News from the Air Force

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Going Global:

The 8th Air Force Museum at Barksdale AFB, La., is now called the Barksdale Global Power Museum after a rededication ceremony on Oct. 2. The new name is part of the museum's rebranding to broaden its scope. "The decision to rebrand was a wise one," said Col. Andrew Gebara, 2nd Bomb Wing commander, reported the Shreveport Times. He added, "The Barksdale Global Power Museum will be able to concentrate on aspects of the global power mission that people associate with Barksdale." In addition to being the home of the nuclear-capable B-52 wing, Barksdale is the seat of Air Force Global Strike Command, which oversees all of the services' nuclear-capable bombers and ICBMs. Terri Snook, 8th AF Museum Association president, said he wants to see the museum serve as "an education source" for children and adults on the Air Force, its mission, and "the things that have happened in the past," according to the newspaper. The museum, founded in the late 1970s, is one of 12 Air Force field museums. Currently, it has 28 aircraft and 120 displays, and attracts some 50,000 visitors annually.

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Arizona Warthogs Deploy to Bagram:

A sounder of 20 A-10s from the 354th Fighter Squadron deployed from Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., to Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, along with approximately 400 airmen and support personnel from the Arizona base. "Over the last six months, the men and women of the 354th FS and 355th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron have done a superb job preparing to support operations in Afghanistan," said Lt. Col. Daniel Luce, 354th FS commander. The unit's Warthogs began departing for Bagram on Sept. 26, two days after the first maintainers and operators left, according to an Oct. 3 release. This contingent is replacing a mixed group of Air National Guard A-10s from Arkansas' 188th Fighter Wing at Ft. Smith and Maryland's 175th Wing near Baltimore that arrived in Afghanistan in early July. The Davis-Monthan A-10s will serve at Bagram as the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing's close air support package, flying strike missions in support of coalition operations and top cover for personnel recovery missions.

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Last C-5A at Westover Goes to Boneyard:

The last C-5A Galaxy at Westover ARB, Mass., departed the base for good en route to retirement at the Air Force's aircraft boneyard in the Arizona desert, according to base officials. The 44-year-old airframe (aircraft No. 68-0211) left Westover on Sept. 25 for Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., states Westover's Oct. 5 release. Nicknamed "Miss Piggy," the massive transport was assigned to the West Virginia Air National Guard's 167th Airlift Wing at Martinsburg, but arrived at Westover almost a year ago in preparation for its retirement, according to the release. Officials with the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan said they received a total of 11 C-5As, along with three B-1B bombers and seven legacy-model C-130s, in a "retirement rush" during the last two weeks of Fiscal 2012. The Air Force wants to retire its remaining C-5A fleet, while upgrading its C-5Bs and C-5Cs to C-5M Super Galaxy standards.

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Maryland Air Guard Starts Headquarters Construction:

The Maryland Air National Guard broke ground on a new $11.8 million headquarters building for the 175th Wing at Warfield ANG Base in Middle River, northeast of Baltimore. The new facility will consolidate personnel from the wing staff, mission support group, and medical group under the same "green" roof, according to the wing's Oct. 9 release. The 31,500-square-foot building will include office space, a command section, medical clinic, and training classrooms. When it is complete "we'll have what we need to be good stewards of the community and the environment," said Brig. Gen. Allyson Solomon, Maryland's assistant adjutant general-air. The ground-breaking ceremony took place on Oct. 2. Wing officials anticipate that the building will be completed by June 2014.

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Social Media Crackdown at BMT:

Air Education and Training Command is blocking all social networking sites from government computers at Basic Military Training at JBSA-Lackland, Tex., since officials believe that the majority of high-profile sexual misconduct cases between military training instructors and trainees began on sites such as Facebook and Twitter. This change should be complete "any day now," 2nd Air Force Commander Maj. Gen. Len Patrick, who oversees BMT, told reporters during an Oct. 11 teleconference. With the exception of former SSgt. Luis Walker—now an airman basic—who was sentenced to 20 years in prison after his conviction on 28 counts of sexual misconduct, including rape, Patrick said the majority of the 20 misconduct cases investigated to date were consensual, yet unprofessional relationships between an MTI and trainee. "Walker is an outlier. He raped women," said Patrick. In most of the other cases, "social media played a large role," he said. Under the new regulations, MTIs also no longer have access to graduates' cell phones. "They aren't even allowed to look at the cell phone of the graduate. They were in the past and [sometimes] exchanged social media contact information," said Patrick.

