August 2001 Vol. 84, No. 8
By Peter Grier
US Indicts 14 in Khobar Towers Case
A US federal grand jury on June 21 indicted 13 Saudis and one
Lebanese national in the 1996 terrorist bombing of the Khobar
Towers complex in Saudi Arabia--a terrorist act which killed 19
US airmen and wounded hundreds more US military personnel.
The indictment alleged extensive involvement by unnamed officials
in Iran, though it sidestepped the question of Iranian government
involvement and named no Iranian defendants.
The indictments were handed up five years almost to the day
after the June 25, 1996, bombing. The statute of limitations was
about to expire.
US authorities appeared to be trying to strike a balance between
holding to account those who were responsible for murder while
not unduly damaging US-Iran relations, which have warmed a bit
since the election of President Mohammad Khatami.
None of those charged are currently in US custody. Some are
in Saudi detainment-the FBI did not say how many-and some are
currently at large. Then-FBI Director Louis J. Freeh expressed
confidence that at least a few of the suspects would soon be brought
for trial before US courts, though he did not say how that would
happen. Washington and Riyadh have no extradition treaty.
Moreover, Saudi officials were angry at Washington for filing
charges without notifying Riyadh (see "Saudis React With
Displeasure at Khobar Towers Charges," p. 18).
Behind the Scenes, It Was Iran
It was Iranian nationals who "inspired, supported, and
supervised" members of Saudi Hezbollah throughout the preparation
and execution of the Khobar Towers attack, US officials said when
announcing the indictment.
Saudi Hezbollah is a homegrown terrorist group dedicated to
driving US forces and influence from the Gulf.
The text of the indictment is laced with references to unnamed
"Iranians," but they are not identified.
The actual bombing operation was masterminded by a senior Saudi
Hezbollah member named Ahmed al-Mughassil, according to the indictment.
He and confederates in 1993 began their search for a suitable
target for a large-scale anti-US attack.
By 1995, an Iranian military official had counseled the Saudis
to focus on sites in eastern Saudi Arabia, according to the indictment.
After zeroing in on Khobar Towers as vulnerable, explosives were
brought from Beirut, Lebanon, and a refitted tanker truck was
outftted as a rolling bomb.
The effect of the bomb al-Mughassil and his group fashioned
was more powerful than the one that Timothy McVeigh used to destroy
the Oklahoma federal building in 1995. When the Khobar Towers
bomb exploded, the blast left a crater 30 feet deep.
USAF Signs $7 Billion AWACS Contract
USAF officials finalized a long-term Airborne Warning and Control
System modernization, sustainment, and support contract, officials
announced May 31.
The deal, potentially worth $7 billion, brings together the
Air Force and three major contractors.
The award was made to prime contractor Boeing and to subcontractors
Northrop Grumman and Lockheed Martin and extends over the next
18 years. It is designed to provide a cradle-to-grave outlook
for firms managing the E-3 system, said the Air Force.
"AWACS is somewhat unique in that it's been in service
for almost 25 years and will likely be around for at least another
25," said Lt. Col. Sidney Kimhan, manager of AWACS modernization
and sustainment support until his recent retirement.
"The system has had tremendous success, but we realized
that to maintain and expand on that success, we needed to look
at a somewhat different management approach."
Existing sustaining engineering and management contracts expire
at the end of this fiscal year. Upcoming AWACS issues include
the aging airframe problems, projected service life extension,
and system upgrades. The top-down approach provided by grouping
this work in a single contract will place greater responsibility
on the prime contractor to integrate the work properly.
In Major Shift, B-1B Bomber
Fleet Comes Under the Axe
The Bush Pentagon, with Air Force concurrence, proposed a
one-third reduction in the fleet of B-1B bombers, which USAF
once called the "backbone" of its long-range conventional
force.
At present, there are 93 bombers in the B-1 inventory. In
DOD's revised Fiscal 2002 budget, Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld asked for authority to retire 33, leaving 60.
Defense officials portrayed the B-1B decision as an effort
to seek greater efficiencies for a military trying to adjust
to a post-Cold War climate. However, the plan itself was an Air
Force initiative. USAF itself asserted that reducing the fleet
to 60 bombers would cut operating expenses and lead to heightened
readiness in the remaining force. The savings would be plowed
back into the surviving aircraft.
The move will slice costs by $130 million, said Maj. Gen.
Larry W. Northington, USAF's deputy assistant secretary for budget.
"We do not want to maintain these airplanes," he said.
"That's the whole idea."
The Air Force bought a total of 100 of the sleek, needle-nose
B-1Bs in the 1980s. Attrition has claimed seven. The B-1B line
was shut down after the last delivery in 1988. The B-1B entered
service as a nuclear bomber designed to attack the Soviet Union
but was eventually converted for conventional missions.
The retirement would further reduce an already shrunken bomber
force, which once boasted hundreds of aircraft. Today's fleet
consists of the 93 B-1s, 94 B-52Hs, and 21 B-2s. Not all are
combat-coded and ready for action, however.
In a controversial move, Rumsfeld would consolidate the remaining
B-1Bs at just two bases: Dyess AFB, Tex., and Ellsworth AFB,
S.D. The change would end the B-1B mission for the Georgia Air
National Guard's 116th Bomb Wing at Robins Air Force Base and
the Kansas ANG's 184th Bomb Wing at McConnell Air Force Base.
A smaller number of B-1Bs are assigned at Mountain Home AFB,
Idaho.
It was the basing aspect of the Bush plan that prompted howls
of protest from Kansas and Georgia lawmakers and officials. They
have accused the Administration of playing politics, in light
of the fact that the two remaining B-1 bases would be in the
home states of President Bush and Sen. Tom Daschle (D-S.D.),
the Senate majority leader.
On June 27, a group of 12 members of Congress wrote to Rumsfeld,
protesting the B-1B decision. The B-1B, they asserted, is the
Air Force's "fastest long-range strategic bomber" and,
as such, dovetails with the Bush Administration's professed desire
to shift its emphasis to more long-range precision-strike capability.
"We urge you to reconsider this decision, which was made
without consultation with Congress," the letter says.
One of the letter writers, Sen. Max Cleland, a Georgia Democrat
who serves on the Senate Armed Services Committee, was weighing
a legislative move to block the B-1B plan.
At a June 28 hearing of the Senate Armed Services Committee,
Sen. Pat Roberts (R-Kan.) disclosed an Air Force briefing slide
that shows the political impacts of the decision to keep the
B-1s in Texas and South Dakota.
"I am discouraged, I am frustrated, and I am angry,"
Roberts told Rumsfeld, who was testifying.
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No-Fly-Zone Duty Called More Dangerous
Surveying the scene on a swing through Southwest Asia in early
June, Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld said that pilots enforcing
the no-fly zones over Iraq face increasing dangers.
