USAF's Bosnia Plans Unfold
US Air Forces in Europe and Air Mobility Command more than
two years ago began planning for possible peace operations in
the Balkans. In December, those plans were put into effect.
USAF troops at European and Stateside bases joined forces
to reinvigorate two dilapidated Cold War airports in central
Europe, reenergize Rhein-Main AB in western Germany, and establish
the air link for Operation Joint Endeavor.
On November 28---the day after President Clinton's major address
on the planned deployment of 20,000 US troops to support NATO's
Joint Endeavor in Bosnia-Hercegovina---a USAF team led by Col.
Neal Patton, 16th Air Force vice commander, was on its way to
a former MiG fighter base at Tuzla, Bosnia, to survey the airfield.
Tuzla and Hungary's Taszar AB, an active MiG-21 fighter base,
were selected to serve as the main forward airlift centers for
the operation. A substantial force of USAF combat aircraft at
Aviano AB, Italy, continued to provide the NATO force with control
of the air.
Air Force special operations units were based further south
at Brindisi, Italy. Throughout the next few weeks, USAF active-duty
and reserve personnel and units supported the NATO operation
in a variety of ways, from airlift operations to combat air patrol
and from airborne surveillance and reconnaissance to aerial refueling
and satellite communications.
Colonel Patton on December 6 returned to Tuzla as the commander
of the 4100th Air Base Group (Provisional) aboard a C-130 from
Ramstein AB's 86th Airlift Wing. He brought a team of USAF personnel,
many from Ramstein's 1st Combat Communications Squadron, to prepare
the airfield for round-the clock operations.
Joint STARS Ready for Balkan Duty
Some 450 members of a joint USAF-Army unit---the 4500th Joint
STARS Squadron (Provisional)---arrived at Rhein-Main AB on December
15 with two E-8 Joint STARS (Joint Surveillance and Target Attack
Radar System) aircraft.
Though still in development, Joint STARS aircraft flew forty-nine
combat missions in Operation Desert Storm in 1991, tracking Iraqi
forces, vehicles, and fixed and mobile Scud missiles.
The system includes a modified Boeing 707, with a radar antenna
housed under the fuselage, and mobile ground stations that forward
the surveillance data to field units. Joint STARS has the ability
to detect and track ground movements with such precision that
the unit can distinguish between wheeled and tracked vehicles.
It also provides ground-threat data to flying units, complementing
Airborne Warning and Control System aircraft.
The Air Force expects delivery of the first production models
this month. However, for Joint Endeavor, military crews will
conduct all operations on the two preproduction models, with
some seventy-five Northrop Grumman personnel providing technical
backup, as needed, according to Air Force officials.
USAF Col. Robert DeBusk, 4500th JSS commander, said that the
current Joint STARS aircraft are even more effective than those
used in Desert Storm because of improved computer software and
radar functions. He added that if any of the warring factions
decide to break the Bosnia peace pact, "they can't hide."
Squadron Vice Commander Army Col. Jeff Wright called Joint
STARS "one of the more sophisticated, complex, and revolutionary
systems providing support to all commanders.
New Momentum for the B-2
The outlook for procurement of new B-2 bombers appeared to
have brightened as a result of the words and deeds of Congress
and the President.
Congress approved a Fiscal 1996 defense appropriations bill
containing some $500 million in B-2 funds that the Administration
had not sought. The bill did not specify use of the money. House
lawmakers said the ultimate goal was new procurement.
President Clinton accepted the bill, seeming to crack the
door for more bombers. In a December 20 interview with the Los
Angeles Times, he expressed a more favorable view of bomber purchases.
"You know I have mixed feelings about the B-2,"
he told Times reporter Ralph Vartabedian. "I think it's
a good plane, but I don't think we need as many as the Congress
wants to build."
The President then added, "I signed the bill; there are
going to be more B-2s built."
