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  • ACC, PACAF commanders confirmed

    Pacific Air Forces Commander Gen. Herbert Carlisle will be the next commander of Air Combat Command and ACC Vice Commander Lt. Gen. Lori Robinson will be the next commander of Pacific Air Forces, according to a Senate confirmation vote July 23.

  • Overcoming fear: Airman’s training takes over during firefight

    The bad guys, however, were not sleeping. Under the cover of darkness, a small force determined to attack the Kabul Airport and Afghan air force Base next to it, took over a multi-story building under construction just north of the target. Armed with multiple rocket propelled grenades, automatic

  • Kendall: F-35 Rollout Marks U.S.-Australia Partnership Milestone

    The official rollout of the first two F-35 Lightning II joint strike fighter aircraft for the Royal Australian Air Force is a milestone in the U.S.-Australia partnership, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics said July 24.

  • SECAF discusses current, future challenges with 501st CSW

    Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James visited Royal Air Force Alconbury and RAF Molesworth, England, to learn more about the mission of the 501st Combat Support Wing and to discuss with Airmen the current state of the Air Force.

  • Military mail changes to save $4 million annually

    Changes to military postal operations will save the Defense Department $4 million annually while providing services comparable to those of any U.S. Postal Service office, a senior Military Postal Service Agency said.

  • Airman tops off 8,000th hour career milestone

    Senior Master Sgt. Floyd W. Atkins, a 340th Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron boom operator, recently reached 8,000 refueling hours in his career, a rare feat for a boom operator.

  • EOD specialists build bilateral relations

    It is just another day on the job for Misawa Air Base's explosive ordnance disposal team members here -- but not an entirely regular morning. At the team's side are fellow Japanese Maritime Self-Defense Forces, or JMSDF, and U.S. Navy members, partaking in a joint bilateral exercise at the Draughon

  • AF satellites to contribute to space neighborhood watch

    The Air Force plans to launch two operational satellites and one experimental satellite into near-geosynchronous Earth orbit July 23. According to Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James, "these operational and experimental systems will enhance the nation’s ability to monitor and assess events

  • Pacific Angel making a difference in Tonga

    More than 160 members from seven nations joined forces to provide humanitarian assistance to the citizens of Tonga as part of Operation Pacific Angel-Tonga July 21.

  • Security forces marksmen hone skills at Alaska range

    Brock said his parents didn't like guns and wouldn't allow him to have one. At 16 years old, he managed to get his hands on a BB gun. At 17, his grandfather, who sympathized with the teenager, got a Remington Model 522 Viper .22-caliber rifle for the budding marksman as a Christmas gift. He was

  • Barnes Center rebuilds senior NCO education curriculum

    Developers and faculty at the Thomas N. Barnes Center for Enlisted Education kicked the level of learning up a notch with version 6 of the distance learning Senior NCO Course 14. The new version replaced version 5 in late 2013.

  • From trash to treasure: Converting Academy waste into renewable energy

    During August 2013, the Defense Department Environmental Security Technology Certification Program funded CDM Smith, a national engineering and construction firm, to test how the U.S. Air Force Academy can reduce energy use and cost at its wastewater treatment plant, and convert food waste from its

  • Airman to publish story of tragedy, perseverance

    He could have faced another life, one that included becoming a child soldier and subsequently a lost boy from the Liberian Civil War. Instead, luck, hard work and true grit led Joseph Boyou to the Air Force where he now holds the rank of staff sergeant. Boyou, the 2nd Air Force special projects and

  • CMSAF tours Edwards AFB, discusses fiscal realities, changes

    Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force James A. Cody, the 17th chief master sergeant appointed to the service's highest enlisted rank, and his wife, Athena, visited the high desert to meet with and thank Airmen and their families, and to get an up-close look at the local mission.

  • Air Force will provide assured access to space

    Gen. William L. Shelton, Air Force Space Command commander, stressed the importance of maintaining assured access to space to the Senate Subcommittee on Strategic Forces and Committee on Commerce, Science and Transportation during a hearing on the options for assuring domestic access to space, July

  • F-15E takes first flight with new radar system

    The first 389th Fighter Squadron F-15E Strike Eagle received a Radar Modernization Program upgrade at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho in June. The new radar system is designed to retain functionality of the old legacy radar system while providing expanded mission employment capabilities.

  • GORUCK Light Challenge tests, inspires Airmen

    Painful muscles, cramps, dripping sweat, extremely hot temperatures and two heavy downpours courtesy of the base fire department weren't enough to dispel the motivation of more than more than 25 members of the base community here participating in the GORUCK Light, Team Cohesion Challenge July 12 at

  • Around the world in 27 days

    The first continuous mission around the world for the MC-130J Commando II, the Air Force Special Operations Command's newest platform, ended successfully July 9 with the aircraft's safe return to Cannon Air Force Base, N.M.

  • Defense secretary visits Eglin AFB

    Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel visited Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., where he addressed safety concerns and toured the 33rd Fighter Wing's F-35 integrated training center, July 10.

  • ISR Agency becomes part of newest Numbered Air Force

    The Air Force Intelligence Surveillance and Reconnaissance Agency is being realigned from Headquarters Air Force as a Field Operating Agency to become part of a new operational Numbered Air Force, or NAF, under Air Combat Command, or ACC, officials said July 11.

  • Air Force creates Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center

    The Air Force is centralizing its installation support management within a newly created Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center, Air Force officials announced July 11. The change resulted from a comprehensive effort to reduce overhead costs; increase efficiencies; eliminate redundant

  • Kardashians attend shower for military moms

    "Keeping up with the Kardashians" stars Kim, Kourtney and Khloé gave back to the Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst community during an Operation Shower event for 64 new mothers July 7, in Jersey City, New Jersey.

  • AF moves forward with future bomber

    The U.S. Air Force released its Long Range Strike Bomber, or LRS-B, request for proposal to industry July 9 with a contract award expected in spring 2015.

  • Transcending Tragedy

    At a stage in life that many would consider to be over the hill, Ronald Ball hardly fit the profile of an Air Force recruit. Starting over, a middle-aged man, no one would have blamed him for giving up.

  • 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.