Rumsfeld spoke after meeting with USAF pilots at Incirlik AB,
Turkey. The Pentagon chief said they expressed concerns about
heightened dangers posed by a greater aggressiveness that has
characterized Iraqi air defense forces in recent months.
That aggressiveness stems partly from the fact that foreign
help has strengthened Iraqi defensive capability, said Rumsfeld.
"With lives at risk, it's important that we be attentive
to what's taking place, and what changes on the ground, and what
circumstances might evolve in a way that would lead to some changes"
in the manner in which zone enforcement takes place, said Rumsfeld.
USAF and coalition forces have been enforcing the exclusion
zones over southern and northern Iraq since shortly after the
war in the Gulf in 1991.
USAF Reaches Recruiting Milestone
The Air Force in May reached a major recruiting milestone by
signing its 34,600th enlistment contract for the year.
The number equals the goal for accessions into basic training
by Sept. 30. Last year, the service did not sign up enough new
recruits to fill its quota until July.
"We increased the number of our recruiters, utilized enlistment
bonuses, and continued an aggressive advertising and marketing
campaign, and basically worked very hard," said Brig. Gen.
Duane Deal, commander of Air Force Recruiting Service.
"However, we won't let up. We're definitely still hiring."
Continuing to recruit and writing what appears at present to
be excess recruit contracts will come in handy to cover for possible
cancellations and to get a head start on filling the next year's
quota.
The Air Force continues to struggle to acquire sufficient numbers
of health professionals, particularly nurses, dentists, and pharmacists.
"We still have a daunting challenge ahead of us,"
Deal said.
The Army then promised that all berets would be of US origin--considerably
slowing deliveries.
Mobility Boss Says Airlift
Upgrades Key to New Strategy
The Pentagon's ongoing review of strategy, force structure,
and military transformation will favor airlift and, specifically,
the C-17, according to Gen. Charles T. Robertson Jr., Commander
in Chief of US Transportation Command.
Robertson said he anticipates a need for at least "50
to 60" more C-17s, or up to 180 in total, simply to support
the current strategy of fighting two Major Theater Wars in close
succession. If, as expected, the new military strategy calls
for quicker deployments and possibly a shift in emphasis to Asia,
"then you need more," Robertson said in a meeting with
defense reporters in Washington.
He was also high on an upgrade of the C-5B, but not necessarily
the C-5A, at least a dozen of which he said should probably be
retired for chronic maintenance problems. He discounted the idea
of building a "stretch" C-17 to replace the C-5 as
being counterproductive, since it would negate the C-17's desirable
qualities of being able to operate on small fields with limited
ramp space. He also doesn't want US strategic airlift to depend
on a single type airplane; in the case of a fleetwide grounding,
air mobility would be hidebound.
Robertson also said he was intrigued by the idea of future
transports that are stealthy and superfast but said they are
not even on the technological horizon yet and that interim needs
mandate more C-17s. Likewise, huge lighter-than-air craft for
transport haven't developed much of a case.
In discussions with Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and
Pentagon strategist Andrew Marshall, Robertson was told that
mobility concerns have not been forgotten in the current analysis.
"The importance ... and the shortfalls of mobility were
recognized ... and are going to be taken care of," Robertson
reported. A potential shortage of long-range cargo aircraft is
the "No. 1 force projection problem" facing the US.
military, and his top priority is to "fix strategic airlift."
Two of Rumsfeld's assessment panels-one on transformation
and another on conventional forces-determined that the C-17 is
particularly well-suited to evolving strategies that suggest
quicker response and deployment abroad by all the services when
crises occur.
Robertson said the benchmark strategic airlift requirement
of 54.5 Million Ton-Miles a day, set in last fall's Mobility
Requirements Study 2005, would be adequate to support a single
Major Theater War. If the two-MTW requirement is officially dropped,
it would not signal any opportunity to reduce the size of the
airlift fleet, Robertson said.
"I still need what I need" for one MTW, he asserted.
Those involved in the study-the regional Commanders in Chief,
TRANSCOM, the Joint Staff, and the Office of the Secretary of
Defense-"drew the line" at 54.5 MTM as "the highest
point of medium risk" in carrying out national war plans.
Any less, and "you are at high risk," Robertson said.
The benchmark is "just about ... enough."
If the strategy applies terms like "concurrent"
or "faster" to the airlift equation, "then you
need more" cargo-carrying capacity, Robertson emphasized.
The oft-delayed MRS-05 was "the most credible study"
ever done on airlift, Robertson stated. For the first time, airlift
requirements were assessed beyond meeting an MTW, such as "what
if we are moving the President at the same time? What if we had
to move special operations forces at the same time?"
The budget technically already provides for 134 C-17s, he
noted, but the funding is a "little squirrely" and
does not yet provide for related accessory equipment, such as
training simulators and other support gear.
Decisions on extending the C-17 production line and moving
ahead with a C-5 upgrade are "all coming due" now,
the TRANSCOM chief said. He said Boeing has been maintaining
its C-17 vendors at its own expense in anticipation of another
multiyear contract, and Lockheed Martin is also fronting the
money for the not-yet-approved C-5B upgrade.
Robertson likes the figure of 210 C-17s but said, "I
don't have any analysis upon which to base it, yet." Fiscal
2003 is "where you will really see the answer" to how
many C-17s the Pentagon will buy, he added.
He backs the idea of helping private companies buy and operate
civilian C-17s for the private outsize/oversize market, since
TRANSCOM would have access to the aircraft in an emergency but
not have to buy, insure, crew, or maintain them.
Robertson said the C-5B upgrade makes sense because the aircraft
are only an average of 12 years old and are already "reasonably
reliable," so he recommended upgrading a small number and
then operationally testing them, as was done with the C-17, to
make a go or no-go decision.
In any event, long lead times mean that such a decision will
likely fall to "the CINC after next," meaning his successor's
successor.
"Fixing theater airlift" is Robertson's second priority,
and he urged completion of the C-130X modification program-recently
awarded to Boeing-and buying new C-130Js to replace old C-130Es,
which cannot be economically upgraded.
A new tanker would be Robertson's third priority, although
he noted the KC-135 is still turning in a 95 percent reliability
rate and USAF expects it could last "until it is 80 years
old." However, he noted that the aircraft tend to spend
more and more time in depot maintenance as they get older and
new age-related problems crop up.
Force protection of aircraft deployed in unsettled areas,
defensive systems against shoulder-fired missiles, and international
avionics systems compliance round out the TRANSCOM chief's top
budgetary priorities.
If indeed US military strategy shifts to the Pacific, Robertson
said he'd have to expand the en route facilities at Elmendorf
AFB, Alaska; Osan AB, South Korea; Kadena and Yokota ABs, Japan;
Andersen AFB, Guam, and Hickam AFB, Hawaii. Moreover, he'd have
to expand facilities where the US has a "toehold"-places
like Australia and Singapore-and he has even looked at reopening
port facilities in Vietnam. Air Mobility Command has benefitted
from "several hundred million dollars' worth" of facilities
and infrastructure improvements, such as fuel tanks and expanded
ramps, at the six Pacific and six European bases for airlift,
he said.