Congress in 1992 capped procurement at twenty bombers, and
the Clinton Administration has always resisted subsequent moves
to increase that number. In the Times interview, he announced
that "there are circumstances under which I could go along
with building some more." He did not specify the circumstances
and said procurement must be considered in light of overall defense
needs and budget levels.
Defense Secretary William J. Perry in the past has said that
he might want to tap the B-2 funds to finance US operations in
Bosnia.
One Plus One Approved
Those pre--All-Volunteer Force open-bay barracks and common
latrines will pass into history now that DoD has approved the
"one plus one" standard for single enlisted personnel.
However, a DoD release cautioned that "transformation of
old barracks into 1990s-style singles living will not happen
overnight."
The Pentagon announced December 11 that Defense Secretary
William J. Perry had "signed off" on the new housing
standard on November 6. Just weeks before, the USAF-led push
for the new department-wide standard seemingly had stalled, prompting
Air Force officials to say the service would continue to pursue
"one plus one" independently.
Recent studies, including the 1995 USAF Quality-of-Life survey,
indicated that young recruits ranked gaining more privacy and
space as top concerns.
Under the new standard, single enlisted members at permanent
duty locations will live in mini-apartments with two individual
sleeping rooms (each about 118 square feet), plus a kitchenette
and bathroom shared with only one other person. According to
DoD, the apartments will "normally accommodate two service
members in the ranks of E-1 through E-4, or one person ranked
E-5 or above."
Each service will implement the latest standard "wherever
possible beginning with Fiscal Year 1996 construction."
The DoD release stated that during the next twenty years, the
number of E-1s to E-4s who will have "the opportunity"
to live in the new-style rooms will increase from about 50,000
to more than 275,000. Additionally, the number of barracks spaces
served by central latrines will fall from 116,000 to less than
1,000.
Fighter Squadrons to Move
Air Combat Command announced in December that it intends to
shift more fighters among three ACC bases and cancel the move
of additional aircraft to an Air Force Materiel Command base.
The goal was to streamline maintenance and logistics for each
system.
ACC officials said the moves, scheduled for mid-1996, will
align similar aircraft, such as Block 40 F-16s with other Block
40s.
Eighteen Block 50 F-16C/D aircraft will move from Cannon AFB,
N. M., to Shaw AFB, S.C., increasing Shaw's F-16 inventory to
seventy-eight. Six Block 40 F-16C/D aircraft will move from Pope
AFB, N. C., to Cannon, which will then have sixty F-16C/Ds.
Eighteen A/OA-10 aircraft will move from Shaw to Pope, increasing
its force of A/OA-10s to forty-two. The planned movement of six
F-16C/Ds to Hill AFB, Utah, has been canceled.
As a result of these moves, the full-time military manpower
authorizations at the three ACC bases also will change. Cannon's
and Shaw's authorizations will increase by 104 and sixty-four,
respectively. Pope will lose eighty-six.
UAVs: Wave of the Future
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman told defense
reporters in November that the Air Force is looking for a cost-effective
way to bridge the gap between future unmanned aerial vehicle
capability and today's tactical reconnaissance requirement---but
he sees UAVs as "the wave of the future."
General Fogleman stated that the Air Force is firmly committed
to UAVs for near-real-time and real-time battlefield intelligence
and reconnaissance. However, until UAVs really come on line,
he said, the best way to find a cost-effective alternative is
"to have a little competition."
He would like to see the Air National Guard's reconnaissance
pod being developed for the F-16 to compete with the Marine Corps'
advanced tactical airborne reconnaissance system (ATARS) or another
system. He emphasized competition to reduce the cost of the system
ultimately procured, stating that the ATARS price had not changed
until the ANG program began.
Benefits to Low C-17 Buy Rates
Addressing another area---airlift---General Fogleman told
reporters that he saw advantages to buying C-17 airlifters at
a low per-year rate.
