U.S. AIR FORCE NEWS

  • Team assessing OIF air component effectiveness

    A team of nearly 100 experts in a variety of fields began traveling in Iraq on June 8 to visit up to 500 impact points targeted by coalition air component forces during Operation Iraqi Freedom.A portion of the Combined Weapons Effectiveness Assessment Team, or CWEAT, visited sites in Iraq earlier in

  • Base welcomes first commercial aircraft

    At 9:55 a.m. June 12, a small turbo-prop aircraft made history here as it became the first commercial cargo plane to land at the southern Iraqi base.The small, 10-passenger Raytheon Beechcraft 1900, operated by Falcon Express Cargo Airlines from Dubai, United Arab Emirates, made the first of future

  • Second F-16 crashes in Arizona this week

    An F-16 Fighting Falcon based here crashed June 13 at about 9:30 a.m. on the Barry M. Goldwater Range about five miles south of Gila Bend.Capt. Scott Arbogast, an instructor pilot assigned to the 61st Fighter Squadron here, safely ejected from the aircraft.The mishap marks the second Luke F-16 crash

  • Team will address total-force issues

    The Air Force is standing up a “tiger team” to address three major Air Reserve Component issues considered vital to the future success of the total force.The team, led by Brig. Gen. Jose M. Portela, will initially focus on income protection, medical care and changes to the implicit contract with

  • Post-deployment assessment improves health care

    The Air Force surgeon general is meeting the health challenges of airmen returning from Operation Iraqi Freedom with a more vigorous, face-to-face approach.Health-care providers have expanded and improved existing procedures by combining a larger database of existing health information about airmen,

  • Rumsfeld calls Belgium suits ‘absurd’

    Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld said June 12 that American officials may stop attending NATO meetings in Belgium because of a law that allows "spurious" suits accusing American leaders of war crimes.Rumsfeld said the United States will withhold any further funding for a new NATO headquarters

  • Exercise challenges air traffic controllers

    Rising more than 14 stories above the runway, air traffic controllers scan a five-mile area including 3,000 feet above the base here. They are playing a key role in the movement of air traffic during Cooperative Cope Thunder, an exercise bringing pilots and ground personnel from around the world to

  • Technical orders a mouse-click away

    Well-thumbed-through volumes of technical orders are going the way of quill pens and ink pots here as a growing number of workers are using a browser-based TO library.Two years in the making, the library puts the latest technical orders a mouse-click away from each of the 10,000 or so mechanics at

  • Reserve air fleet call-up ending

    Gen. John W. Handy, commander of U.S. Transportation Command and Air Mobility Command, has determined that continuing the Civil Reserve Air Fleet call-up is not required. Fleet carriers have been notified that passenger aircraft called up to support Operation Iraqi Freedom will be released June

  • 44 civilian leaders witness airpower

    Forty-four U.S. civic, business and industry leaders witnessed military life June 9 when the Defense Secretary’s 2003 Joint Civilian Orientation Course stopped here for a firsthand look at what the U.S. Air Forces in Europe has to offer. Hand-picked from more than 6,000 applicants all vying for a