Robertson said he is working closely with the Army as it crafts
a new operational concept that calls for far greater speed in
deploying Army forces. He has told Army Chief of Staff Gen. Eric
K. Shinseki that "if he comes up with a new requirement,
as far as lift is concerned, he needs to tell me because it is
going to take 15 years to buy it." However, he reported
that Shinseki "thinks he can live with what we've got."
Asked whether an Army initiative to beef up its light forces
will cause lift problems, Robertson answered that "speed
will give us more problems than weight" in meeting the Army's
ambitious deployment models. The airlift fleet can manage the
"brigade in 96 hours" benchmark.
-by John A. Tirpak
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Bush Seeks $33 Billion
Rise in 2002 DOD Budget
The Bush Administration announced June 27 that it will request
an additional $18.4 billion increase in Fiscal 2002 military
spending. The hike comes on top of a $14.2 billion increase included
in the Administration's original 2002 budget plan, released in
April.
That means the 2002 request now stands seven percent higher
than the amount appropriated for DOD this year.
Even so, the increase is not enough, according to many defense
hawks in Congress. The ranking Republican on the Senate Armed
Services Committee, Sen. John Warner of Virginia, has already
indicated plans to try and tack on at least $5 billion more.
The latest cash influx contains an additional $600 million
for missile defense. Added to the $1.6 billion increase requested
in April, that would bring total missile shield spending to $7.5
billion, up from $5.3 billion in Fiscal 2001.
Some $3.6 billion would go toward modernization, with $4.2
billion for housing and $2 billion for health care.
General readiness (including operations and maintenance, depot
maintenance, spares, and more) would receive $4.2 billion more,
flying hours would get $1.3 billion more, and $2.6 billion would
go for infrastructure.
The request for more money generally punts any decision on
major weapons, such as the V-22 tilt-rotor or JSF, down field
into later years.
"Taking these essential steps in Fiscal Year 2002 lays
the foundation on which the Department of Defense can build in
Fiscal 2003, following the results of the Secretary's strategic
review and the Quadrennial Defense Review," said a senior
defense official.
But budget analysts outside government worry that it is in
2003 and later that the current fiscal surplus will begin to
be restricted by the provisions of the tax cut passed by Congress
earlier this year.
At the same time, many expensive programs will be hitting
late development and early production-possibly setting up a scramble
for available procurement cash.
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DOD To Spend More on Science &
Technology
The Pentagon's top weapons official believes that the Department
of Defense should devote between 2.5 percent and three percent
of its total budget on Science and Technology programs.
Edward C. "Pete" Aldridge, the undersecretary of
defense for acquisition, technology, and logistics, gave that
assessment to Congress on June 5. Such a move would mark an increase
in S&T emphasis, as the category's current budget hovers at
the low end of that range.
"I don't mind saying it should be somewhere in the range
of 2.5 to three percent of our budget," he said. "It
has not been that in the past several years. At some time in the
past, it was at that type of level, but in that range is something
we need to really focus on, and I think it ought to be constant."
The main target for more expenditure, in Aldridge's view, would
be information technology. He is interested in exploring new ways
to protect information from attack and to use data and information
systems to disrupt enemy activities.
Aldridge also gave specific mention to space systems, which
he said are essential for every activity related to targeting
and would therefore be his second priority. Directed energy, unmanned
systems, nano- and microtechnology, and ballistic and cruise missile
defense wrap up his priority list.
The S&T budget in the Fiscal 2001 Pentagon budget request
came to just $7.5 billion.
Boeing Wins C-130 Upgrade Work
The Air Force on June 4 announced it has awarded to Boeing
a major contract for C-130 electronic upgrades. In so doing, it
passed on a bid by Lockheed Martin, the aircraft's original manufacturer.
The award could be worth upward of $1 billion over the next
decade. It provides Boeing a big boost in the growing field of
aircraft services.
While many analysts had expected Lockheed Martin's historic
experience with the C-130 to give it an edge, in the end Air Force
officials opted instead for technology derived from Boeing's large
commercial airline business.
Hundreds of C-130s will eventually be equipped with digital
displays and flight-management systems used on the latest version
of Boeing's 737 airliner. Other upgrades will include multifunction
radar, new communications systems, and a single air data computer
to replace the current three variants.
Work is scheduled to begin in 2004.
Famed Peacekeeper Missile
Appears Headed for Scrap Heap
Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld wants to begin the dismantling
of all 50 Peacekeeper ICBMs, the 10-warhead missile that USAF
deployed at the height of the Cold War.
The step was proposed as a cost-saving measure and to give
a boost to President Bush's pledge to engage in unilateral cuts
in Cold War-era nuclear arms.
The 50 Peacekeepers are the nation's newest ICBMs. If they
are withdrawn from their silos and scrapped, the land-based "leg"
of the US strategic nuclear triad would then consist of only
500 Minuteman III missiles, with the capability to employ from
one to three warheads.
Peacekeepers, sometimes referred to as MX missiles, are forever
associated with President Ronald Reagan's major buildup of strategic
nuclear weapons intended to match Soviet weapons. The original
plan called for building 100 of the ICBMs and basing them in
a mobile "racetrack" configuration in the west. Congress
balked at both aspects of the plan but eventually approved deployment
of 50 in silos.
Bush has said he is eager to cut US nuclear systems to the
"lowest possible number" as part of a new strategic
framework with Russia.
Rumsfeld said the budget he inherited contained no money to
maintain the weapons and no money to retire them. So, he decided
to retire them. The weapons are based at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo.
On June 28, Rumsfeld told the House Armed Services Committee
that "the Air Force reviewed the situation" and decided
that the 50 nuclear ICBMS were "not needed" and could
yield some $800 million in savings.
Rumsfeld proposed the missile retirement as part of the Fiscal
2002 defense budget revisions. Due to arms control and other
considerations, Congress must approve the Pentagon's suggestion
before it can be executed.
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DOD Again Slows Anti-Anthrax
Effort
The Department of Defense is slowing down its controversial
anthrax vaccination effort for the third time, officials said
June 11. The reason: continued shortage of FDA-approved vaccine.
At present, only special mission units, anthrax research personnel,
and individuals involved in Congressionally mandated studies will
receive anti-anthrax shots.
"This slowdown provides for a small reserve of FDA-released
vaccine in the event of an emergency," said a Pentagon press
release on the action.
BioPort Corp., the sole manufacturer of the vaccine, has been
unable to pass FDA inspections following the renovation of its
Michigan facility. The vaccination program has drawn on a dwindling
supply of vaccine manufactured prior to the facility changes.
Approximately 24,000 doses remain.
In December 1999, DOD stopped inoculating service members other
than those deploying to the high-threat areas of Korea and Southwest
Asia. In November 2000, a further slowdown eliminated personnel
bound for Korea from that list.