The Chief of Staff's statement runs counter to conventional
wisdom, which holds that only large-scale production of USAF's
newest airlifter will produce significant economies of scale
and therefore generate relatively large reductions in cost.
The General, however, suggested that advantages should be
calculated not only in terms of cost. For the Air Force, he said,
slower production would keep the C-17 line open longer, "and
that gives you some options in the outyears to look at ... whether
you need more [C-17s] or whether you start to use this basic
airframe for other things."
He added that buying C-17s at the maximum production rate--probably
fifteen per year--would, "in theory," produce efficiencies,
but the savings would not be as dramatic as in the past when,
for example, the service procured fighter aircraft at a rate
of 180 per year. He said new "lean production" methods
used by prime contractor McDonnell Douglas had already reduced
costs.
F-22 Threat Environment Tough
to Test
The concept for initial operational test and evaluation for
the new F-22 fighter is still being developed, with first flight
more than a year away, but USAF's lead F-22 tester knows he will
face "severe limitations" testing the aircraft in a
likely threat environment.
Lt. Col. Erwin C. Catts of the Air Force Operational Test
and Evaluation Center, Kirtland AFB, N. M., spoke on December
6 at an industry conference on integrated avionics.
Colonel Catts said that evaluators will use modeling and simulation,
hardware-in-the-loop testing, and open-air testing. He noted
that the F-22's closely coupled avionics drive the need for the
Air Force to test the fighter as an entire system and avoid separate
assessments of subsystems.
Colonel Catts pointed out, however, that he does not have
an actual adversary against which the F-22 may be tested, and
there will be no live missile firings. Additionally, he said
that test range infrastructure cannot accurately mirror the F-22's
likely dense battlefield environment.
The Colonel said testers will conduct open-air tests to the
extent possible and then put results in a full-mission simulator.
"Now, with a man in the loop and a dense environment
[created in the simulator], I can get a prediction of what the
likely performance of the F-22 will be against the then-current
and -future threat," he said. He also said that AFOTEC supports
the acquisition of adversary aircraft and missiles.
Satellites "Talking"
to Satellites
December 15 marked the start of "a new era for spacebased
communication," according to a Pentagon release, which announced
that two military satellites had "cross-linked" in
space. That means two Milstar communications satellites "talked"
to each other, transmitting messages between them without first
sending the data through ground stations, thus providing more
secure transmission.
Milstar was developed by USAF's Space and Missile Systems
Center, Los Angeles AFB, Calif., to provide secure, jam-free
communications and worldwide connectivity to authorized users,
said the release. It added that Milstar's successful message
transmission "represents a crucial step in the evolution
of the program."
When completed in 2000, the Milstar constellation of four
satellites in geosynchronous orbit will provide communications
worldwide, relying on only one initiating ground station.
The ground station, located on friendly soil, would transmit
a message to one Milstar, which would then use its intersatellite
communication antenna--the "cross-link"--to route the
message to other Milstars. The satellites would cross-link messages
around the constellation, as needed, then downlink them to destination
terminals, potentially on some future battlefield.
The first cross-linked message was a statement by Gen. John
M. Shalikashvili, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, praising
this latest US command-and-control advantage.
F-117 Slated for Upgrades
A USAF official told reporters that the service hopes to include
in the 1998 program objective memorandum support for midlife
improvements to the F-117 Stealth fighter.
The unnamed official, speaking in mid-December, would not
reveal the specific recommendations of a study on F-117 upgrades.
He did note that the study took more than a year to complete
and focused on aircraft survivability and target-kill capability,
using two combat scenarios. One featured Syria and another Iraq,
he said, with both set in 2010.
Areas covered included radar cross section (RCS), electronic
warfare countermeasures, weapons, targeting, information in the
cockpit, communications, and antennas. In all, the study reviewed
more than 100 different technologies, with thirty or forty related
to RCS reduction.
The official emphasized that the study results were not final
and that plans called for USAF officials to brief senior ACC
officers later in December. The Air Force thinking today is that
it will phase out the Nighthawks after 2018.