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Gender Roles at Basic Military Training:

As the Air Force recovers from the sexual misconduct scandal at Basic Military Training at JBSA-Lackland, Tex., officials are weighing whether to have only female military training instructors lead female flights, said Maj. Gen. Len Patrick, 2nd Air Force commander. Right now, the Marine Corps is the only service to enforce such a practice, he told reporters during an Oct. 11 teleconference. "We're looking at everything, but at this point it's not one we are aggressively pursuing. But, it's an option," said Patrick, who overseas BMT. "We want to train like we fight," he continued. "We don't want to create something we'll have to overcome in the future. Young men are going to have to learn how to be supervised by women and vice versa." In the meantime, Air Education and Training Command has mandated that at least one of the four assigned MTIs will be female when there are either two all-female flights or a brother and sister flight, said Patrick. "When I start molding the young airmen, early on I want them to be exposed to all genders. It starts in BMT," he said.

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Simulated Minuteman Launch at F.E. Warren:

Members of the 90th Missile Wing at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., recently conducted Giant Pace 12-2M, a Simulated Electronic Launch-Minuteman test, as part of Air Force Global Strike Command's activities to confirm the launch-readiness of the nation's Minuteman III ICBM fleet. "A SELM is the most complete test of the operational capability of our ICBMs, from day-to-day operation to issuance of the first-stage ignition signal," said Lt. Col. Matthew Dillow, 321st Missile Squadron commander, in an Oct. 12 release from the base. This SELM was held Sept. 25 to Sept. 27. Airmen of the 576th Flight Test Squadron at Vandenberg AFB, Calif., supported the test. AFGSC stages these simulated launches twice yearly with the service's three missile wings. This year's previous SELM, Giant Pace 12-1M, took place at Minot AFB, N.D., with the 91st MW. Along with SELMs, the Air Force conducts periodic operational test launches of Minuteman IIIs from Vandenberg.

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Boomtown:

Boeing opened its KC-46 Boom Assembly Center at Boeing Field in Seattle on Oct. 16, announced the company. Assembly of the first boom for an Air Force KC-46A tanker is scheduled to commence this week at the facility, marking the shift to production from boom design activities, states the company's release. "We're pleased that this facility opened on schedule," said Maureen Dougherty, Boeing's KC-46 vice president and program manager. "The KC-46A will feature a modernized fly-by-wire boom based on the proven system on the US Air Force's KC-10 tanker, which will give it advanced refueling capabilities, allowing it to refuel any fixed-wing receiver aircraft anytime and on any mission." Maj. Gen. John Thompson, the Air Force's tanker program executive officer and KC-46 program director, called the center's opening "a big day" for the KC-46 program and the Air Force. "Boeing continues to make good progress toward delivering the KC-46 tanker on schedule," he said. The first boom is slated to enter testing in the third quarter of 2013, states the release

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F-35A Drops First Weapon:

An Air Force F-35A completed the first in-flight weapons release for this variant of the strike fighter, announced prime contractor Lockheed Martin. AF-1, flown by Maj. Eric Schultz, on Oct. 16 released a 2,000-pound joint direct attack munition from its left internal weapons bay during a flight test over the China Lake range in southern California, states the company's release. BF-3, a Marine Corps F-35B, actually was the first strike fighter to release a weapon in flight, when it successfully dropped an inert 1,000-pound bomb over the Atlantic Ocean in August. The F-35A has four internal weapon stations—two in each of its two weapons bays—and can utilize an additional three external weapon stations per wing, if not flying in stealth mode. It is designed to carry a payload up to 18,000 pounds, states the Oct. 17 release.

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Posthumous Silver Star for Lima Site 85 Hero:

The Air Force has awarded the late MSgt. James Calfee a posthumous Silver Star Medal—the nation's third highest award for military valor—for his heroic actions during a firefight on a Laotian mountaintop on March 11, 1968. Rep. Ron Paul (R-Tex.) presented the Silver Star to Calfee's sisters during a private ceremony in August, according to an Oct. 15 Air Force release. Service officials on Oct. 15 held a memorial ceremony at Barksdale AFB, La., with members of Calfee's family. Calfee was among the airmen operating Lima Site 85, a top secret radar facility on the Phu Pha Thi Ridge that enabled all-weather bombing runs into North Vietnam. When North Vietnamese troops stormed the site, Calfee was shot in the face and upper chest, but continued firing on the enemy, enabling five of his colleagues to reach a rescue helicopter, according to the release. He subsequently died at the site. The Silver Star is an upgrade to the posthumous Bronze Star Medal with Valor Device that the Air Force originally awarded Calfee, states the release. Among Calfee's colleagues who also lost their lives in the same firefight was CMSgt. Richard Etchberger, whom the Air Force awarded a posthumous Medal of Honor in 2010.