DOD officials are working with BioPort to restart the flow
of vaccine by the first quarter of 2002.
New AEF Cycle To Focus
on Team Building
When USAF opens the next round of Expeditionary Aerospace
Force deployments, it will shift gears and set a new goal.
EAF Cycles 1 and 2 focused on early notification of personnel
about impending deployments in an effort to provide the stability
and predictability needed to ease strains on units.
And it worked. "By the end of Cycle 1, the 120-day deployment
notification goal was fine-tuned, and we've improved on that
during Cycle 2," said Col. Walter Burns, commander of the
Aerospace Expeditionary Force Center, Langley AFB, Va.
Now comes Cycle 3. When it begins next year, said Burns, it
will concentrate all efforts on team-oriented deployments.
That means that Unit Type Codes-positions grouped together
to provide necessary AEF capabilities-will be refined to meet
the needs of specific ongoing operations such as Northern Watch
and Southern Watch.
Previous UTCs were designed around the nation's strategy of
being able to fight two regional wars at the same time.
In practical terms, that means many of the personnel for future
AEF deployments will come from a single base, as opposed to a
few people deploying from many bases.
"Before, you would have seven or eight different bases
providing one or two or three people to go over to do the work
in a particular shop," said Burns. "The team developed
after they got off the plane and reported for duty. There was
no coherent team aspect there. That's what we're trying to fix
right now."
This new teaming concept means that for many installations
the rhythm of deployments may change after AEF Cycle 2 ends next
February.
Before, "a base like Langley would have people on the
road all the time," Burns said. "But now, our goal
is to tap a wing hard once, and then not so hard during a second
on-call period. This will keep bases such as Langley and Shaw
[AFB, S.C.] from being deployed all the time."
Airmen need to be aware that the change in focus may translate
into a change in their own schedule. Some people who are now
in AEF 5 and 6 may be switched to AEF 7 and 8, or even 9 and
10, said Burns.
But personnel can work with wing officials to help mitigate
this short-term impact on predictability, he said.
"We want to be upfront and tell the field that, yes,
there may be some impact, but this is an evolutionary improvement
in the AEF process. In the long run, this will benefit everybody,"
said Burns.
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Hypersonic Aircraft Test Fails
A test of NASA's X-43A Hyper X ended in failure June 2 when
the Pegasus booster carrying the unmanned aircraft to altitude
veered out of control, prompting ground controllers to destroy
both the rocket and its payload.
If all had gone as planned, NASA officials believe the hypersonic
X-43A would have set a new world speed record for an air-breathing
jet during the test.
The Hyper-X program is a five-year effort to demonstrate hypersonic
propulsion and airframe technologies.
The 12-foot X-43A is a test airplane powered by a scramjet-a
supersonic combustion ramjet engine that uses oxygen from the
atmosphere to help it burn liquid hydrogen for power.
The June 2 experiment began well enough, with the X-43A and
its Pegasus booster dropping cleanly from a B-52 at 24,000 feet.
Then, after the booster ignited and began climbing upward, something
caused its nose to skew to the left. Eventually it began to break
up and spiral downward.
Controllers initiated its self-destruct mechanism.
Saudis React With Displeasure
at Khobar Towers Charges
Key Saudi Arabian officials reacted negatively to the June
21 US indictment of 14 suspects in the Khobar Towers bombing
attack, casting doubt on whether any of those charged who are
currently in Saudi custody will ever be handed over for trial.
In the wake of the US action, Defense Minister Prince Sultan
ibn Abdulaziz accused America of attempting to meddle in internal
Saudi affairs. Interior Minister Prince Nayif ibn Abdulaziz said
Saudi authorities had not been consulted about the move.
"The trials must take place before Saudi judicial authorities,
and our position on this question will not change," said
Nayif. "No other entity has the right to try or investigate
any crimes occurring on Saudi lands."
The harsh reaction reflected tensions between US and Saudi
law enforcement authorities that existed throughout investigation
into the 1996 Khobar terror attack.
Although then-FBI Director Louis Freeh praised Saudi cooperation
during his press conference announcing the indictments, many
US officials felt the Saudis provided less than full access for
FBI agents working in their country.
Furthermore, the Saudis have been keen to rebuild relations
with Iran, more so than is the case in Washington.
The indictment, which discourses at length about the involvement
of Iranian officials, may well be seen by many in the Saudi government
as an unnecessary provocation.
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Two Engine Houses Strike JSF
Deal
On June 6, GE Aircraft Engines and Pratt & Whitney signed
an agreement to ensure that their respective engines for all versions
of the Joint Strike Fighter will be physically and functionally
interchangeable.
Both prime JSF competitors-Boeing and Lockheed-chose the Pratt
& Whitney JSF119 to power their demonstrator aircraft. The
JSF119, which currently has more than 150 hours of flight testing
under its belt, is derived from the F119 power plant used in the
F-22.
GE's JSF F120 is a derivative of an engine originally designed
for use in the YF-22 and YF-23 prototypes. The Pentagon wants
to pit GE and Pratt & Whitney against each other, starting
around 2011, in a competition for production JSF engine work.
"All JSF aircraft will be able to use either the P&W
or GEAE engine," said USMC Maj. Gen. Michael A. Hough, JSF
program director.
Top-Mounted Tank May Extend
F-16's Range
The Air Force and Lockheed Martin are working on a new piggyback
conformal fuel tank for the F-16.
The tank, which rides on top of the fuselage, carries upward
of 3,000 pounds of fuel without reducing armament space.
"The tanks add additional range to the F-16, without taking
out an underwing station where the external fuel tanks that are
carried on the F-16 now reside," said Steve Barter, Lockheed
Martin conformal fuel tank project pilot. "Alternately, it
allows us to add even more fuel by carrying fuel under the wings."
The tanks will show up first on new Block 50 F-16s now being
built for Greece and later on Block 60 aircraft for the United
Arab Emirates.
F-16 Crash Kills USAF Pilot
in Korea
USAF 1st Lt. Randolph E. Murff, 35th Fighter Squadron, Kunsan
AB, South Korea, was killed in the June 12 crash of his F-16.
He was on a nighttime training exercise in South Korea.
Murff had some 260 flying hours in the F-16. The aircraft went
down about 40 miles southeast of Kunsan, just as Murff was beginning
his mission. The F-16 was not carrying live munitions, according
to USAF offcials.
A board of officers opened an investigation into the cause
of the crash.
Former Chairman Blasts DOD
Over Strategy Shift
Rep. Floyd Spence, former chairman of the House Armed Services
Committee, blasted senior defense officials for moving to discard
the nation's current two-war strategy.
At a June 21 hearing, the South Carolina Republican said he
opposed any shift away from US plans to maintain sufficient forces
to fight and win a pair of Major Theater Wars at more or less
the same time.
Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld has claimed that the two-MTW
strategy "is not working" and has initiated a search
for a better force-sizing standard.
