News from the Air Force

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Airmen Wearing New Uniform in Afghanistan:

More than 180 joint expeditionary tasking airmen assigned to provincial reconstruction teams in Afghanistan are wearing the Operation Enduring Freedom Camouflage Pattern, or OCP, uniform, this summer as their everyday uniform. These are the first Air Force personnel to don it. "OCPs have a more advanced camouflage pattern that blends in with the Afghan terrain, making our airmen safer and more effective on the battlefield," said Lt. Col. Shawna McGowan, Air Force future programs branch chief. "The material is also flame resistant, lighter weight than the [Airman Battle System-Ground uniform] and [Airman Battle Uniform], and contains a pre-applied bug repellant." Feedback has been positive. "OCPs are significantly lighter and breathe easier than ABUs," said SrA. Sandra Welch, a PRT photographer deployed from Luke AFB, Ariz. Air Force officials have said the OCP will eventually become in-theater standard issue for all USAF personnel. (Khost report by Capt. David Tomiyama)

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Unmanned Global Hawk Completes First Production Acceptance Multi-Intelligence Sensor Flight


EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif., July 7, 2011 (GLOBE NEWSWIRE) -- The newest Northrop Grumman Corporation (NYSE:NOC) built RQ-4 Global Hawk remotely piloted aircraft completed the first of many production acceptance flights of an operational Block 30 multi-intelligence sensor package on May 25, flown from Palmdale, Calif.
The Global Hawk flight marks a new era of increased operational intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) capability flown with multiple sensors simultaneously from a single platform. The multi-intelligence sensor package includes the airborne signals intelligence payload (ASIP) manufactured by Northrop Grumman and the enhanced integrated sensor suite that includes electro-optical/infrared (EO/IR), and synthetic aperture radar (SAR). The ASIP system includes both electronics and communications collection capability.
"Block 30 Global Hawks are currently equipped with both EO/IR and SAR sensors as components of the Enhanced Integrated Sensor Suite (EISS) built by Raytheon, and they have provided round-the-clock support for both military and humanitarian efforts overseas," said George Guerra, HALE Systems vice president, Northrop Grumman Aerospace Systems. "The ASIP will be added to the EISS on the Block 30 Global Hawks, which will provide a persistent level of intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance that has never before been provided by any aircraft."
There are currently nine Block 30 Global Hawks located at forward operating locations. In time, those nine Global Hawks will rotate through the Palmdale facility to have the ASIP sensor added to their current EISS-only Block 30 configuration. It will be a seamless addition because the Block 30s are already configured to accept ASIP. The addition of the ASIP provides the warfighter with critical ISR collection capability that extends beyond imagery.
The RQ-4 Global Hawk flies up to 60,000 feet, above weather and commercial air traffic. Global Hawk flies for more than 32 hours per sortie at speeds approaching 340 knots. As the world's first fully autonomous HALE UAS, Global Hawk Block 30 will soon be operational in remote areas of the globe with ASIP, performing this new persistent and critical ISR mission.
Northrop Grumman is a leading global security company providing innovative systems, products and solutions in aerospace, electronics, information systems, and technical services to government and commercial customers worldwide. Please visit www.northropgrumman.com for more information.

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The Thunderbirds perform around the globe every year and thrill thousands both young and old............

2011 Thunderbird Schedule

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Academy Acquiring New Gliders: The Air Force Academy is purchasing 19 new two-seat gliders, along with 11 trailers to haul them, under a $4.8 million transaction. The new German-made gliders will be designated TG-16As and used to introduce cadets to flying, reported the Colorado Springs Gazette. They will replace the academy's TG-10B/C gliders that have reached the end of their service lives. The academy was set to receive the first TG-16 at the end of last week. Just last month, academy officials announced plans to procure 25 single-engine, two-seat SR20 trainer aircraft, designated T-53As, from Cirrus Aircraft of Duluth, Minn., to replace the leased fleet of Diamond DA-40s.

