NATO Air Policing operations

U.S. Air Force News

  • Combat Support Wing exercise showcases agile lethality

    More than 150 Airmen from seven major commands participated in a combat support wing proof-of-concept exercise Sept. 5 to 19 that tested a small team’s capability to conduct agile downrange operations. The exercise, conducted at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, with forward deployments to Moody Air

  • McChord AFB represents USAF in Ample Strike, NATO Days

    Exercise Ample Strike and NATO Days Air Show in the Czech Republic offered an opportunity for 62nd Airlift Wing Airmen from the 4th Airlift Squadron to integrate with NATO forces during a multinational exercise and outreach effort Sept. 8 to 18. This combined exercise directly supports 2018 National

  • Strengthening Ties with Bilateral Exchange

    For over 20 years, Yokota Air Base, Japan has participated in the Bilateral Exchange Program, in which Japan Air Self-Defense Force Airmen experience what it’s like to work as U.S. Air Force Airmen.

  • Rapid Antarctic airlift saves lives

    Just after completing the final flight of the Southern Hemisphere winter Antarctic season, the 304th Expeditionary Air Squadron was alerted there was a medical emergency at the National Science Foundation’s McMurdo Station Aug. 25.

  • Edwards AFB creates aerial refueling test tool to save time, money

    Leadership across the Air Force want their workforce to focus on innovation every day, whether it is making things better, more efficient, or saving money. A small team at Edwards Air Force Base can now check off all those boxes with their custom-built test tool designed to cut down test costs and

  • Multi-domain command and control is coming

    In his remarks during this year’s Air Force Association’s Air, Space, and Cyber Conference in National Harber, Maryland, Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein explained the importance of Multi-Domain Command and Control in executing the nation’s next fight.

  • Indo-Pacom Wraps Up Valiant Shield 2018

    U.S. military forces from the U.S. Indo-Pacific Command wrapped up exercise Valiant Shield 2018, Sept. 23rd, around the Marianas Island Range Complex and on Guam.

  • Reserve Airmen save life in-flight

    A reserve aeromedical evacuation crew from the 433rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron with the 433rd Airlift Wing, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, was flying to support patient transport missions out of Andrews Air Force Base, Maryland when they came together to save the life of a man

  • The Flying First

    That young pilot, Capt. Benjamin Foulois, was in one of eight Curtis JN-3 “Jenny” biplanes participating in the search. The planes were powered with 90-horsepower engines that had a rough time just staying airborne, but they led a reconnaissance mission to kick off Gen. John J. Pershing’s punitive

  • AFCENT command and control operations weather the storm

    The force smashed into their northern and western flank, but still, the Airmen stayed focused on the U.S. Central Command mission, a fight thousands of miles away. The opposing force was no enemy, however. These Airmen of the 609th Air Operations Center, Detachment 1, Shaw Air Force Base, South

  • US Naval Academy tests waters with Hurricane Hunters

    When the subject of summer internships comes up, thoughts of fetching coffee and doing paperwork or answering phone calls come to mind.What does not come to mind is working 10,000 feet in the air in an Air Force Reserve WC-130J Hercules flying through a hurricane for the sake of research.

  • 22nd annual USAF Marathon hosts international field

    This year marks the 22nd annual running of the U.S. Air Force Marathon. The warm and humid weather didn’t stop over 15,000 runners, walkers and spectators from all 50 states and more than ten foreign countries, from taking part at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force at Wright-Patterson Air

  • “Memphis Belle” exhibit opens at National Museum of the USAF

    Through the cockpit windscreen, Capt. Robert Morgan saw flashes of light from the wings and engine cowling of a German Focke-Wulf Fw 190 at his 12 o’clock and closing at an incredible rate. Each wink of light from the fighter’s wing root meant another 20mm cannon shell was heading directly at his

  • Squadrons 'beating heart' of Air Force

    In the Air Force, squadrons are the basic level of operations, its “beating heart” as Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. David Goldfein calls them.To better understand how significant the squadron is to the Air Force, it’s also important to know what a squadron is.

  • Solo mission

    Standing proudly in front of a B-25 Mitchell on display for a recent airshow in the central Texas town of Burnet, retired Lt. Col. Richard Cole slowly walked up to the antique bomber and clutched one of its propeller blades.

  • 'Candy Bomber' delivered chocolate, hope to Berlin

    Seventy years ago, with Adolf Hitler’s crumbled Third Reich still fresh in their memories and Joseph Stalin’s Soviet Union having a choke hold on their future, Berlin’s children were starving.