The problem, Spence told Rumsfeld and Joint Chiefs Chairman
Army Gen. Henry Shelton, is that as far as US allies are concerned,
a US military oriented to fight only one theater war is not a
US military that is oriented to come to their aid.
Allies in Asia will believe that the US is only interested
in defending Europe. Allies in Europe will have a sneaking suspicion
that the US is only interested in defending Asia.
"Anything less than the two mega-theater war strategy
is a no-war strategy. ... Our friends and allies will not gain
any comfort from that, I can imagine. No matter how you word it
or anything else, that is the message," said Spence.
Rumsfeld has talked about replacing the two-MTW policy, but
he has not yet produced an alternative.
In Poll, Military Rates
Highest in Public Esteem
The military has retained its position as the institution
in which Americans have the most confidence, according to a recent
Gallup poll.
Sixty-six percent of respondents to the survey said they have
a great deal or quite a lot of confidence in US armed forces.
Organized religion came in second, at 60 percent, and the police
third, at 57 percent.
Next came the Supreme Court and the Presidency, at 50 and
48 percent, respectively.
At the bottom of the rankings came big business, with a 28
percent high confidence rating, organized labor and Congress,
tied at 26 percent, and Health Maintenance Organizations, or
HMOs, at 15 percent.
Gallup pollsters have been running confidence-ranking polls
since the 1970s. In general, most of the basic institutions tested-including
religion, public schools, and branches of the government-have
sunk in public esteem over time.
The only institutions that have increased in public confidence
in that time have been the military, which has increased its
"great deal" and "quite a lot" confidence
rating by 10 points since the 1970s, and the Supreme Court, which
has edged up by four.
The military passed organized religion to take the top spot
in the poll in the 1980s, and it has stayed there ever since.
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Rand Says: Scrap Retirement,
Promotion Policies
A new Rand study on military morale and quality of life says
that the armed forces should allow personnel to retire with some
benefits before 20 years of service and end the current "up
or out" promotion system.
These are among moves needed to help the Department of Defense
retain uniformed personnel with critical technical skills and
ease recruitment and retention strain, said the final report
of the Pentagon-requested evaluation.
Leading the study was retired Adm. David Jeremiah, a former
vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff.
"What you have is a system that is basically 50 years
old and has been Band-Aided over the years to accommodate different
stresses and strains on it," Jeremiah told reporters at
a DOD press briefing. "It needs to be looked at in a totality,
restructured, and new proposals brought forward to change the
way we do business."
The Jeremiah report is one of the numerous major defense reviews
ordered by the Bush Administration when it took office. Some
of its recommendations could be implemented by DOD as early as
the 2003 budget cycle, according to Jeremiah. Or, it might go
nowhere, said others.
The admiral said recent quality-of-life initiatives-such as
the Administration's $1.4 billion increase in military pay and
$400 million increase in housing accounts-are all well and good,
but he claimed that more drastic action is needed to maintain
personnel quality in the face of a declining propensity toward
military service and competition in the job market.
Creating a flexible retirement system that would vest an individual
early-before 20 years of service-as is done in the private sector
would make the military more competitive with the private sector
for those who do not wish to make the military a career. Ending
"up or out" would promote retention of computer specialists
and other technical professionals who might otherwise be forced
into the private sector under current requirements that limit
maximum years of service according to rank.
The study recommended focusing pay hikes on midlevel personnel,
where the disparity between private and military pay and benefits
is greatest, and increasing the number of Hispanics and African
Americans in leadership positions.
Changing national demographics mean that in the future "you
will have a largely Hispanic and African American [military]
force," noted Jeremiah.
"A much larger proportion of the population will be Hispanic
in 20 years or so," said the admiral. "If that's the
case, then the military has to prepare. ... [W]e need to start
putting into the system young Hispanics who can mature and be
the sergeants and the colonels and the flag officers who can
lead that force. ... We have to plan ahead to do that, or it
won't happen. You have to build those kinds of leaders."
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Israel To Buy 50 New F-16s
Lockheed Martin announced June 19 that Israel had agreed to
purchase more than 50 additional F-16 fighters, at a cost of about
$2 billion.
The new purchase comes on top of a previous order of 50 F-16I
fighters, which are still in the pipeline. The two purchases taken
together will keep the US fighter flowing steadily into the Israeli
inventory for years to come and not incidently keep the production
line open for USAF use, if need be.
Deliveries should continue until 2009, according to Lockheed
Martin.
"Israel has the world's largest F-16 fleet outside the
United States Air Force," said a corporate statement. "The
country has received or ordered more than 300 F-16 aircraft, including
102 new ones ordered since 1999."
Bomber Proponents
Push for More B-2s
B-2 bomber proponents are pressing the Pentagon to buy more
of the stealthy aircraft, saying they fit perfectly with the
Bush Administration's inclination to make the military more dependent
on flexible long-strike weapons.
Northrop Grumman chief Kent Kresa has offered to sell the
Air Force 40 new B-2C (the C means "conventional")
models at a total fixed price of just under $30 billion.
Thus, the unit price tag would be much lower than that for
the B-2A fleet, which cost $44 billion for 21 aircraft. The lower
cost stems mostly from the fact that the B-2's expensive research
and development program has already been amortized. Lower-price
components and new manufacturing techniques would also contribute
cost savings.
Rep. Howard "Buck" McKeon (R-Calif.) sent Secretary
of Defense Donald Rumsfeld a letter urging the purchase. McKeon,
a member of the House Armed Services Committee, noted that he
has listened to many military leaders paint a dire picture of
aging aircraft fleets and that the Pentagon needs to take action
to modernize its force.
Air Force officials are not encouraging--or discouraging--such
talk.
At a recent Senate hearing, Secretary of the Air Force James
Roche noted only that "there are extensive upgrades being
planned for the B-2, both in avionics and to put smart munitions
on board."
The Air Force took delivery of the 21st aircraft in July 2000.
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Global Hawk Breaks Record
on Return
USAF's Global Hawk Unmanned Aerial Vehicle, developed by Northrop
Grumman, became the first UAV to fly nonstop from Australia to
the United States when it returned from a six-week deployment
Down Under on June 8.
Global Hawk's April flight out had been a record setter, too,
as it became the first UAV to fly across the Pacific nonstop.
In between its history-making trips the aircraft took part
in a series of missions, logging 250 flight hours, while in Australia.
On its 81st flight, it passed the cumulative 1,000-hour mark as
it took part in Tandem Thrust exercises intended to train US and
Australian personnel in joint crisis and contingency response
operations.
As part of the operation, Australian defense scientists helped
develop Global Hawk's ability to search large open areas and detect
maritime targets.
Panel Wants Fast Track for
Navy JSF
A key Pentagon study panel has recommended advancing deployment
of the Navy's version of the Joint Strike Fighter by three years.