Full Accounting: 567 Lost Forever
The Pentagon announced in mid-November the results of an "extensive
analysis" of individual cases of Americans missing in action
from the Vietnam War. Begun in 1994, the study groups the remaining
2,202 MIA cases into three broad categories. One category comprises
567 MIA cases that the Pentagon said "cannot be resolved."
The largest category comprises 1,476 cases that require further
pursuit. A second category with 159 cases is on hold, pending
"receipt of additional information to develop new leads."
The "cannot be resolved" category includes those
service members lost at sea, buried on riverbanks that have since
eroded, and killed in explosions that destroyed their remains.
The DoD statement said that the analysis indicated that those
individuals had perished and no future effort would lead to a
return of their remains.
Fifty-eight analysts independently reviewed each of the 2,202
cases (the number of open cases as of July 21), then shared their
views to reach a coordinated position that DoD said identifies
"the best next steps to move cases toward resolution."
Analysts were drawn from the Defense POW/MIA Office in Washington,
D. C., and the Joint Task Force--Full Accounting and the Central
Identification Laboratory, both in Hawaii.
They reviewed historical data of each loss; information collected
by the US government; information gathered through joint investigations
with Vietnam, Laos, and Cambodia; and data turned over to the
US by those governments. DoD said the analysis "represents
the first time such an exhaustive assessment has been conducted
since the end of the Vietnam War."
Tricare Prime Reduces Cap
The maximum annual total paid by non-active-duty enrollees
in the DoD managed-care health plan, known as Tricare Prime,
has dropped from $7,500 per fiscal year to $3,000 per twelve-month
enrollment period, as of November 1, according to a December
Air Force release.
Called a "catastrophic cap," the yearly total includes
Tricare Prime enrollment fees, inpatient and outpatient cost
shares, and copayments for such things as visits to civilian
doctors.
Once they reach the "cap" of $3,000, enrollees owe
nothing more for care received through the Prime network of providers
until the next annual enrollment period.
Through December, Tricare services were active in five of
the twelve health-service regions. The latest region to issue
a Tricare contract, according to a December USAF statement, includes
Mississippi, Florida, Georgia, Alabama, Tennessee, South Carolina,
and the eastern third of Louisiana.
The award of this Tricare contract went to Humana Military
Healthcare Services of Louisville, Ky., for $3.78 billion, covering
5.5 years, including a six-month start-up period and five one-year
options. Air Force officials said the original starting date
might change from May 1 to July 1, since the contract award had
been delayed.
Splitting Command and Control
As part of the trend toward management and organizational
streamlining, the Air Force created a "super" command-and-control
officer out of three separate career fields---but the merger
didn't take.
Two years into the attempted consolidation of the air traffic
control, air weapons control, and operations management career
fields, an Air Force review group found that the plan had not
worked. The group determined that the service had never established
a requirement for this type of multiqualified officer and that
the specialties were too technically diverse.
The Air Force announced devolution of the "super"
command-and-control career field into three separate fields.
The service plans to:
- Reestablish the separate field of air traffic control.
- Restore air weapons control--now to be called "air battle
management"--as a separate field.
- Create a new field, combat control.
- Eliminate operations management, more commonly known as the
command post
- field.
The personnel manager of the "super," or 13BX, career
field, Maj. Leah Barrera, said that personnel officials will
help the nearly 1,000 people in operations management find jobs
in the "sister career fields that broke away." She
added that others will fill shortage career fields. They will
receive a list of potential career fields next month.
Major Barrera said, "In retrospect, there wasn't enough
need for an officer with the breadth this field offered when
weighed against the high technical skills needed for successful
air traffic control, air battle management, and combat control
demands in the next century."