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Afghan Air Force Graduates Pilots:

Three Afghan air force pilot trainees at Shindand Air Base last week became the first fixed-wing students to earn their wings in Afghanistan in some 30 years, announced their US Air Force advisors. These Afghans were also the first pilots to complete their entire fixed-wing training program entirely in Afghanistan—as opposed to instruction in the United States—since the beginning of NATO's air training mission in Afghanistan in 2007, states the 438th Air Expeditionary Wing's Oct. 19 release. "Now I am a pilot. I have a job to do to serve my country. That's all I wanted," said 1st Lt. Khan Agha Ghaznavi, one of the three Afghan airmen who received their wings on Oct. 15 during a graduation ceremony at Shindand. The three airmen will next undergo advanced qualification training to become operational Cessna 208 copilots, according to the release. The trio began initial flight screening in December 2011, and worked through their course of study, including more than 250 hours in the simulator and the Cessna 182 and C-208 aircraft.

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First F-35A AMRAAM Shot:

AF-1, an F-35A test aircraft, completed the first in-flight release of an AIM-120 Advanced Medium-Range Air-to-Air Missile from the Air Force's variant of the F-35 strike fighter, announced Lockheed Martin, the aircraft's prime contractor, on Oct 22. Pilot Maj. Matthew Phillips jettisoned the instrumented AIM-120 over the China Lake test range in southern Calif., from one of the aircraft's two internal weapons bay during the Oct. 19 test, stated the company. The AMRAAM shot came three days after AF-1 dropped a 2,000-pound joint direct attack munition from its left internal weapons bay, marking the F-35A's first weapons release.

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Who's the Threat?:

European militaries need to adjust to new realities, said Army Lt. Gen. Mark Hertling, US Army Europe's commanding general. "Yes, there are some of my partners in Europe who are concerned with Russia," notably Estonia and Georgia, Hertling told reporters in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 23. They "see Russia as a threat, and rightfully so," but the United States hopes to improve the situation through increased military-to-military contacts and partnering activities with its old adversaries, said Hertling. "The major threats I see today in Europe are transnational terrorism, transit through the Schengen Zone, human trafficking, criminal networks, cyber, proliferation of weapons of mass destruction, and missile defense," he said. The Army has made that adjustment—with "better signal intelligence, increased missile defense" and other pluses offsetting reductions resulting from the Pacific pivot, but some partners are just catching up, he said. Asked if the days of mass tank formations in Europe are over, Hertling replied, "I wouldn't say there is no more need, but there is a reduced need for that in Europe." He later added: "We're not lined up against the Warsaw Pact. We're fighting a lot of stuff, but it ain't the Cold War."

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Kirtland Airman Awarded Distinguished Flying Cross:

The Air Force awarded SSgt. Brandon Hill, an HH-60G flight engineer assigned to the 512th Rescue Squadron at Kirtland AFB, N.M., the Distinguished Flying Cross for his heroic actions in Afghanistan in late 2010. The presentation ceremony took place on base on Oct. 23. On Nov. 14, 2010, Hill was assigned to the 83rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron at Bagram Airfield. His Pave Hawk crew was tasked with flying a high-risk, mass-casualty evacuation mission in support of operations in the Watapur Valley. Although Hill's helicopter came under intense enemy fire, he helped lower pararescuemen to the ground so that they could treat wounded troops who had become pinned down, according to Kirtland's release. Ultimately, his actions led to the evacuation of 11 casualties. "Were it not for his heroic actions under direct enemy fire, many of those injured would not have survived," states the release. Hill said he was honored to have received the award, but said the entire HH-60G crew truly deserves the credit. "It's about the guys to my left and to my right. I have the honor of walking among heroes every day," he said.

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First Installment for More Missile Warning Satellites:

The Air Force awarded Lockheed Martin an $82 million contract to begin work on GEO-5 and GEO-6, the fifth and sixth Space Based Infrared System missile warning satellites, announced the company. This initial contract covers "complete non-recurring engineering activities" and procurement of select "long-lead spacecraft parts," states the company's Oct. 25 release. It "will sustain a steady production rate," said Jeff Smith, vice president of Lockheed Martin's Overhead Persistent Infrared mission area. He added, "By the Air Force acquiring satellites in bulk, rather than one at a time, we can significantly reduce costs by achieving economies of scale." The Air Force is procuring these two satellites under a fixed-price contract structure. Already, GEO-1, the first SBIRS geosynchronous satellite, is in space. GEO-2 is scheduled for launch in March 2013, according to Lockheed Martin. GEO-3 and GEO-4 are in various stages of fabrication.