That would put the stealthy jet on carrier decks in 2009--one
year before the US Marines and two years before the US Air Force
are now scheduled to get their respective versions.
Unlike USAF, the Navy does not yet have a radar evading aircraft,
study leaders noted.
The Transformation Panel, one of the many different groups
that together make up Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld's overall
defense review, has no direct control of policy. But given the
Administration's emphasis on transformational military capabilities,
the panel's recommendations could well portend that the JSF program
will, at the very least, survive and prosper.
The group's report also endorsed a ground-attack-capable F-22
Raptor.
"We said the F-22 program's coming along fine, the JSF
is an important capability, and accelerate it to get it on the
carriers faster," said panel chairman retired Air Force Gen.
James P. McCarthy. "But we did not say you need X number
of them."
Bush Administration's
Vieques Decision Draws Fire
President Bush's decision to end Navy live-fire exercises
on the Puerto Rican island of Vieques in 2003 is drawing criticism
from both sides of that inflamed issue.
Opponents say the bombing needs to end immediately. The Navy
has conducted battle simulations on Vieques's eastern tip for
more than half a century, but in recent years it has become a
galvanizing force for Hispanics who see the issue as a vestige
of US imperialism.
The growing power of the Hispanic vote in US politics has
drawn some American politicians into the fray. The Republican
governor of New York, George Pataki, has become an unlikely foe
of Vieques training.
"My goal is not to have it stopped two years from now,"
said Pataki after the Administration announced its decision June
14. "My goal is to have it stopped now."
Proponents of the exercises say the Vieques range is irreplaceable.
Nowhere else can Navy aircraft and ships conduct live-fire exercises
together to such an extent, they say.
"I cannot agree with a politically motivated decision
which sacrifices national security and unnecessarily puts the
lives of our men and women in uniform at risk," said Sen.
James Inhofe, Republican of Oklahoma.
Puerto Rico was scheduled to hold a nonbinding referendum
in July on the future of the US military's Vieques use.
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Court To Rehear Military
Retiree Health Case
The US Court of Appeals for the Federal Circuit on June 13
vacated its previous ruling that could have meant military retirees
and their dependents are eligible for damages due to a broken
promise by the federal government to provide them with health
care for life. The February ruling, made by a three-member panel
of the court, directly affected only two retirees. It would have
set the stage for a class-action suit.
All 16 members of the court will hear new arguments in the
case, justices said.
The Class Act Group, a Florida-based group of retirees, brought
the original lawsuit, on behalf of two retired Air Force lieutenant
colonels, Robert L. Reinlie and William O. Schism, charging that
they had what amounted to a contract with the US for their medical
costs.
In initially siding with them, the three-judge panel ruled
that personnel who entered military service before 1956 and stayed
in uniform for at least 20 years had indeed been promised such
care and that they were eligible for up to $10,000 apiece in damages.
In the retrial, the focus will be on whether promises of care
by recruiters are legally binding on the government, whether Congress
ratified those promises with its annual health care appropriations,
and whether the recent enactment of Tricare for Life has relevance
on the case, said the June 13 court order.
Army Makes Transition to
Berets
Thousands of US Army personnel marked the 226th birthday of
their venerable service by switching headgear to new black berets
on June 14.
Soldiers based with 8th Army in South Korea were the first
to don the new caps, due to their forward deployment in terms
of time zones. As the day swept eastward, troops from Ft. Lewis,
Wash., to Ft. Campbell, Ky., and the Military District of Washington
all received permission to begin wearing their new berets, as
they become available.
Chief of Staff Gen. Eric K. Shinseki had originally planned
to have enough berets for the entire Army to switch on the birthday
date. But two controversies slowed down the change.
First, some Rangers objected to outfitting the entire service
in headgear that previously only they had worn. A compromise was
finally reached that has allowed the Rangers to switch from black
to tan berets, continuing to note their elite status.
Second, some members of Congress were unhappy with the fact
that some of the berets would have been made in China, Sri Lanka,
and other developing nations, per Defense Logistics Agency contracting.
US Air Force Missile
Defense Programs Moving to BMDO
Three major Air Force programs with missile defense implications
will be shifted this fall out of the service's hands and given
to a defense agency, the Ballistic Missile Defense Organization.
Under a plan outlined in DOD's Fiscal 2002 defense budget
revisions, the changeover would affect the Airborne Laser, the
Space Based Laser, and the Space Based Infrared System (Low).
The first is an aircraft program, while the latter two are
spacecraft programs.
Dov Zakheim, the Pentagon's comptroller, said at a June 27
briefing that all three of the Air Force programs are relatively
immature and would benefit from BMDO oversight. Not everyone
in the Air Force agrees, however.
|
Eliminate the Division as Army
Command Level?
The new Secretary of the Army, Thomas White, thinks it is possible
that America's land forces would be leaner and meaner if they
did away with a level of organization that dates to the Napoleonic
Wars--the division.
Advances in information technology have flattened organizational
charts in corporations all across the nation, noted White, a former
Enron Energy Services vice chairman, in a meeting with reporters.
Perhaps the Army should take advantage of the same trend.
"What about an Army 10 years from now or 15 years from
now that is a corps that commands brigade-level structures? Maybe
you've got 15 or 20 or 30 of them," said White.
Computing and communications power today means that corps could
provide numerous small command posts to coordinate brigade commanders.
"They would have small, mobile command centers that if
[corps headquarters] wanted to closely coordinate the activities
of four or five of these brigades in a particular area, it could
send out a small command post to accomplish that mission,"
said White.
Europe Has Mixed Reaction
to Bush's Missile Defense
The Administration's high-profile missile defense plan received
a decidedly mixed response during President Bush's June trip
to Europe.
White House officials were quick to point out that they were
pleasantly surprised that some nations expressed interest.
Former Soviet bloc nations such as the Czech Republic, Hungary,
and Poland were supportive, they said, adding that the UK, Spain,
Turkey, and Italy also were on the positive side.
"If I could capture what we were hearing, it was ...
'We understand that there is a threat; we want to work with the
United States,' " said a top Administration official.
Is Europe's "center of gravity" moving toward a
tacit acceptance of missile defense, as the White House contends?
That is an open question. France and Germany expressed skepticism
and urged staying within the framework of the 1972 Anti-Ballistic
Missile treaty.
Russian President Vladimir Putin, meanwhile, said he looked
forward to consulting with the US in the months ahead on the
nature of the rogue missile threat and what defense technologies
might be useful against it.
However, Putin also said that, if the US decided to move ahead
on defenses unilaterally, Russia would eventually upgrade its
missile systems with new multiple-warhead technology-in other
words, reverse the process of "de-mirving" that has
been the focus of strategic arms reductions.
"That will cost us a meager sum," Putin insisted
in a meeting with several US reporters June 18, reported by the
New York Times.
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Joint Rapid Response
Forces in DOD's Future?
An unusual review commissioned by Secretary of Defense Donald
Rumsfeld finds that the US military of the future needs to have
multiservice strike forces capable of deploying around the globe
within 24 hours.