Spy Imagery Merger Proposed
DoD and the Central Intelligence Agency proposed to Congress
creation of a new National Imagery and Mapping Agency (NIMA)
that would consolidate the resources responsible for imagery
and mapping products taken largely from intelligence satellites
into one organization under the Defense Department. The target
date for NIMA stand-up is October 1, 1996.
The proposed concept would merge the Defense Mapping Agency,
DoD's Central Imagery Office, CIA's National Photographic Intelligence
Center, all imagery support resources of the Defense Intelligence
Agency, and resources of the Defense Airborne Reconnaissance
Office and National Reconnaissance Office associated with imagery
exploitation and dissemination, according to a DoD statement.
The new agency would employ about 9,000, with the majority--some
7,000 employees--coming from DMA alone.
Critics of the proposal believe that the merger might shift
too much emphasis to military intelligence-gathering at the expense
of political and diplomatic coverage. Proponents feel that the
move will provide much-needed near-real-time intelligence to
battlefield commanders, without sacrificing other requirements.
A DoD statement said, "Specific details of the agency will
be developed in close consultation with the Congress."
Navy Rear Adm. Joseph J. Dantone, Jr., currently NRO's deputy
director for Military Support, was named director of the NIMA
Implementation Team. Leo Hazlewood, the CIA's deputy director
for Administration, and Dr. Annette J. Krygiel, director of the
Central Imagery Office, were selected as deputy directors.
DoD, CIA Cooperate on Space
The Defense Department and Central Intelligence Agency announced
on December 15 further collaboration with the creation of a Joint
Space Management Board.
The JSMB, according to a DoD release, will integrate policy,
requirements, architectures, acquisition, and funding for defense
and intelligence space programs. The goals are to make joint
use of available space resources and to use "integrated
architectures [for future space systems] to the maximum extent
possible."
While providing executive management for DoD and CIA space
programs, the board will oversee the National Security Space
Architect. It will have co-chairs, the under secretary of defense
for Acquisition and Technology and the deputy director of Central
Intelligence. The co-chairs will oversee an executive committee
that includes the vice chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff
and the executive director, Intelligence Community Affairs.
Newark AFB Privatizes
The Air Force announced December 15 that maintenance activities
performed at Newark AFB, Ohio, have been contracted to private
industry.
Rockwell International has won a contract estimated at $264
million for depot-level maintenance and repair activities. Wyle
Laboratories won a cost-reimbursable contract estimated at $19
million for selected metrology and calibration work. Both contracts
cover a transition period plus four one-year options.
According to a USAF release, both contractors must extend
the right of first refusal for their employment openings to federal
employees displaced by these contracts. Additionally, the base
has employee-assistance programs to help employees with job searches.
Some employees have already taken advantage of a Job Training
Partnership Act grant. The $2.75 million grant has provided training
in new or upgraded skills for hundreds of base employees, the
release stated. Nearly 200 other employees were placed in DoD
positions under the Priority Placement Program. [See "Civilian
Drawdown, Hard and Fast, January 1996, p. 28.]
A More Competitive Industry
The post-drawdown US aerospace industry will be leaner, more
efficient, and financially and technologically sound, stated
Aerospace Industries Association President Don Fuqua at the AIA's
thirty-first Annual Review and Forecast on December 13.
"From the technical standpoint, the aerospace industry
of the new millennium will be more competitive than at any time
in its history," he noted. The last ten years have produced
flexible manufacturing approaches that will elevate competitiveness
factors--such as cost, reliability, and reduced design-to-market
time--to an equal status with performance.
Another boon to industry, according to the AIA president,
will be continued internationalization, either through foreign
acquisitions or teaming. He views this as a positive trend that
offers cost- and technology-sharing benefits, as well as ready
expansion into world markets.
However, he emphasized that the difficult period for industry
is not over. The difficulties will end "only when there
is in place a stable, adequately funded, defense modernization
program and the advanced technology systems now languishing in
R&D status become real, live, production projects,"
Mr. Fuqua said.