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East Coast Bases Brace for Sandy:

The 305th Air Mobility Wing at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., on Oct. 28 evacuated its C-17s and KC-10s in anticipation of Hurricane Sandy's arrival, according to a base release. The C-17s flew to JB Charleston, S.C., and MacDill AFB, Fla., while the KC-10s headed to Grand Forks AFB, N.D. The New Jersey Air National Guard's 108th Wing announced that it would be closed at McGuire on Oct. 29. Meanwhile, officials at Dover AFB, Del., on Oct. 28 instituted a reduced operations policy through the afternoon of Oct. 30, according to a base release. They also issued a limited evacuation order for some housing residences and restricted driving on base. Like McGuire, Dover was near the center of Sandy's projected path. At JB Langley-Eustis, Va., officials limited base access to all but mission-essential personnel through midnight on Oct. 29. Non-essential services like the base exchange are closed on Oct. 29 and flooding was expected in low-lying areas, according to updates posted at the base's Twitter site. Hanscom AFB, Mass., is also closed on Oct. 29 to all but mission-essential personnel, according to the base's website.

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Airmen Gear Up for Sandy Relief Efforts:

Airmen from near and far were poised to help civil authorities in rescue and recovery efforts on the US East Coast after Tropical Storm Sandy made landfall in southern New Jersey on the evening of Oct. 29. Overall, there were already some 6,700 National Guard airmen and soldiers on state active duty on Monday or in the process of activating to support the governors of Connecticut, Delaware, Maryland, Massachusetts, New Jersey, New York, and Virginia, according to a Pentagon release. Among the extensive Air Force support activities, more than 100 California Air National Guardsmen from the 129th Rescue Wing at Moffett Federal Airfield, Calif., were preparing to travel to the East Coast with two MC-130P aircraft and two HH-60G Pave Hawk rescue helicopters to assist, according to a wing release. Ahead of Sandy's landfall, a rapid-response team of approximately 65 air mobility specialists from JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J., repositioned out of the storm's path to MacDill AFB, Fla., to stand ready to deploy to the affected areas to establish air hubs for moving relief supplies, states a McGuire release. Mobility airmen at Scott AFB, Ill., were ready to plan, schedule, and execute airlift, air refueling, and aeromedical evacuation operations, according to a Scott release. Air Forces Northern deployed emergency preparedness liaison officers to assist civil authorities in preparing for relief efforts. It also dispatched Joint Air Component Coordination Element teams to Boston, Philadelphia, and Trenton, N.J., to manage Air Force relief assets. Further, US Northern Command activated Dover AFB, Del.; McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst; and Westover ARB, Mass., as incident support bases for staging federal support equipment and supplies, states a release.

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Remains of Vietnam War Airman Laid to Rest:

The remains of A1C Jerry Mack Wall, an airman missing in action in Vietnam since May 1966, were laid to rest during a burial with full military honors at Fort Sam Houston National Cemetery in San Antonio, according to Air Force Special Operations Command officials. The burial took place on Oct. 26, three days after Pentagon officials announced that Defense Department forensic scientists had recovered and identified Wall's remains. "I'm so very proud of my nation that persevered for so long in searching for my father's remains," said Wall's daughter Lea Ann Wall McCann in AFSOC's Oct. 29 release. "It's been a long journey home," she added. A native of Jacksonville, Tex., Wall was a 24-year-old loadmaster with the 310th Air Commando Squadron who died when enemy fire brought down his C-123B Provider during a nighttime flare-drop mission over Binh Dinh, South Vietnam, on May 18, 1966. Wall was one of five crewmembers. Between 2007 and 2012, joint US-Vietnamese teams investigated the crash site and recovered human remains, aircraft wreckage, and other artifacts that led to his identification.

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First KC-46 System Integration Lab Up and Running:

Boeing has opened the first KC-46 Tanker System Integration Laboratory at Boeing Field in Seattle, announced the company on Oct. 31. The company will use "SIL 0," as it is known, to test commercial avionics and software for integration into the Air Force's KC-46A tanker, according to the company's release. Overall, Boeing intends to open five SILs—four at Boeing Field and a fifth in Everett, Wash.—by the end of 2013 to reduce risk to the KC-46A program, states the release. "Our five system integration labs will help keep us on track to deliver the first 18 KC-46A tankers by 2017," said Maureen Dougherty, Boeing's KC-46 vice president and program manager. "Accelerating system integration will drive out issues prior to flight testing and reduce risks to our schedule," she added. Along with SIL 0, which opened its doors in September, the company now operates the KC-46 boom assembly center at Boeing Field.