  • JB Charleston evacuates aircraft, maintains airlift capabilities

    Joint Base Charleston personnel assigned to the 437th Airlift Wing and 628th Air Base Wing began evacuation flights for 24 C-17 Globemaster III aircraft Sept. 11, 2018, in anticipation of Hurricane Florence making landfall. The aircraft and supporting personnel planned and executed flights from

  • 188th Wing activates UPAD for Hurricane Florence Response

    The Arkansas Air National Guard’s 188th Wing activated its Unclassified Processing, Assessment and Dissemination capability in response to Hurricane Florence September 13, providing imagery, geospatial, and assessment support to incident commanders in affected areas.

  • Hurricane Hunters fly Florence, conduct search and rescue

    Members of the U.S. Air Force Reserve’s 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron assisted the U.S. Coast Guard with a search and rescue mission Sept. 11, locating a white 41-foot Bali sailing catamaran after completing their mission for Hurricane Florence.The vessel was making a trans-Atlantic voyage

  • Passing the torch: Ex-commando inspires youth for special operations

    While most people spend their off time catching up on their favorite shows, playing video games, or catching up on social media, one Reserve Airman and clinical nurse with the 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, spends his evenings training the future men and women of special operations.

  • Moody A-10 engine maintainers make history

    For the first time, Moody’s 23rd Maintenance Squadron’s propulsion flight accomplished an unprecedented feat by ensuring every TF34 engine in their fleet is repaired to serviceable status.

  • Yesterday’s Air Force: Hurricane Hunters

    What started as a dare more than 70 years ago turned into the way we predict hurricanes today. Find out how the Air Force got started in a critical mission that saves lives by flying through hurricanes.

  • Phantom of Takur Ghar: The Predator above Roberts Ridge

    A once quiet landscape turned battlefield, the clash of gunfire and shouts ripped through the Shahi-Kot Valley in the early hours of March 4, 2002. As part of an early war effort that targeted al Qaeda and Taliban forces in Afghanistan, the Battle of Roberts Ridge is still known as one of the

  • ANG general to lead UPE Integration Team

    What do unexplained physiological events and a recent promotion have in common? The answer is Edward Vaughan who recently promoted to brigadier general and named by the active-duty component to lead a UPE integration team.

  • Why I serve: The Kalkbrenner family

    As of 2017, approximately two million people currently serve in the U.S. military with millions of veterans serving before them in the several hundred year history of the country’s armed forces. All of these service members chose to don their respective service’s uniform for varying reasons. Many

  • Chill, cryogenics has what you need

    Providing the base and various other units on the island with cryogenic products – whether it be in a liquid or gaseous form – is the plant’s priority.

  • Advanced training prepares boom operators for future

    Within the past year, KC-10 Extender boom operators have been receiving cutting-edge, three-dimensional simulator training and life-size cargo load training that benefits the boom operator career field around the world.

  • Passing the guidon: Ray takes command of AFGSC

    Gen. Timothy Ray took command of Air Force Global Strike Command from Gen. Robin Rand, outgoing AFGSC commander, during a ceremony, Aug. 21. He is the newest leader of the Air Force’s portion of the nuclear enterprise, which maintains the nation's only force of Minuteman III intercontinental

  • Breaking barriers: Miller nominated as AF Reserve's first 4-star

    Lt. Gen. Maryanne Miller was nominated by President Donald Trump and confirmed by the U.S. Senate for promotion to the rank of general Aug. 20. Miller will become the first Airman in the history of the Air Force Reserve to pin on a fourth star. In 2016, she became the first female chief of the Air

  • USDA net system reduces aviation bird strikes

    The U.S. Department of Agriculture works with safety teams around the Air Force to limit the presence of birds on and around airfields to protect aircraft from bird strikes, an issue that costs the Air Force millions of dollars every year in damages.

  • Around the Air Force: Aug. 17

    FORT GEORGE G. MEADE, Md. (AFNS) – On this look Around the Air Force, a second contract is awarded to construct a prototype hypersonic weapon and Colombian Airmen refuel USAF aircraft for the first time. Hosted by Tech. Sgt. Samantha Ducker.

