How many Nunn-McCurdy breaches on the Star Destroyer?
September 12th, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Scott Fontaine
Humble in acquisitions, you will be.
The Galactic Empire learned that lesson long time ago in a galaxy far, far away. Its first Death Star was the size of a small moon – and yet one missile launched from an X-wing fighter destroyed it.
Its replacement wasn’t even operational when rebels managed to blow it up. The reason it was vulnerable? Construction was behind schedule – and even the intervention of Darth Vader couldn’t get it finished on time.
One Air Force acquisition officer says today’s military should pay attention to the lessons of the Star Wars movies.
“The investment on this scale is unsustainable and is completely lost when a wamp-rat-hunting farmboy takes a lucky shot,” Lt. Col. Dan Ward wrote in the September-October issue of acquisition trade journal Defense AT&L. “When one station represents the entire fleet (or even 5 percent of the fleet), we’ve put too many eggs in that basket and are well on our way to failing someone for the last time.”
Tags: acquisition, air force, star wars
Let’s hope those JDAMs aren’t wide right
September 8th, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Scott Fontaine
If you watch a game at the House that J.P. Losman Built, you might just be inspired enough to join the Air Force.
That’s what the 313th Recruiting Squadron is banking on. The unit and the Buffalo Bills just announced a deal that will allow the service to advertise on signage at Ralph Wilson Stadium and on buffalobills.com. The squadron also will “activate” a tailgate party area on game days.
And since we’re on the topic, let’s hope the war in Iraq ends better than Super Bowl XXV:
Tags: air force, buffalo, recruiting
Up in flames
September 1st, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Scott Fontaine
When I turned 21, I drank until I couldn’t stand up anymore and ultimately got thrown out of the bar.
When the 94th Fighter Squadron turned 94, they burned a piano.
Clearly, they have a better imagination than yours truly.
The Air Force’s man in Foggy Bottom
September 1st, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Scott Fontaine
The State Department’s Bureau of Political-Military Affairs is looking mighty blue lately.
Maj. Gen. Walter Givhan joined the bureau as its deputy assistant secretary for plans, programs and operations. He replaced Maj. Gen. Thomas Masiello, directing the acquisition of special programs for the Defense Department.
The moves were announced a few months ago. But The Cable has this interesting tidbit about the job:
“Givhan is now the highest ranking military officer at the State Department, and his appointment is meant to cement the presence of a high-ranking active duty officer in PM, a State Department official told The Cable. Before Masiello, an active-duty military general hadn’t served in a high ranking PM position since the 1980s, although retired officers have played roles, including former assistant secretary Mark Kimmitt, who retired as a brigadier general before coming to State. …
“Givhan has responsibility for overseeing policy and plans, global peacekeeping issues, DOD force posture issues, and weapons removal and abatements. He is currently State’s point person in the effort to secure the thousands of MANPADS currently floating around Libya. Givhan also is in charge of the international security operations office, a 24/7 military action support team.”
Tags: air force, libya, peacekeeping, political-military, state department, un
i canz live in your engine block???
August 31st, 2011 | Air Force Photos | Posted by David Larter
Pest management attempts to encourage one of the kittens to exit Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Kory Cornum's engine block. // U.S. Air Force
Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., has had a full-on cat drama this week, according to an Air Force News story. Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Kory Cornum, 81st Medical Group commander, parked his staff car by the hospital while he was on TDY, only to have it become the de facto residence of a family of cats: momma and her kittens.
The cat family was noticed by a staff member who saw one of the kittens staring at him from the grill of the general’s car as he reported work. The staff called pest control to round up the kittens — momma had runnoft — but they were uncooperative, as can be seen in the picture above.
The whole thing is in something of a limbo right now because they found an airman who wanted to adopt the kittens but when he went to retrieve them from the engine block they were gone. Staff Sgt. Oscar Rodriguez, 81st Aerospace Medicine Squadron noncommissioned officer in charge, said he’ll keep trying to find the sneaky critters.
You can read the whole story here.
Tags: air force, Keesler Air Force Base, Kittens
Killer snake gets official role at Eglin
August 29th, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Scott Fontaine
We all know of the unofficial policy of different spanks for different ranks — but what can you make of this one?
A snake that killed a 2-year-old girl at Eglin Air Force Base in 2009 will now be used in training. Gypsy, an 8-foot-6 albino Burmese python, “now will be used in swamp training at ranger camp,” according to the Northwest Florida Daily News.
The newspaper reported the toddler, Shaianna Rosa Hare, died July 1, 2009, “after the python slid into her crib and constricted her. Her mother, Jaren Hare, and her live-in boyfriend, Charles “Jason” Darnell, each were sentenced Wednesday to 12 years in prison.”
