Spoken-word poetry dates back to ancient

  • AFCENT rolls out new leave, pass policy

    U.S. Air Forces Central Command officials released the command's revised leave policy June 6, which affects Airmen serving 12-month tours in Southwest Asia.In its recent recertification of the Imminent Danger Pay program, the Department of Defense determined that, effective June 1, personnel serving

  • Friendship knows no borders

    Four-year-old Sarah reached out to grasp her friend Fatou's hand as she has every day since Fatou first arrived at the Maxwell Air Force Base child development center in August 2013. On this day, Sarah led Fatou to the dance floor, placing her in a specific position like a delicate wall fixture.

  • Airmen wrap up 'Eager Lion' over Jordan skies

    For the past two weeks, Airmen from around the world converged in Jordan to provide airpower to sister services and partner nations throughout Exercise Eager Lion 2014.Between May 25 and June 8, the scenarios that played out over the skies of Jordan included various air-to-air and air-to-ground

  • Mountain Home Fire Department receives DOD award

    The Mountain Home Air Force Base Fire Department was recently recognized as the winner of the 2013 Department of Defense Fire and Emergency Services of the Year award in the small fire department category.

  • AF to implement new feedback process July 1

    In a recent message to Airmen, Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III and Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Cody announced plans to begin implementing a more comprehensive Air Force evaluation system for officers and enlisted members. The first step in the process will be the July 1

  • AF releases new feedback forms

    During the past year, Air Force leaders have been shaping a new and more comprehensive Air Force evaluation system for officers and enlisted Airmen.The new system is designed to better meet the needs of the Air Force and Airmen, differentiate more effectively between good and great performers, and

  • Airman's grandfather part of post-Normandy air campaign

    D-Day. The mere mention of the epic invasion can evoke a barrage of images in people's minds spanning the spectrum between horror and glory. For Master Sgt. Matthew Carey, 28th Bomb Wing Treaty Compliance Office superintendent, it conjures thoughts of a man he barely knew and whose grandest

  • Space fence contract awarded

    The Air Force awarded a $914,699,474 contract to Lockheed Martin on June 2, 2014 to develop a system that will track objects in Earth's orbit with far greater confidence and fidelity.

  • AF Museum breaks ground on $35.4M expansion

    The National Museum of the U.S. Air Force broke ground today on a new $35.4 million building that will house aircraft from the museum's Presidential, Research and Development (R&D) and Global Reach collection, as well as a new and expanded Space Gallery.

  • 'Final frontier' now complex domain for space safety culture

    Space, long thought to be America’s final frontier, has transformed over the past several decades into a complex domain the Air Force must operate in safely. Recent Hollywood productions depicting dangerous space events - hurtling space debris blowing satellites to bits; disconnected astronauts

  • Ramstein Airmen rekindle piece of D-Day history

    Seventy years ago, young men from the 37th Troop Carrier Squadron at RAF Cottesmore, England, prepared their aircraft and themselves for what would soon be known as one of the most significant and meaningful days in the history of the world...D-Day.

  • Battlefield Airborne Communications Node ensures warfighter connectivity

    Three recent achievements demonstrate how a critical communications capability managed here is continuing to keep warfighters connected. The Battlefield Airborne Communications Node, or BACN, translates and distributes imagery, video, voice and data, often from disparate elements, improving

  • Biden to Class of 2014: 'You carry America on your back'

    The Air Force Academy's Class of 2014 will face new missions as the United States draws down in Afghanistan, but the challenges they encounter will be no less formidable and complex, Vice President Joseph R. Biden said during the Academy's commencement May 28.

  • Air Force mental health programs encourage seeking help

    The number of Airmen seeking mental health care has increased over the last five years-- and this is a trend Air Force leaders encourage, according to a lead psychiatrist with the office of the Air Force Surgeon General.

  • Wrenches to wings: munitions maintainer becomes F-15C pilot

    Second Lt. Kyle Wheeler once prepared weapons for the F-15C Eagle as an munitions maintenance operator. After earning his commission, Wheeler is in the initial stages to climb into the cockpit and drop the weapons he once delivered.