The Art of Dropping Leaflets
The Army and Air Force dropped more than ten million leaflets
on the Iraqi army during Desert Storm--but they still have to
practice.
"The ability to drop a desired number of leaflets onto
a desired area requires a real joint effort," said Army
Maj. Andy Eisemann of Alpha Company, 8th Psychological Operations
Battalion (Deployed).
During the first leaflet drop since the beginning of Operation
Southern Watch, C-130 crew members Capts. Pete Fry and Steve
Hedden, serving with the 4410th Airlift Squadron in southwest
Asia on their first flight over the region, noted the difficulty
of spotting ground targets in the desert.
Throughout the flight, Sgt. Colin Sullivan continually updated
weather conditions to pinpoint the precise location to drop the
leaflets so that they would drift over the targeted troops.
During a drop, an Army or Air Force member tossed one or more
boxes, each attached to a static line, out the aircraft's rear
door. The static line "exploded" the box, creating
a leaflet "cloud."
According to Major Eisemann, the Desert Storm leaflet drops
contributed heavily to the surrender of tens of thousands of
Iraqi troops.
ESC Field Tests TASR
Electronic Systems Center at Hanscom AFB, Mass., field tested
a prototype battlefield situational awareness receiver, called
the Tactical Automated Situation Receiver (TASR), successfully
relaying a missile warning to a "threatened unit" within
two minutes at its most recent "Fort Franklin" field
encampment.
The prototype TASR system includes a laptop computer base
unit and portable remote receivers--all commercially available
components. ESC officials said that production TASR units should
cost less than $5,000 per unit.
The computer generates warning messages and transmits them
via modem to cellular paging transmitters. The remote receivers
in the field pick up and filter the messages, displaying only
the information the user needs, based on the receiver's location.
The receivers include a handheld Apple Newton portable processor,
a Global Positioning System receiver, and an alphanumeric paging
card packaged in a rugged platform.
Plans call for procurement of thousands of TASR systems. "Eventually,
they will be carried by every maneuver unit, every ship, and
every aircraft and will provide a common joint platform for battlefield
situational awareness," said Capt. William J. Szarek, TASR
program manager.
The demonstration took place during Fort Franklin IV, one
of several ESC field encampments that demonstrated USAF's command,
control, communications, computer, and intelligence systems'
interplay with those of other services.
Six Teams Net Quality Awards
The Air Force has recognized six USAF teams for helping to
enhance USAF processes and products, according to USAF Chief
of Staff Gen. Ronald R. Fogleman.
The six winners were selected from a field of twenty nominated
for the Chief of Staff Team Quality Awards by the Air Staff,
major commands, Air Force Reserve, and Air National Guard.
The following were winners:
- The 18th Wing team at Kadena AB, Japan, for introducing a
new F-15 maintenance process and standardized pilot training
and discrepancy reporting procedures.
- The 42d Air Base Wing's Logistics Supply Squadron team, including
members from the 908th Airlift Wing, at Maxwell AFB, Ala., for
reducing the unanticipated demands for C-130 aircraft parts from
seventy percent to thirty-seven percent.
- The 34th Training Wing team at the US Air Force Academy,
Colo., for identifying excess steps and reducing processing time
for cadet disenrollment by seventy-nine percent.
- The 52d Security Police Squadron team at Spangdahlem AB,
Germany, for using community-oriented policing methods to improve
its security operations for entry to the flight line.
- A team from the 46th Component Repair Squadron at Eglin AFB,
Fla., for improving liquid nitrogen cart services to meet aircraft
sortie generation needs.
- The 39th Security Police Squadron team at Incirlik AB, Turkey,
for developing and implementing programs that helped reduce the
base's crime rate, which was one of the highest in USAF.
Everyday Heroes
Members of the Air Force occasionally find themselves in situations
calling for quick reaction and calm thinking. In this, they often
excel, as the following recent award and actions demonstrate.