The snake was trying to eat the child, the medical examiner testified at the trial. The state held onto the snake for evidence in the criminal case, and a state wildlife official told the newspaper there was no reason to destroy the snake because it was acting on instinct.
So it’s now property of the 6th Ranger Training Battalion at Eglin.
AMC reveals scoring errors at Rodeo
August 26th, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Scott Fontaine
Here's your not-new-but-really-kinda-new best C-17 unit: The 62nd Airlift Wing from Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. (Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Leah Young)
So… how much does it cost to FedEx a trophy from Oklahoma to Arkansas?
Air Mobility Command admitted this week it bungled the calculation of scoring at this summer’s Air Mobility Rodeo at Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash. The command discovered the problem as they prepared to release detailed scoring data to participants.
That altered the score for best air mobility wing, the competition’s top prize. The trophy originally had been awarded to the 97th Air Mobility Wing at Altus Air Force Base, Okla., but instead will go to the 314th Airlift Wing at Little Rock Air Force Base, Ark.
The 97th AMW also will lose its title as best C-17 wing; instead, the 62nd Airlift Wing at McChord is the new top unit.
And the 314th AW from Little Rock loses its title of best C-130 airdrop aircrew. The new winner: the 19th Airlift Wing from Little Rock AFB.
AMC officials discovered an error in the C-17 and C-130 Container Delivery System airdrop scores. Here’s the Rodeo commander’s explanation of it:
“There is an automated process in the scoring algorithm which improperly assigned a median score for an event,” Maj. Gen. Frederick Martin said. “This program error was not found in testing. All manual scoring processes were triple checked; however, there was not a final check for one critical portion of the automated scoring process.”
And even in the extremely vetted nature of Air Force internal stories, one commander could barely hide his exuberance at the mistake.
“This is great news!” 62nd AW commander Col. Wyn Elder said. “Our airmen work hard every day to provide the best combat airlift in the world and it’s an honor for them to be recognized at the premier mobility competition in the world for their outstanding work. The fact that the combined 62AW/627ABG team was able to win Best C-17 Wing at a joint base is a testament to the teamwork our airmen demonstrate every single day throughout the world. “
Tags: air force, altus afb, amc, joint base lewis-mcchord, little rock afb, rodeo
Pack those bags for Baghdad
August 25th, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Scott Fontaine
U.S. airmen will likely be training their Iraqi counterparts for years. (Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Josef Cole)
Were you hoping to say good-bye for good to Joint Base Balad? And BIAP? And Taji? And all those other areas across Iraq that U.S. troops are supposed to leave by the end of the year?
It’s becoming apparent American troops will remain in Iraq in 2012 and beyond — but the Iraqis aren’t exactly making the planning easy.
The Iraqi ambassador to the U.S. told ForeignPolicy.com an extension “has been largely agreed upon.”
“You’ll see it when you see it,” Samir Sumaida’ie said. “Americans want everything now or yesterday. We don’t do it like this. We do it in our own sweet time.”
So don’t throw away those extra ABS-Gs quite yet.
Products for even the most discerning chief
August 24th, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Scott Fontaine
Imagine you’re the chief master sergeant of the Air Force. You land in Baghdad, bend over to tie your shoes and realize that your body armor is missing its rank patch.
What a faux pas! What are airmen gonna think?
But there’s no need to worry. The PX near the Al Faw Palace — just a short drive from the airport — has even the Air Force’s top enlisted guy covered, according to Stars and Stripes.
Tags: air force, cmsaf, iraq, james roy, sather air base
NATO bombed the way for rebels’ advance into Tripoli
August 23rd, 2011 | Flightlines | Posted by Scott Fontaine
F-16s -- like these landing at Aviano Air Base, Italy, after flying over Libya -- helped the rebels capture most of the country and set up the battle for Tripoli. (Photo by Staff Sgt. Tierney P. Wilson)
So Col. Muammar Gadhafi hasn’t been captured (and it looks like his son, Saif, might not ever have been), but it’s not too early to look at the role NATO jets played in toppling the Libyan government.
On Aug. 20, the day rebels first stormed Tripoli, NATO jets struck 22 targets inside the capital: three military facilities, one military storage facility, seven surface-to-air missile transloaders, one radar, one surface-to-surface missile, two armed vehicles, two armored fighting vehicles, three command-and-control nodes and two multiple rocket launchers.
And that’s just the latest round. Since NATO took over operations on March 31, the alliance flew more than 19,700 sorties — including 7,459 strike sorties.
So what role did the U.S. play? Here are the latest stats from the Pentagon, covering all services (and excluding the Odyssey Dawn portion of operations):
Total sorties: 5,357
Strike sorties: 1,221
Strike sorties that dropped ordnance: 262
Predator strikes: 101