  • May 23 – Pulse on AF force management

    This week’s force management update focuses on the chief master sergeant retention board, voluntary separation pay, officer reduction in force boards, quality force review board, civilian force management and total force opportunities in a continued effort to bring Airmen the latest, most accurate

  • USecAF touts Air Force capabilities at 30th Space Symposium

    At an annual gathering of civil, military and industry professionals from across the globe, Under Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning emphasized Air Force contributions through space and cyberspace. Fanning was the featured keynote speaker during the 30th Space Symposium dinner May 20 in

  • Technology offers more ‘face time’ with commanders

    New advances in digital technology now allow commanders to speak directly to Airmen, despite geographical separation. The Global Content Delivery Service, or GCDS, is a real-time video moderated forum, which enables Airmen to ask questions, receive information and engage in face-to-face

  • CSAF provides ‘initial feedback’ to all commanders

    All supervisors are required to provide subordinates with an initial feedback, outlining expectations, standards and goals they can both work together to achieve. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III led the way by introducing the new Air Force Instruction 1-2 “Commander’s

  • Cancer survivor becomes pilot for a day

    John Austin survived infant leukemia, seven surgeries, chemotherapy, respiratory failure and dozens of blood transfusions. Thanks to the 58th Airlift Squadron, he can now add Air Force pilot to that list.

  • House approves Congressional Gold Medal for Civil Air Patrol

    When the founding members of Civil Air Patrol, the U.S. Air Force auxiliary, risked life and limb to help protect the home front during the early days of World War II, they weren’t looking for recognition. Some seven decades later, though, they’re receiving it, thanks to the U.S. House of

  • Premium DOD exercise hones special operations skills

    More than 1,500 Special Operations Forces from around the services participated in Emerald Warrior, a two-week joint service, inter-agency and partner nation exercise that concluded May 9 at Hurlburt Field, Florida.

  • SecAF, VCSAF outline top priority in memo to Airmen

    In a memo sent to Airmen across the service today, Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James and Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry Spencer challenged Airmen to take responsibility for creating cost saving initiatives within their areas of expertise.

  • Take 'FIVE' to get free money for your TSP account

    The Thrift Savings Plan has launched the "Take FIVE for Your Future" educational campaign encouraging civilian employees to take advantage of free government TSP matching contributions by putting at least 5 percent from each paycheck into their account.

  • Air Force moves closer to KC-46A beddown

    The Air Force is a step closer to bedding down its anticipated fleet of KC-46A Pegasus aerial tankers. Officials recently announced Altus Air Force Base, Oklahoma will serve as the Air Force's KC-46A formal training unit and McConnell AFB, Kansas will be the first active duty-led main operating base

  • DOD shows science, technology success despite hard year for workforce

    Despite a year of workforce furloughs and dwindling budgets, the Defense Department’s science and technology enterprise reports advances ranging from a full hypersonic weapon system and high-energy lasers to light-based brain treatments and new core capabilities in cyber warfare, senior DOD

  • Comptroller notes progress in DOD financial management

    Despite financial uncertainties, the Defense Department has made significant progress in improving financial management, DOD Comptroller Robert F. Hale told the Senate Homeland Security and Governmental Affairs Committee May 13 while in attendance with military senior leadership.

  • Expeditionary group wraps-up Baltic deployment

    The 48th Air Expeditionary Group handed over the reins of NATO's Baltic Air Policing mission to the air forces of Poland and the United Kingdom during a ceremony at Šiauliai Air Base, Lithuania April 30.

  • Hometown friends serve together on deployment

    For Air Force Lt. Col. Elizabeth Clay, Air Force Col. Brad Hoagland made a difference in her life and career more than 28 years ago, when the two were in high school. Today, they find themselves serving together halfway around the world -- he as the vice commander of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing

  • Morale, welfare, recreation customer survey rolls out

    Does your base fitness center need new equipment? Do you want more recreational traveling opportunities? Do you think there aren’t enough recreational opportunities for single service members, or do you think there are too many?

  • ANG unveils new senior enlisted leader management office

    The Senior Enlisted Leader Management Office was unveiled by Air National Guard Command Chief Master Sgt. James W. Hotaling to the state and wing command chiefs during the annual Command Chief's Huddle held here May 11-12.

  • PME, families, civilians focus of latest Chiefchat

    FORT MEADE, Md. (AFNS) -- Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Cody answered questions from Airmen, civilians and family members during his fourth worldwide CHIEFchat at the Defense Media Activity here April 29.CHIEFchat gives Airmen around the world the chance to directly ask their questions

  • 'Macho Spouse' creator represents AF at top spouse awards

    The husband of an Air Education and Training Command major represented the Air Force in the 2014 Military Spouse of the Year awards ceremony, honoring a spouse from each service. Christopher Pape, husband of Maj. Dana Pape, AETC resources section chief, was one of six representing the services to be

  • AF doctor leads medical team in Belize

    Lt. Col. (Dr.) Steven Acevedo found himself tasked as the lead for a team of medical providers during the New Horizons Belize 2014 medical readiness training exercise, in the southern Toledo district in Belize. In Belize, Acevedo and his team of doctors, nurses, technicians and educators from

  • SecAF relates readiness to core values

    Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James spoke May 5 at Maxwell Air Force Base about her first four months in office, the current environment, expectations and how the Air Force core values relate to her own priorities.