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First KC-135 Egress Exercise: Air Mobility Command officials at Scott AFB, Ill., recently conducted the first KC-135 egress exercise to determine whether the Air Force can increase the amount of space-available passengers whom the tanker can accommodate. The Illinois Air National Guard's 126th Air Refueling Wing at Scott supported the exercise, which assessed how many passengers one passenger monitor could safely evacuate from the tanker in 90 seconds. More than 60 volunteers participated, along with the aircraft's pilots and a boom operator. The number of passengers varied from 27 to 54 in the test scenarios, and the number of egress sites depended on the configuration of cargo loaded on the aircraft. Test results and completed surveys will support passenger handling policy changes for the KC-135, said AMC officials. Service members, retirees, and their family members are eligible to fly on US military aircraft if there are seats available.

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It's a long fall and the coldest dang airplane I've flown on, except for the 141..................

SAC (Strategic Air Command) provided me with a round trip flight from Eilson AFB, Alaska to Wright-Pat in 1973. There was no first class seating available so I had to set in a harness strapped to the inside fuselage. There was no cocktails available but we did get a box lunch with a ham sammy and an apple. It was non-stop and the scenery over Canada was outstandiing. Luckily we didnt have to use the egress system and we did no in-flight refueling......and the price of a round trip ticket was excellent......zero.........

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C-17 Launches Short-Range Target Missile: Missile Defense Agency officials said they successfully completed a flight test of a short-range air-launched target missile over the Pacific Ocean about 500 miles off the coast of southern California. A C-17 deployed the missile from its rear via a parachute assembly, validating a redesigned deployment mechanism meant to correct problems identified during previous tests, according to the agency's release. After SRALT left the aircraft, its rocket motor ignited and sent the missile on its planned over-water trajectory. Missile defense sensors based in California tracked the missile during the July 8 test, as did the MDA's two Space Tracking Surveillance System demonstration satellites. "This was the first demonstration of stereo acquisition and track handover of a short-range target by the STSS," according to the release. The agency intends to use SRALT in tracking and shootdown tests of the nation's ballistic missile defense system.

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The 2011 Outstanding Airmen: The Air Force on Wednesday selected its top enlisted members, naming the 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2011. They are:

• SMSgt. Patrick Jones, Air Mobility Command;
• SMSgt. Kathleen McCool, Air Education and Training Command;
• SMSgt. David Newman, Air Force District of Washington;
• TSgt. Ricardo Chavez, Air Force Reserve Command;
• TSgt. Dustin Goodwin, US Air Forces in Europe;
• TSgt. Bradley Williams, Air Force Global Strike Command;
• SSgt. Jordan Bishopp, Air Force Materiel Command;
• SSgt. John Norris, Air National Guard;
• SrA. Nora Limjoco, Air Force Space Command;
• SrA. Daniel Skidmore, Air Force Special Operations Command;
• SrA. Ulla Stromberg, Air Combat Command; and
• SrA. Raven Taylor, Pacific Air Forces.

The Air Force Association will honor these 12 airmen during AFA's Air & Space Conference in September in National Harbor, Md.

[Charley Hustle]

The 2011 Outstanding Airmen: The Air Force on Wednesday selected its top enlisted members, naming the 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2011. They are:

• SMSgt. Patrick Jones, Air Mobility Command;
• SMSgt. Kathleen McCool, Air Education and Training Command;
• SMSgt. David Newman, Air Force District of Washington;
• TSgt. Ricardo Chavez, Air Force Reserve Command;
• TSgt. Dustin Goodwin, US Air Forces in Europe;
• TSgt. Bradley Williams, Air Force Global Strike Command;
• SSgt. Jordan Bishopp, Air Force Materiel Command;
• SSgt. John Norris, Air National Guard;
• SrA. Nora Limjoco, Air Force Space Command;
• SrA. Daniel Skidmore, Air Force Special Operations Command;
• SrA. Ulla Stromberg, Air Combat Command; and
• SrA. Raven Taylor, Pacific Air Forces.

The Air Force Association will honor these 12 airmen during AFA's Air & Space Conference in September in National Harbor, Md.

Congrats to to all these fine young men and women...

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Lightning Sighted at Eglin: The 33rd Fighter Wing at Eglin AFB, Fla., on Thursday welcomed the arrival of AF-9, the first production-model F-35A strike fighter to join the F-35 joint schoolhouse there. The aircraft touched down after a ferry flight from Fort Worth, Tex. The wing will utilize AF-9, which is in the Air Force's conventional takeoff configuration, to help train F-35 pilots and maintainers who will begin coursework at Eglin's integrated training center this fall. "The exceptional capabilities of this fifth generation fighter are now in the very capable hands of the men and women of the 33rd Fighter Wing who are ushering in a new era of F-35 training," said Larry Lawson, F-35 program general manager for prime contractor Lockheed Martin, in the company's release. At full strength, 59 F-35s will call Eglin home for training purposes, including Marine Corps F-35Bs and Navy F-35Cs.