"Global Joint Response Forces" would resemble USAF's
Aerospace Expeditionary Forces and take advantage of new weapons
and modern communications and intelligence systems to increase
power projection speed.
Retired Air Force Gen. James P. McCarthy, who led the study
for the Institute for Defense Analyses in Washington, said the
goal would be to gain control of an area within four days and
bring the conflict to a decisive end within a month.
"We are not talking about creating a new force,"
said McCarthy at a June 12 Pentagon press briefing. "It
is how you organize and exercise and train the existing forces
and what capabilities that you give them."
The IDA transformation report was just one of many studies
feeding into Rumsfeld's wide-ranging review of US forces and
capabilities. Its findings did not at the time represent official
policy.
Implementing the new strike forces would necessitate an acceleration
in some key weapon systems, among them the Navy version of the
Joint Strike Fighter. The carrier-based JSF could be speeded
up by two or three years, suggested McCarthy. (See "Panel
Wants Fast Track for Navy JSF," p. 19.)
Other systems, such as the Navy's new DD-21 destroyer and
CVX future aircraft carrier, might receive less emphasis.
The newly blended response forces would not have to represent
a large percentage of the total force to mark a large change
in the US military's orientation, according to McCarthy. From
a historical standpoint only eight to 14 percent of a military
needs to be modernized to have a major impact.
"Most people think of Stukas and Panzers and characterize
that as the German army in the beginnings of World War II,"
said McCarthy. "In fact, only about 10 percent of the force
was transformed with that concept. Ninety percent of the forces
that eventually conquered much of Europe was foot soldiers and
horse-drawn cannon."
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Euro Generals Attack Euro
Defense Force
In a letter to the London Daily Telegraph, 11 British and French
generals and admirals have attacked the Euro Army concept as something
that could sap British and French armed forces and endanger their
nations' security.
The force is a "paper tiger" which, as designed,
would force Britain and France to dilute their own combat capabilities
in an effort to help defend less-capable European brethren, said
the letter, which was signed by Admiral of the Fleet Lord Hill
Norton, former chairman of the Military Command of NATO, and Gen.
Pierre-Marie Gallois, father of France's nuclear capability, among
others.
"The actions of federalist politicians and technocrats
playing at armchair generals, building a fictitious paper army,
will only serve to weaken even further our national capabilities
to the detriment of our own security and world stability,"
said the letter.
Air Force Secretary
Outlines His Top Goals
Secretary of the Air Force James G. Roche says that, as he
takes office, he has three principal goals for the service.
The first is to develop an Air Force strategy consistent with
the overall course set by the Bush Administration for the military
as a whole.
"We have a key role to play, and understanding what that
role is and making sure our colleagues in other services can
depend upon us is terribly important," he said.
The second goal is to improve the Air Force career development
program. The current exodus of talented midcareer personnel underscores
the need for change, in the view of the service's new civilian
leader.
"We want service in the Air Force to be fulfilling for
people throughout their whole career, not just for part of it,"
he said.
The third goal is to streamline staff and spending on overhead
to increase the money available for new weapons and maintenance
of existing systems.
"That's not just a matter of asking Congress for more
money," said Roche. "It's also a matter of looking
to see how we can improve our processes and be more efficient."
Roche added that he comes from a naval culture, not from an
Army or Air Force culture.
Roche served 23 years on active duty in the US Navy, retiring
as a captain. However, he told an interviewer with Air Force
News Service, "I've worked in business around the Air Force
for the last 17 years. What I do bring to the job is the understanding
of the military warrior culture and the business world."
|
Software Glitch Messes Up
Pay
Due to a software glitch some 5,600 soldiers, 9,000 sailors,
and 1,000 airmen received slightly larger paychecks for several
months earlier this year. The same glitch caused 150 service members
to receive less than they would normally.
Defense Finance and Accounting Service officials noted that
the glitch underwithheld the Social Security contributions of
15,600 personnel and overwithheld for 150. The problem has now
been fixed, but the government still wants its money.
The majority of the 15,600 service members owe less than $120,
which should have been deducted from end-of-month May pay. Those
who owe more will see further deductions in mid-June, July, and
August pay.
The 150 members who overpaid Social Security should have received
their refunds in May.
Trainee Dies at Lackland
AB Darryll M. Logans, age 20, assigned to the 331st Training
Squadron, Lackland AFB, Tex., collapsed during routine physical
conditioning June 14. He was pronounced dead at Wilford Hall Medical
Center at 7:47 a.m.
Logans, whose home was Yigo, Guam, was in the fourth week of
the six-week basic training program for new Air Force recruits.
This is the first death of a basic trainee at Lackland since
the Sept. 12, 1999, death of trainee Micah J. Schindler. Schindler
died two days after he became seriously ill from heat stroke complicated
by water intoxication near the end of a 5.8-mile field march.
Air Force officials made several changes to the field training
program following Schindler's death. Officers and enlisted personnel
were also disciplined for lapses in duty performance that contributed
to the death.
A USAF investigation into the circumstances surrounding Logans's
death is ongoing.
Seeking Troops, USAF
Welcomes Back Those Who Separated
Some Air Force personnel who separated from the service under
Voluntary Separation Incentive or Special Separation Benefit
programs are eligible to return to active duty.
During the drawdown of 1992-95, more than 33,000 enlisted
and 6,000 officers left the service under the terms of VSI/SSB.
The Air Force's prior-service program is now welcoming back any
of these personnel who were trained in critical skill areas.
"There was a shift in policy to remove an unnecessary
barrier to extended active duty," said Maj. Northan Golden,
accession policy chief at the Pentagon. "However, eligibility
to return is based on the needs of the Air Force."
On the enlisted side, critical skill areas tend to focus on
mechanical and electrical specialties. Crew chiefs and aircraft
mechanics are among the needs. On the line officer side, only
pilots, navigators, and air battle managers may return to active
duty for an indefinite period.
Those interested in returning should note that they do not
have to repay any money received under VSI/SSB, unless they retire
from active duty. They may also continue to receive VSI payments
or have them reduced or stopped.
"We have a lot of people who did not want to separate
in the mid-'90s and have always wanted to be part of the Air
Force," said Golden. "The Air Force needs people in
these critical skill areas and this gives them that opportunity."
|
France Puts End to
Military Draft
France, the country that virtually invented the concept of
"the nation in arms," has finally ended its military
draft.
Paris officially shut down its conscription operation on June
27 after 96 consecutive years of operation. The French draft
actually goes back further, to the days of the French Revolution
and the Napoleonic Wars in Europe, fought with huge armies of
conscript soldiers.
Most major Western nations had already dropped the draft as
a cumbersome and ineffective relic of the past (the US shut down
its own draft in 1973), but the French persevered. Now, Paris
aims to discharge all conscripted servicemen by the end of the
year.