SrA. Lisa Natola, who works in the Wilford Hall Medical Center's
Human Resources Office, received the Airmans Medal on October
26 for heroism she displayed when she pulled an injured driver
from a burning car in 1993.
A1C Kyle Clay, AFRES, a financial services specialist with
the 94th Airlift Wing, Dobbins ARB, Ga., helped save the life
of a pregnant Georgia woman who lost a leg in a traffic accident
in November. He credited first-aid field training during a recent
weekend drill with spurring his quick and successful reactions.
The woman survived and gave birth to a four-pound baby. Both
are OK, according to Airman Clay.
Ssgts. Gary Duclo and Neri LaMadrid, on temporary duty in
October in Japan from the 83d Aerial Port Squadron, Portland,
Ore., rescued a six-year-old Japanese girl as she slid down a
nearly vertical, fifty-foot rocky incline off a hiking trail
on Mount Nokogiri. Sergeant LaMadrid brought the child back up
the cliff. She spent seven days in the hospital and recovered
fully.
In November, Capt. Timothy Finnegan, 353d Special Operations
Group, Kadena AB, Japan, helped save an Okinawan boy who was
trapped under a van that had flipped over. The Captain managed
to pick up the van far enough to slip a rock underneath it to
relieve some of the pressure on the child. When other men arrived,
they righted the vehicle. The two-year-old boy was expected to
remain in the hospital for at least two months.
AFRES TSgts. Ray J. Korizon and Paul W. Vojtech and SSgt.
Vince Bobowski, from the 928th Maintenance Squadron, OHare IAP/ARS,
Ill., helped contain a bus fire and save its passengers in October
while on temporary duty at Hickam AFB, Hawaii. They were driving
along a highway when they heard an explosion and saw smoke and
flames from a tour bus in front of them. They borrowed a garden
hose and several fire extinguishers to help put out the fire.
News Notes
- On December 15, the President nominated Gen. Joseph W. Ralston,
Air Combat Command commander, to be vice chairman of the Joint
Chiefs of Staff, replacing Adm. William A. Owens, who announced
his retirement. At press time, Congress had not approved the
nomination and the Air Force had not announced a replacement
for the ACC post.
- Nominated for a fourth star, Lt. Gen. (Gen. selectee) Eugene
E. Habiger, USAF's deputy chief of staff for Personnel, also
had been tapped, pending Senate confirmation, as commander in
chief of US Strategic Command at Offutt AFB, Neb., succeeding
Adm. Henry G. Chiles, Jr., who will retire.
- The United Kingdom signed a memorandum of understanding with
DoD in December to participate as a collaborative partner for
the concept demonstration phase of the Joint Advanced Strike
Technology (JAST) program. A proposed JAST short takeoff and
vertical landing aircraft offers a potential supersonic future
carrier-borne aircraft to replace the Royal Navy's Sea Harrier,
said a Pentagon statement.
- The 347th Transportation Squadron's Air Delivery Flight at
Moody AFB, Ga., became the first Air Combat Command flight to
air-drop loads from a C-5 aircraft when it supported Air Mobility
Command's 436th Airlift Wing, Dover AFB, Del., by loading and
successfully dropping ten pallets ranging in weight from 2,520
to 15,000 pounds. Moody's fifteen-person "rigger" team
normally works with C-130s.
- Air Force officials said that joint pilot training will transfer
to Vance AFB, Okla., with activation of the 8th Flying Training
Squadron on July 1. Navy instructor pilots currently at Reese
AFB, Tex., which will close in 1997, will begin to transfer to
Vance next month. The 8th FTS will fly T-37B Tweet trainers.
Navy instructors for joint T-1 Jayhawk pilot training with the
32d FTS at Vance will begin transferring from Reese by April.