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Marine Corp General clashes with the Air Force:

Confessions of a "Bomber Hater": Marine Corps Gen. James Cartwright, Joint Chiefs vice chairman, remains "not . . . convinced" that the Air Force's approach to long-range strike is the right one, indicating that requirements for the next bomber are still the subject of intense Pentagon debate. "I think you have to have a bomber," he told defense reporters Thursday in Washington, D.C. "I'm questioning what it is we're building, and what attributes" it should have. Cartwright acknowledged that he's known as a "bomber hater." He admitted that he's "throwing the gauntlet down" to get the Air Force to prove that even an optionally manned bomber is necessary. "Nobody has shown me anything that requires a person in the airplane. Nobody," he said. That applies, too, if the future bomber carries out the nuclear mission, he said. "I don't remember the last time I manned an ICBM or SLBM or a cruise missile, so I'm not sure I understand that logic."

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Lockheed Completes Delivery of Gunship Targeting Systems: Lockheed Martin has delivered the last of 12 new-build AN/AAQ-39 electro-optical/infrared targeting systems for Air Force AC-130U gunships, announced the company last week. Lockheed received the contract in July 2008 to supply the 12 Q-39 full production units. Delivery of them began last July. "Q-39 provides improved positive combat identification for AC-130U aviators," said Joseph Butera, senior program manager of airborne systems for Lockheed's Missiles and Fire Control business unit. "Precision fire control allows warfighters to confidently engage threats at safe standoff ranges and return safely to base." The Q-39, which is integrated in a stabilized turret, improves upon Lockheed's Gunship Multispectral Sensor System, or GMS2, with new features like a solid-state, three-color laser designator. In addition to the 12 Q-39s, Lockheed is under contract to upgrade five GMS2 units to the Q-39 configuration. Their deliveries will conclude next year, according to the company.

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Rescuers Awarded French Medal: Three airmen with the 83rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron at Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, received the French National Defense Gold Medal with Bronze Star for their heroism during the rescue of a French helicopter crew last month. They are: HH-60 pilot Capt. John Mosier and pararescuemen TSgt. Kristopher Burridge and SrA. Jackson Rogers. Braving high winds, poor visibility, and an unsecured crash site, two HH-60s from the squadron located the downed French helicopter, inserting Burridge and Rogers. While Mosier "set up a blocking pattern" with his helicopter to shield the ground team from potential fire from a nearby Afghan village, the rescuers found, secured, and treated the badly injured French pilot and copilot during the June 11 rescue. The copilot later succumbed to his wounds, but the pilot is recovering from a broken spine. "Getting a medal is a huge honor . . . but getting this guy back to his family is what's most important," said Mosier upon receiving the medal, July 8. (Bagram report by SSgt. John Wright)

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YOKOTA AIR BASE, Japan -- Bars near the front gate of Yokota Air Base have been placed off limits to U.S. personnel following what police say was a 30-person brawl in downtown Fussa City early Saturday morning.

The area, known as “bar row” in Fussa city, was declared off limits by military officials until further notice because of a "a recent incident and concerns over the safety of our personnel," Yokota Air Base spokeswoman Capt. Tania Bryan said in an email Sunday.

The fight began around 3 a.m. Saturday in bar row, a garish collection of nightclubs, pubs, karaoke joints and restaurants not far from Yokota’s main gate, according to Japanese police.


“It is a dangerous area, and there are Yakuza (Japanese mafia) there,” said a police spokesman, who wished to remain anonymous, which is customary in Japan. Japanese police are investigating the incident, but no arrests have been made, the spokesman said.

Do we still have the NCO or Chiefs club available???????

