U.S. AIR FORCE NEWS

  • WW II veteran receives Purple Heart after 60 years

    A 24-year-old navigator was wounded during a bombing mission over Germany on Sept. 13, 1944, at the height of World War II. Nearly 60 years later, retired Lt. Col. Wayne Ehlers received the Purple Heart he earned when shrapnel flew through his oxygen mask, cut his microphone line and smashed into

  • Motorcycle safety important part of critical days

    Since the start of the “101 Critical Days of Summer,” at least 16 Airmen have been injured or killed in motorcycle accidents, primarily because they lacked proper training or were not wearing all the required safety gear when they went down.Rod Krause, the 5th Bomb Wing safety office manager here

  • Major commands highlight support, sustainment issues

    Air Force acquisition and management officials met with Air Mobility Command leaders here July 27 to review programs, discuss sustainment issues and look for ways to better support air mobility warriors.Dr. Marvin R. Sambur, assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition; Gen. John W. Handy,

  • Weather officers provide key launch data

    A great deal of preparation goes into launching a missile or rocket here. Logistics, maintenance and operations are just a few essential aspects.One critical piece of a launch mission is determining and evaluating weather conditions up to the very second the vehicle lifts off from a pad or blasts

  • Airmen helping researchers by living in the clouds

    A handful of Air Force Academy Airmen are living in the clouds on the 14,110-foot Pikes Peak summit this summer as part of an Army/Air Force acclimatization research study.The U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine, based in Natick, Mass., and the academy’s Human Performance

  • Academy planetarium closing to public

    Officials here are here closing the planetarium doors to the public after 45 years of providing programs about astronomy, flight and navigation to thousands of visitors.The planetarium is one of the academy’s oldest buildings, having been constructed in the late 1950s.It will remain open for use by

  • Army Guardsmen help save Air Force baby

    Army National Guardsmen here did more than just pull gate security duty late July 27 -- they helped save the life of the 8-month-old daughter of an Air Force sergeant.The infant stopped breathing as the family was passing through a gate on the way to the hospital“It was probably the most frightening

  • Pentagon Channel available to all Airmen

    The Pentagon Channel is available to practically every active-duty, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Airman and his or her family thanks to a recent expansion of services.Officials from the office of the secretary of defense for public affairs made the Pentagon Channel free to all cable

  • Tricare South Region begins transition August 1

    Department of Defense officials announced July 28 the continuation of its move toward new military health-care contractors and changes in regional areas of responsibility. On Aug. 1, Tricare-eligible beneficiaries in Alabama, Florida, Georgia, eastern Louisiana, Mississippi, South Carolina and

  • Hotline available for outside of command chain

    Department of Defense Inspector General Joseph Schmitz is reminding servicemembers there are a number of ways to report suspected incidents of wrongdoing outside their chains of command.His office runs the DOD Hotline Program. Servicemembers and civilians who wish to report incidents without going