Nature's fireworks

Lightning strikes near the control tower and a taxiing C-130 Hercules at Balad Air Base, Iraq, on Tuesday, May 16, 2006. Balad handles more than 750 cargo flights each month and is the Department of Defense's busiest single runway. Using C-130s to fly in-theater airlift missions has reduced the

Airmen call in 'air strikes' on Louisiana communities

Fighter jets and bombers fly overhead making multiple passes to intercept and destroy enemy targets called in by Air Force joint terminal air controllers. One pass is to destroy a building with enemy snipers. Another pass is to track a man riding a motorcycle suspected of carrying a bomb in his

Whatever you do this summer, stay safe

Each year, the Air Force stresses the importance of zero mishaps during the 101 Critical Days of Summer through PowerPoint slides, commander’s calls and safety briefings. For the most part, Airmen do their part to put safety at the forefront. But what about those safety issues that tend to fall

Airmen can now update their duty history online

Airmen will be responsible for reviewing their duty history and requesting changes, additions or deletions online through the virtual Military Personnel Flight beginning May 30. Airmen can enter the vMPF by logging onto the Air Force Personnel Center's secure Web site where they can access their

Active-duty retirement applications centralized online

The active-duty retirement program is going virtual and applications will be processed at the Air Force Contact Center effective May 22 as part of the first phase of the Personnel Services Delivery Transformation. Airmen eligible to retire will initiate the process online via the virtual Military

CENTAF releases combined airpower summary

U.S. Central Command Air Forces officials released the airpower summary for May 14 to 17. May 17 In Afghanistan, a B-1B Lancer and four A-10 Thunderbolt IIs struck Taliban extremists near Kandahar. The missions supported coalition ground forces including Afghan National Police, Afghan National Army

Maintainers keep C-5s flying

C-130J Hercules displays interoperability at Berlin Air Show

It was interoperability in action at the Berlin Air Show on May 17 when a medium extended air defense system was loaded onto a C-130J Hercules. The system is designed as a lightweight launcher capable of shooting down aircraft, ballistic missiles and cruise missiles. It was a new missile system on a

Rehabilitation specialists team up to support warfighters

Brooke Army Medical Center hosted a military amputee advance skills training workshop here for Veterans Affairs’ prosthetists and therapists. Nearly 100 VA rehabilitation team members from 15 medical centers attended the workshop May 10 through 12 to learn the patient care methods used at Department

Improved C-5 promises more faithful years of service

At a roll-out ceremony May 16 at Lockheed Martin’s plant in Marietta, Ga., the Air Force accepted delivery of the first C-5M Galaxy, the first of 111 that will undergo modernization at the facility, extending the fleet’s life by more than 25 years. The Aeronautical Systems Center’s C-5 Systems Group