President Jacques Chirac and Prime Minister Lionel Jospin
explained that France's volunteer recruitment drive had proved
to be so successful that France no longer needed the draft and
could safely give it up. Also, they added, external threats had
receded greatly in the post-Cold War era.
|
News Notes
- Thomas F. Carrato is the new executive director of the Department
of Defense's Tricare Management Activity. Carrato has 23 years
of experience in a variety of health care-related organizations,
including a previous stint in the Office of the Assistant Secretary
of Defense for Health Affairs.
- Pilot error caused the Jan. 12 crash of an A-10A of the 51st
Fighter Wing in Osan, South Korea, with a maintenance error as
a significant contributing factor, according to the accident
report. The aircraft suffered a right engine oil system malfunction,
and the pilot was unable to execute an emergency landing under
the power of one engine. The pilot ejected safely.
- Fifty-one percent of Americans are in favor of building an
anti-missile shield, while 38 percent are opposed, according
to a new poll from the Council on Foreign Relations.
- A Lackland AFB, Tex., training instructor was convicted May
31 of having sex with trainees and obstructing justice in an
Air Force investigation. SSgt. Andrea L. Reeves was sentenced
to six years' confinement, reduction in grade to E-1, forfeiture
of all pay and allowances, and a dishonorable discharge. Reeves
was one of three instructors charged with having sex with trainees.
TSgt. Clifford Mason received three years of confinement, reduction
to E-1, forfeiture of pay and allowances, and a dishonorable
discharge. TSgt. Orlando Johnson, three years' confinement, reduction
to E-1, and a dishonorable discharge.
- Pratt & Whitney announced June 11 that USAF had selected
10 F100-PW-229 engines to power F-15E aircraft scheduled for
delivery in 2003 and 2004.
- The Air Force recently announced the 2000 annual command
post award winners: SMSgt. Jeffrey E. Branch, 52nd Munitions
Support Squadron (command post), Kleine Brogel AB, Belgium; SMSgt.
Richard J. Gallagher, 3rd Wing (maintenance operations center),
Elmendorf AFB, Alaska; SSgt. Jose M. Colon, 625th Air Mobility
Support Squadron (command post), Rota Naval Station, Spain; TSgt.
Thomas E. Moore, 43rd Airlift Wing (maintenance ops), Pope AFB,
N.C.; SrA. Chastity D. Bruce, 100th Air Refueling Wing (command
post), RAF Mildenhall, UK; SSgt. Corey G. Collins, 305th Air
Mobility Wing (maintenance ops), McGuire AFB, N.J.
- Four pararescuemen-SSgts. William Orse and Maurice Bedard,
A1C Ryan Hall, and SrA. Jason Fike-from the 23rd Special Tactics
Squadron, Hurlburt Field, Fla., helped rescue two Florida families
who became stranded on the wrong side of a swollen creek bed
in the Tennessee mountains June 4.
- The Air Force was presented with five 2001 Department of
Defense Value Engineering Achievement Awards during a Pentagon
ceremony June 6. The service's recipients were the U-2 Reconnaissance
Avionics Maintainability Program, Beale AFB, Calif.; Electronic
Systems Center, Counterdrug Surveillance and Control, Hanscom
AFB, Mass.; 2nd Lt. Rober N. Mishev, Combat Air Forces Command
and Control System Program Office, Hanscom; James A. Schafer,
Pacific Air Forces, Hickam AFB, Hawaii; and Airborne Test Branch,
46th Test Wing, Eglin AFB, Fla.
- The evolved expendable launch vehicle took a step forward
with the arrival of the "first flight" Atlas V booster
at Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla., on June 5.
- CMSgt. Valerie Denette Benton has been named the new command
chief master sergeant for the Air National Guard. She succeeds
CMSgt. Gary Broadbent, who is retiring after 26 years in uniform.
- The Air Force recently announced the winners of the 2000
Henry "Red" Erwin Outstanding Enlisted Aircrew Members
Award. The recipients are: MSgt. Steven M. Bowman, flight engineer
and operations superintendent, 40th Flight Test Squadron, Eglin
AFB, Fla.; SSgt. Matthew D. DellaLucca, instructor boom operator,
91st Air Refueling Squadron, MacDill AFB, Fla.; SrA. Jeffrey
S. Cumming II, instructor boom operator, 349th Air Refueling
Squadron, McConnell AFB, Kan.
- CMSgt. Gerald R. Murray has been selected as the next Pacific
Air Forces command chief master sergeant by PACAF Commander Gen.
William J. Begert.
- The Air National Guard honored its four top enlisted people
for 2001 at an Andrews AFB, Md., ceremony June 12. The winners
were: SSgt. Brandon Pearce, 146th Airlift Wing, Channel Islands
ANGS, Calif.; SSgt. Peter Bowden, 133rd Air Control Squadron,
Fort Dodge, Iowa; MSgt. Christine Clay, 159th Civil Engineer
Squadron, New Orleans; and First Sergeant of the Year, MSgt.
Katie Hines, 108th Refueling Wing, McGuire AFB, N.J.
- Boeing's Joint Strike Fighter X-32B at NAS Patuxent River,
Md., successfully completed flight-test requirements July 1 that
demonstrated the JSF candidate's short-takeoff-and-vertical-landing
skills.
- More than 80 personnel from the 59th Medical Wing at Wilford
Hall Medical Center, Tex., flew to Houston in early June to provide
humanitarian assistance for victims of the area's fierce rain
and floods. The team set up and maintained a 25-bed hospital.
- A Predator RQ-1 UAV, used during the Balkan War for intelligence
gathering, joined the permanent collection of the US Air Force
Museum, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, recently. The Unmanned Aerial
Vehicle will be part of the museum's Modern Flight Hangar.
- In June USAF missile maintenance team members placed an inactive
Minuteman II missile in a silo near Wall, S.D. The silo and its
launch control facility will be turned over to the National Park
Service in November for a historic display-a tribute to the men
and women who waged the Cold War from deep beneath the Great
Plains-that is scheduled to open in 2004.
- The 5th Bomb Wing and 91st Space Wing, Minot AFB, N.D., were
winners of the 2000 Omaha Trophy, which goes annually to the
top aircraft and ballistic missile units in US Strategic Command.
It marked the first time two wings from the same base have won
the trophies in the same year.
- Thomas P. Christie has been nominated by President Bush to
be director of operational test and evaluation at the Department
of Defense. Christie is currently director of the operational
evaluation division at the Institute for Defense Analyses.
- Remains believed to be those of a six-man crew from a World
War II-era B-26 bomber were turned over by Tunisia during a June
6 ceremony. The wreckage of the aircraft was discovered last
year during a dredging operation in a lake near the capital city
of Tunis.
- Raymond F. DuBois Jr. has been appointed to the new position
of deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment
in the Office of the Secretary of Defense. The new job combines
the previously separate positions of deputy undersecretary of
defense for installations and for environmental security.
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