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Standing Tall, Warthogs and All:

A quartet of A-10 pilots from Air Force Reserve Command's 47th Fighter Squadron at Barksdale AFB, La., broke 20,000 combined Warthog flight hours during a formation sortie from the base. That's a feat never before accomplished by any four A-10 fliers. During their July 15 flight, Lt. Col. David Deaton, Lt. Col. Brady Glick, then Lt. Col. James Macaulay, and Lt. Col. Marc Olson shattered the previous record of 17,742 combined hours that they set in 2008. "I'm grateful that God has blessed me by allowing me to serve my country for this long," said Deaton after the flight. "This milestone is really a testament to the professionalism of the maintainers and the durability of the 'Hawg," added Macaulay, who leads the group with 5,200 flight hours. "In 20,000 hours, none of us have punched out or had a major mishap," he noted. Upon landing, Macaulay was promoted to the rank of full colonel. (Barksdale report by TSgt. Jeff Walston)

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Lowry's Last Stand: The Air Force will end 73 years of history at the former site of Lowry AFB, Colo., as the Air Reserve Personnel Center, its last remaining military tenant, shifts to Buckley Air Force Base, also in the Denver suburb of Aurora, next month. Opened in 1938 as a training base for Army Air Corps bomber crews, Lowry famously served as Dwight Eisenhower's summer office during his time as President, and hosted the Air Force Academy from 1955 until completion of the present facilities near Colorado Springs in 1958. The base has been steadily re-developed as commercial and residential space since its closure in 1994, reports the Associated Press (via Westport News). ARPC personnel are due to move from Lowry to the center's new $17 million, 80,000-square-foot headquarters at Buckley on Aug. 1. A ribbon-cutting ceremony for the new facility took place on Tuesday.

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Different Fuels, Same Purpose:

The Air Force intends to evaluate a new alcohol-to-jet biofuel produced from wood waste, grasses, or corn stalks, said Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Philip Breedlove Wednesday during the Army & Air Force Energy Forum in Arlington, Va. This new biofuel has a lot of potential because, unlike other biofuel mixtures, the contents of the alcohol-to-jet fuel blend are more readily available, according to USAF officials. More than 99 percent of the Air Force's fleet is currently certified to conduct unrestricted operations on a 50-50 blend of synthetic paraffinic kerosene and traditional jet fuel. Breedlove said the entire fleet should be certified to run on this mixture by year's end. "We've already flown the first transcontinental flight, the first supersonic flight, and the first aerial refueling flight," with this blend, he said. "By 2016, our goal is to fill 50 percent of our domestic fuel needs with this type of fuel setting." The Air Force also has certified its C-17 and F-16 fleets to operate on a blend of biofuel known as a hydrotreated renewable jet, or HRJ, fuel mixture. The service expects to clear the entire fleet to run on that blend by 2013, he said.

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Keeping an Eye on Pakistan:

If confirmed as head of US Transportation Command, Gen. William Fraser said one of his top priorities would be to have alternative means available for supplying US troops in Afghanistan in case the current, primary logistics routes through Pakistan are disrupted. Roughly 35 percent of supplies move into Afghanistan via Pakistan today, with the rest arriving through the northern distribution network—that traverses Central Asia—or via some airlift, said Fraser during his confirmation hearing Thursday before the Senate Armed Services Committee. When pressed by ranking member Sen. John McCain (R-Ariz.), Fraser acknowledged that changing routes would temporarily disrupt the flow of supplies into theater and that it could potentially lead to higher costs. But he said he would have to "delve deeper into the issue," if confirmed, in order to provide specifics. Fraser said he would consider expanding the NDN and strive overall to "secure diplomatic and physical accesses to ground and airspace infrastructure for logistics," according to his prepared answers to advance committee questions.

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Emotional Ending:

The Space Shuttle Atlantis touched down for a final time at NASA's Kennedy Space Center in Cape Canaveral, Fla., early Thursday, closing out three decades of US shuttle flights. It was an emotional day for the thousands of people who have worked on the shuttle program throughout its storied history. "Although we got to take the ride, we sure hope that everybody who has ever worked on, or touched, or looked at, or envied, or admired a space shuttle was able to take just a little part of the journey with us," said mission commander Chris Ferguson in a NASA release. Atlantis is the last of the shuttle orbiters to retire. During its final mission, the shuttle's crew delivered more than 9,400 pounds of spare parts to the International Space Station. Atlantis will now go on permanent display at Kennedy's visitor complex.

[Charley Hustle]

Afghan Female Pilots now training at Lackland AFB, Texas.......Afghan ladies now in Helicopter Pilot Training