- The 4th Space Launch Squadron, 30th Space Wing, Vandenberg
AFB, Calif., successfully launched the first Titan IV from Vandenberg
in more than two years, boosting a classified payload into polar
orbit on December 5. A Titan IV launched from the base in August
1993 exploded a few minutes into the flight. Three of the nation's
largest expendable boosters launched from Cape Canaveral AS,
Fla., in 1995. Current plans call for five launches each in 1996
and 1997.
- The recent chief master sergeant promotion list gave SMSgt.
Elaine Taylor, of the 56th Transportation Squadron at Luke AFB,
Ariz., the distinction of becoming the first woman to make chief
in the transportation career field. Noting that her career had
been difficult and challenging because it was not typical for
a woman, she said, "I've had to prove myself on many occasions,
but that makes reaching this milestone that much more gratifying."
- The 1995 colonel's board selected 650 out of 5,061 eligible
officers for promotion to O-6. The selection rate for in-the-promotion-zone
line officers was forty-two percent; Judge Advocate and Medical
Service Corps, each at fifty-three percent; Biomedical Science
Corps, thirty-three percent; and Nurse Corps, thirty-nine percent.
- A November Air Force Return-to-Fly board selected ninety-four
bomber and fighter pilots to return to the cockpit.
- An Officer Training School board reviewed 1,572 records,
then chose eighty-eight active-duty enlisted members and 184
civilian applicants to enter OTS in 1996.
- Military personnel serving in Operation Southern Watch stopped
receiving the Southwest Asia and National Defense Service Medals
on December 1. Instead, they will now receive the Armed Forces
Expeditionary Medal.
- Air Force members who participated in Operations Desert Shield
and Desert Storm from August 2, 1990, through August 31, 1993,
may be eligible for the new Kuwait Liberation Medal, offered
by the government of Kuwait.
- Although program costs have risen, according to USAF education
officials, tuition assistance rates will remain the same for
most degrees to avoid any negative impact on recruiting and professional
development. Officials noted they would soon announce changes
that would make assistance for doctoral and duplicate degrees,
such as a second master's degree, more strict.
- Three Air Force Reserve installations officially have changed
names. The Reserve portion of former Grissom AFB, Ind., has become
Grissom ARB. Homestead ARB, Fla., became an Air Reserve Station
when it gave up its airfield to Dade County as part of the 1993
base realignment and closure actions. The 301st Fighter Wing
now resides at Carswell ARS, its portion of NAS/JRB Fort Worth,
Tex.
- Though the Air Force Suggestion Program saved the service
about $250 million in Fiscal 1995, program officials said that
statistics show that only a minute portion of USAF personnel
actively participated. Officials launched a reengineering effort
in October 1995 to review commercial industry programs and "expectations
at all levels, from wing commander to airmen." They expect
to test a new program by July.
- "Microtubes" technology developed by Phillips Laboratory
researchers at Edwards AFB, Calif., and used for microminiature
plumbing, filtration, and structural applications, recently became
the focus of a cooperative research and development agreement
signed by Environmental Robots, Inc., of Albuquerque, N. M. They
will use the technology to develop and produce robots small enough
to propel themselves through the human bloodstream for microelectromechanical
and medical applications.
- At Vandenberg AFB, Calif., 14th Air Force activated a twenty-four-hour
Space Operations Center on November 27 to provide continuous
command and control of its globally based space units. According
to a 14th Air Force release, the center is similar in design
and function to Air Operations Centers and will enable the commander
to engage USAF space forces for real-world contingencies or exercises
while simultaneously preparing to execute others.
- At Andrews AFB, Md., in November, the Air Force Office of
Special Investigations dedicated the building used to train AFOSI
agents to Lt. Gen. Joseph F. Carroll, the agency's first director.
- Maj. (Dr.) James R. Stewart, 366th Aerospace Medicine Squadron
commander, was named one of America's fifty most positive physicians---the
only military doctor chosen---by the Positive Medicine Project,
based in Philadelphia, Pa., and supported by the American Hospital
Association and the American Medical Association.
Copyright Air Force Association. All rights reserved.
|