  • Aircraft parts store: No one flies without supplies

    The 100th Logistics Readiness Squadron is one of the largest squadrons at RAF Mildenhall, and is the beating heart that keeps the Bloody Hundredth’s mission going.RAF Mildenhall is one of the few bases with an aircraft parts store open 24 hours; leaving no room for a pause in the mission with a

  • Exercise Pitch Black 2018 strengthens alliances

    Exercise Pitch Black 2018 is a Royal Australian Air Force-hosted biennial multinational large force employment exercise held from July 27 through Aug. 17. This year’s event, the largest since its inception, involves 16 nations, 140 aircraft and more than 4,000 personnel – approximately 150 of which

  • Load crews train for deployment operations

    Imagine mission success laying on the shoulders of the individuals to your right and left. For one team of Airmen, the shortcomings of one can be catastrophic to the task at hand. These groups of professionals assigned to the 20th Maintenance Group, spanning three fighter squadrons, work in unison

  • The ART of training the total force

    In July, the 480th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing’s ART held a Total Force Integration Conference at Joint Base Andrews, Maryland, allowing ART members from throughout the geographically separated Wing to connect for three days with over 160 peers from other services and nations,

  • Aircrew practice Mayday over water

    More than 30 Airmen participated in water survival training at Patrick Air Force Base, Florida, August 4th, to hone the skills needed in an emergency water landing.

  • Galaxy wraps upgrades to become C-5M Super Galaxy

    The first flight of the Lockheed Martin C-5 Galaxy took place on June 30, 1968, with an audience including President Lyndon Johnson. Now, 50 years later, the Super Galaxy is still going strong.

  • Airmen support Q-West airfield alongside Iraqis

    The average day for air traffic controllers involves a lot of moving parts and Airmen working constantly to ensure safe and secure air flow. For Qayyarah Airfield West, Iraq, this rests solely on the shoulders of just a few people.Not only do those Airmen control the airspace, at the airfield

  • AF 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.

  • Hill AFB Airmen, aircraft progress together as F-35A program matures

    Two years after the Air Force declared initial operational capability for the F-35A Lightning II, pilots and maintainers at Hill Air Force Base’s active duty 388th and reserve 419th Fighter Wings are steadily erasing the word “initial” from in front of “operational capability.”

  • Technical sergeant promotion cycle correction

    Following the recent technical sergeant/18E6 promotion cycle release and Airmen expressing concerns about selection rates in the Refueling/Bomber Aircraft Maintenance (2A5X4) Air Force Specialty Code, the Air Force’s Personnel Center identified 57 Airmen in that AFSC with an ‘A’ shred-out

  • Airman posthumously receives Medal of Honor

    The White House announced July 27, 2018, that Air Force Tech. Sgt. John Chapman will be posthumously awarded the Medal of Honor Aug. 22, for his extraordinary heroism during the Battle of Takur Ghar, Afghanistan, in March 2002.

  • Robins begins JSTARS depot maintenance

    The Air Force initiated its own depot maintenance here for the E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft July 17, 2018, to deliver more aircraft faster, leading to increased readiness for warfighters.

  • Vice President, Second Lady visit Grand Forks AFB

    Vice President of the United States Michael Pence spoke with Airmen at Grand Forks Air Force Base, N.D., July 25, 2018, while Karen Pence, the Second Lady of the United States, hosted a seminar for military spouses.

  • Thunderbirds announce 2019 officer selections

    The commander of Air Combat Command, Gen. Mike Holmes, has officially selected the officers who will be joining the U.S. Air Force Thunderbirds for the 2019 demonstration season.

  • F-22 pilots fire live missiles at Combat Archer

    More than 200 pilots, maintainers and operations support staff from the 1st Fighter Wing are gaining firsthand experience in loading and firing live missiles at Tyndall Air Force Base, Florida, from July 6-20, 2018.

  • AF 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.

  • Air Force formalizes Air Force One replacement deal with contract to Boeing

    The U.S. Air Force awarded a contract to The Boeing Company to design, modify, test, certify and deliver two presidential, mission-ready aircraft by 2024.This contract action formalizes President Trump’s agreement reached with Dennis Muilenburg, Boeing chairman, president, and CEO, Feb. 20, 2018.

  • Around the Air Force: July 18, 2018

    On this look Around the Air Force the KC-46 Pegasus program completes its final flight tests, and five Airmen receive the Air Force’s first ever “R” device for their actions in combat operations. Hosted by Staff Sgt. Nicholas Koetz.

  • Former CSAF awarded for analytic achievements

    Former Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz was presented the 2017 Lt. Gen. Glenn A. Kent Leadership Award by Kevin Williams, director of Air Force Studies, Analyses and Assessments, at the Pentagon, July 13, 2018.