U.S. AIR FORCE NEWS

  • CENTAF commander meets with Airmen in Afghanistan

    The commander of U.S. Central Command Air Forces visited with 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Airmen here and at Kandahar Airfield Oct. 8. Lt. Gen. Gary North also used the visit to Afghanistan to view the newest addition to the Air Force's close-air-support inventory -- the MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aerial

  • New JCS chairman visits Bagram

    The military's top servicemember visited here Oct. 7 to check on operations in Afghanistan and hear the concerns of military members. Adm. Michael G. Mullen, the new chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, thanked servicemembers for their sacrifices during an All-Hands Call for E-6s and below. The

  • The 'So What' factor puts Oct. 10 airpower summary in perspective

    The Combined Air and Space Operations Center's airpower summary provides a daily account of the integration and synchronization of airpower. But some folks may ask, "So what? What does this summary really mean?" The "So What" factor for Oct. 10's airpower summary is that five dozen coalition

  • Reaper UAV now flying in Afghanistan

    The Air Force announced Oct. 11 that the MQ-9 Reaper, the service's new hunter-killer unmanned aerial vehicle, is now flying operational missions in Afghanistan. The Reaper has completed 12 missions since its inaugural flight there Sept. 25, averaging about one sortie per day. Capable of striking

  • New Iraqi air force continues to grow

    The Coalition Air Force Transition Team, 370th Expeditionary Training Squadron, is continuing its efforts to populate the new Iraqi air force. A combined graduation was held Oct. 10 for four Iraqi air force maintenance officers, five maintenance supervisors, eight fuels supervisors and 54 enlisted

  • Team effort sets airlift standard

    Any significant group achievement can normally be attributed to a strong team, persistence and a relentless commitment to a challenging mission or task at hand. The 816th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, flying C-17 Globemaster IIIs, contributed the lion's share of intra-theater airlift by flying

  • First next-generation communications satellite launches

    The Air Force launched the first of a next generation of military communications satellites from here Oct. 10 at 8:22 p.m. EDT, when a United Launch Alliance Atlas V booster carried a Wideband Global SATCOM satellite into space. WGS is the nation's next-generation wideband satellite communications

  • Patent no longer pending for cadet

    A cadet's father brought an industrial air filter design problem to his son's attention to pass the time during a holiday break. "I had a general idea of a solution but just could not make it work," said David Nicholas, father of Cadet 2nd Class James Nicholas. "I brought the problem home to Jay,

  • Former Doolittle Raider passes away

    Former Lt. Nolan A. Herndon, a member of the famed Doolittle Raiders, died of pneumonia Oct. 8 at the age of 88. The lieutenant was a navigator-bombardier on one of the B-25 bombers that took off from an aircraft carrier on April 18, 1942, to strike targets in Japan. Led by Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle,