The Senate on June 12 approved promotions for 127 active duty Air Force captains and majors. There were 741 nominees who were still on the list, some from early January. And approval for the 127 came only after pressure from the White House itself.

The problem is that Republican Sen. Larry Craig of Idaho wants four additional C-130 aircraft for the Idaho Air National Guard.

Senators can and do hold up nominations—usually civilian, not military—indefinitely and anonymously. In this case, the New York Times reported on June 9, it was Craig who was blocking the promotions.

A spokesman for Craig said the Air Force promised seven years ago to station eight C-130s in Boise for the ANG squadron there. Currently, the unit has four operational C-130s and one trainer.

According to the Times, USAF officials said no such pledge was given and called the Senator’s action “blackmail.” Reports of the number of confirmations actually being blocked by Craig varied. His office claimed the Senator had only put a hold on 212.

Two Luke F-16s Crash

Two F-16 fighters based at Luke AFB, Ariz., crashed in a single week during training missions. The first crash occurred June 10, followed by one on June 13.
Both pilots ejected safely.

The first F-16 crash occurred at 5:15 p.m. The pilot was Capt. David O’Malley, an instructor pilot with the 310th Fighter Squadron at Luke. The second crashed at 9:30 a.m. It was piloted by Capt. Scott Arbogast, also an IP, of Luke’s 61st Fighter Squadron. The aircraft were over the Barry M. Goldwater Range at the time of the accidents.

Luke suffered a series of six F-16 crashes in late 1998 and early 1999. The service found that four of those crashes were engine-related. A subsequent inspection of all the F-16s at Luke found engine cracks in 18 of the base’s older fighters. The Air Force is still investigating causes of the two recent crashes.

Two Aircraft Down in Iraq

US Central Command reported that an Air Force F-16CG had crashed and an Army Apache helicopter had been shot down during operations in Iraq on June 12. The crews of both aircraft were rescued.

In a briefing the next day, officials said that an initial report on the USAF fighter indicated it had a mechanical failure before it crashed at 6:30 a.m. (Baghdad time). The pilot ejected and was rescued about an hour after the crash.

CENTCOM said the AH-64 helicopter was hit by hostile fire. Two additional Apaches helped engage the hostile forces in the vicinity, and coalition ground forces reached the two crew members almost immediately.

Blue, Silver To Stabilize AEFs

The Air Force has tagged its two transitional 120-day Air and Space Expeditionary Forces as AEF Blue and AEF Silver. These two AEFs are part of USAF’s plan to fix its broken schedule by March 2004.

To handle Gulf War II in Iraq plus ongoing operations in Afghanistan, the service had to reach into its AEF rotation cycle—freezing some forces in place and advancing others. (See “Expeditionary Air Warriors,” June, p. 24.)

The service had established 90-day rotation periods as its norm but announced in May that it would carry out two temporary rotations of 120 days each to get the system back on track. AEF Blue will handle operations from July through October. AEF Silver will pick up then and run through February of next year.

Service leaders are currently reviewing the expeditionary system and the feasibility of maintaining its 15-month cycle.

It’s Never Too Late

President Bush nominated retired Gen. Peter J. Schoomaker to return to active duty to head the Army. He retired from service in December 2000 as commander of US Special Operations Command.

Gen. Eric K. Shinseki retired as Army Chief of Staff on June 11. Vice Chief of Staff Gen. John Keane, who is also slated to retire, is serving as acting Chief. Keane was offered the top job but turned it down.

Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld fired the Army’s top civilian, Thomas E. White, who left office May 9. (See “Aerospace World: The Pentagon Shuffle,” June, p. 9.)

A-10s Under the Microscope

A New York Times op-ed article on May 27 claimed that Maj. Gen. David A. Deptula, director of plans and programs at Air Combat Command, had “ordered a subordinate to draft a memo justifying the decommissioning of the A-10 fleet.”

Deptula and ACC commander, Gen. Hal M. Hornburg, vehemently denied the claim.
There is no drive in the Air Force to prematurely “kill” the A-10, affectionately called the Warthog, say USAF officials.

At issue were some planned A-10 upgrades that ACC is reviewing as it tries to craft a 2005 budget.

US Ends CRAF Call-Up

US Transportation Command on June 18 officially ended the Civil Reserve Air Fleet call-up for Operation Iraqi Freedom. The CRAF activation began on Feb. 8.

It was only the second time commercial carrier aircraft had been activated under the CRAF program to augment the Air Force mobility fleet.

From Feb. 8 through June 9, CRAF commercial carriers compiled an impressive record:
Eleven carriers flying 51 passenger airliners carried out more than 1,600 missions and transported more than 254,000 troops.

Sixteen commercial carriers volunteered to move 11,050 short tons of cargo destined for Southwest Asia.

Welch: Nuclear Triad Still Useful

Retired Gen. Larry D. Welch recommends the US maintain its nuclear triad capability even as it reduces the scope of its nuclear arsenal. Speaking on Capitol Hill on June 4, the former Air Force Chief of Staff said each element of the triad—air, land, and sea—still offers unique value.

At the same time, Welch said the US must study what role nuclear weapons should play in the post-Cold War, post-9/11 world. He added that the current systems may no longer be relevant.

Welch endorses a plan proposed by Rep. Curt Weldon (R-Pa.) and included in the House version of the Fiscal 2004 defense authorization bill. It would create a commission to develop an all encompassing strategy for the US nuclear arsenal.

C-17 IPs Go Back to School

Starting this month, four C-17 instructor pilots will embark as the first class in a 5.5-month C-17 Weapons Instructor Course established at McGuire AFB, N.J. The new course is considered the “doctorate” for C-17 IPs.

The C-17 course will parallel similar instruction set up for C-130 and KC-135 IPs. The three courses make up the service’s new USAF Mobility Weapons School at McGuire.

Officials say C-17 pilots taking the course will follow an intensive curriculum of more than 300 academic hours and 25 flights in four phases: advanced tactical maneuvering, direct delivery, joint operations, and mission employment.

The advanced tactical maneuvering and direct delivery phases will orient the pilots to different types of flying, airdrop, and air-land techniques, including reaction to threats. After completing these two phases, the pilots will receive joint operations training.

At the end of the course, the C-17 pilots will participate in a two-week exercise at the USAF Weapons School at Nellis AFB, Nev.

Once they graduate, the pilots are expected to return to their units and pass on their knowledge to other IPs and student pilots.

DOD and VA Form New Team

The Defense and Veterans Affairs Departments on May 31 opened a new compensation program for some disabled military retirees. Payments under the Combat-Related Special Compensation program were slated to begin this month.

The CRSC program applies to two categories of military retirees:

• Those who have disabilities resulting from combat injuries for which they received the Purple Heart.
• Those rated at least 60 percent disabled because of armed conflict, hazardous duty, training exercises, or mishaps involving military equipment.

Eligible retirees must apply to their branch of service using DD Form 2860, “Application for Combat-Related Special Compensation.” The form is available from retirement services representatives or on the Web at https://www.dmdc.osd.mil/crsc.

AMC Opens New Control Center

Air Mobility Command on May 16 officially opened a new Tanker Airlift Control Center at Scott AFB, Ill. Officials say the new center brings all airlift control functions together.
TACC personnel “now have the ability to call upon a wide range of electronic tools and databases to help them make smart decisions in a timely manner,” said Maj. Gen. Edward L. LaFountaine, TACC commander.

He said the new center permits flight dispatchers, flight controllers, weather and intelligence personnel, and logisticians to enter “a working community to optimize air mobility operations.”

The old control center’s operations were split between eastern and western hemispheres. “As part of the effort to create a more efficient and effective TACC, we got rid of the east-west divisions,” said SMSgt. Robert Dunn, superintendent of the TACC Operations Support Division.

The new center is divided into functional areas, or mission types, “which gives us the flexibility to manage our manpower based on our actual workload rather than by the location of each mission,” said Dunn. Before, the east division might be working 1,000 sorties in a day, while the west crew only had 300.

By dividing the operations center according to function, explained Dunn, “we can adjust the number of people to each type of mission.”

DOD Changes Budget Cycle

Pentagon Comptroller Dov S. Zakheim on May 22 unveiled DOD’s plan for a new two-year budget cycle. It requires no Congressional action, he said, and will begin with an abbreviated cycle for Fiscal 2005.

Under the new approach the annual program objective memorandum and budget estimate submission cycle moves to a biennial cycle. During the off year, Zakheim said, the Pentagon will focus on “fiscal execution and program performance.”

The change also affects the defense planning guidance, which the services and defense agencies use to develop their individual budget and programming requests. It was provided annually. Now, the DPG will be issued in the off year “at the discretion of the Secretary of Defense,” according to a Pentagon statement.

What’s more, the statement said, the off-year DPG will “not introduce major changes to the defense program, except as specifically directed by the Secretary or Deputy Secretary of Defense.”

There will be no DPG for Fiscal 2005.

To handle needed changes, DOD will use program change proposals in lieu of an off-year POM, and budget change proposals instead of an off-year BES.

UAV Ground Control Takes To Air

The Air Force has successfully tested control of a Predator unmanned aerial vehicle from an airborne platform. Predator normally is operated from a mobile ground station using satellite communications.

According to a May 23 report on InsideDefense.com, the test, dubbed Scathe Falcon, marks the first air-to-air control of a Predator UAV. It was conducted by Aeronautical Systems Center at Wright–Patterson AFB, Ohio, earlier this year.

ASC placed a modified Predator ground station with crew on board a C-130 aircraft. The Predator crew flew the UAV for more than five hours using a C-band line-of-sight antenna.

By developing this capability, the Air Force will be able to fly the UAV in areas that may have limited SATCOM coverage. The capability may be added to the service’s new E-10 multisensor command and control aircraft.

USAF Releases 2002 QOL Results

The Air Force on May 30 said that its personnel showed “an increase in satisfaction” with the service as a job and way of life. The claim was based on responses to the 2002 Chief of Staff Quality of Life Survey.

Charles Hamilton, chief of the Air Force Personnel Center’s survey branch, said the latest survey showed a rise in satisfaction virtually across the board, when compared to results from the 2000 QOL survey. He added, too, that “career intent was up among all demographic groups.”

Hamilton’s office sent the survey to more than 100,000 active duty airmen and civilian personnel last September.

While the responses were largely positive, with 90 percent of military members and 89 percent of civilians saying the Air Force is a good place to work, Hamilton said there was a recurring concern among all groups—manpower shortages. (See “Masters of What They Survey,” p. 76, for more on the manpower issue.)

Reservists To Weigh In

For the first time, the Air Force will query reservists when it conducts its next organizational climate survey. It is slated to run this fall.

Officials said the Air Force Climate Survey 2003 will be easily accessible on the Air Force survey Web site and user-friendly.

The climate survey, unlike the QOL survey, asks questions about organizations, teamwork, supervision, training, unit flexibility, etc. The QOL survey measures feedback on pay and benefits and base facilities.

Like the QOL survey, however, officials say the Air Force ensures anonymity of respondents by using software masking techniques to separate the respondent’s user identification and password from responses.

Ironman Returns Home

Nearly 59 years after his death, 1st Lt. Carl Hoenshell, has come home. The airman’s remains were returned in May to his hometown, Owosso, Mich., for burial.

Hoenshell was a member of the World War II “Ironmen” of the 71st Fighter Squadron. His P-38 was shot down over Bulgaria.

Hoenshell’s niece, Elizabeth Wilson, and nephew, David Hoenshell, in 1995 began an effort to locate and recover his remains. Research, both online and through personal contact with other World War II airmen, led them in 1998 to a probable crash site in Bulgaria. In 1999, an excavation team found Hoenshell’s ID bracelet. War in the Balkans disrupted the search, but in 2002, the team found his remains, which were shipped to the US Army Central Identification Lab Hawaii.

On Hoenshell’s last mission in 1944, he was among 48 P-38 pilots who accompanied bombers sent to attack the Ploesti oil refineries in Romania. On the return, he ran out of ammunition when Nazi fighter aircraft attacked. He told his fellow pilots to hit the deck and head for home as he led at least three of the enemy aircraft away. In 1945, he was officially removed from the missing in action list and declared killed in action.

AWACS Finally Goes Home

On May 28, the E-3 Airborne Warning and Control System community completed an arduous, 13-year continuous mission in desolate Southwest Asia. The mission began in August 1990, when the first AWACS deployed as part of Operation Desert Shield, the buildup for Gulf War I.

AWACS aircraft and personnel from Tinker AFB, Okla., handled the mission alone for nine years. Then in 1999 Pacific Air Forces AWACS elements began helping out. Tinker forces then handled about 80 percent of the mission and PACAF the other 20 percent.
AWACS forces flew 277 combat sorties during Gulf War II, according to USAF.

“ We were in the middle of everything,” said Lt. Col. Joe Rossacci, commander of the 363rd Expeditionary Airborne Air Control Squadron. “We were providing battle management for fighters, bombers, combat search and rescue, aerial refuelings, recovery and time-sensitive targeting missions.”

SMSgt. Gary Oldham, the 363rd EAACS operations superintendent, was a member of the AWACS team to deploy for Desert Shield in 1990. He said he had been back to the region several times. He was back for the end as well. He noted, “Lots of guys have over 200 days a year away from home.”

Oldham called the last sortie an “awesome sense of closure.”

News Notes
By Tamar A. Mehuron, Associate Editor

• NATO on May 23 named Adm. Edmund P. Giambastiani Jr. as its supreme allied commander for transformation, a position he will hold in addition to serving as commander of US Joint Forces Command.
• The Air Force opened a 10-bed expeditionary medical support hospital at Talil Air Base in Iraq on May 27, replacing the Army’s 80-bed combat support hospital. EMEDS is USAF’s new medical deployment approach that provides streamlined, modular medical capabilities. The facility at Tallil has emergency and routine medical care and an operating room, along with counseling, dental, and pharmacy services.
• Russian Space Forces placed a new military satellite into orbit June 4 aboard a Kosmos-3M rocket launched from the Plesetsk Cosmodrome.
• An Air Force F-15E crashed at about 5 p.m. on June 4 near Newton Grove, N.C., about 35 miles southeast of Raleigh. The pilot and weapons systems officer ejected safely, sustaining only minor injuries. They are assigned to the 4th Fighter Wing, Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C.
• The Army submitted plans May 24 for a new transport airplane—the Air-Maneuver and Transport aircraft—it expects to have in service by 2008, according to Defense News. The AMT, which will be able to fly 310 miles round-trip and carry up to 20 tons, could transport one of the Army’s new Future Combat System land vehicles. The Army is considering tilt-rotor, tilt-wing, and rotorcraft technologies.
• US Joint Forces Command opened a new facility in Suffolk, Va., May 13 to support joint training events and experiments. The Distributed Continuous Experimentation Environment facility will enable JFCOM to link computer modeling simulations software and networks into one common computer infrastructure among the services, other government agencies, industry, academia, and multinational partners.
• USAF officials are investigating a May 29 F-16 crash at Osan AB, South Korea, that occurred just as the pilot was taking off on a training mission at 8 p.m. The pilot ejected safely before the crash and was taken to a nearby military hospital. There were no civilian casualties.
• Northrop Grumman on May 15 received a contract from the Electronic Systems Center, Hanscom AFB, Mass., for $215 million for weapons systems integration for the new E-10 multisensor command and control aircraft. The WSI contractor team is led by Northrop and includes Boeing and Raytheon.
• Two Air Force officers have been tapped for key roles in the Pentagon’s military commission that will hear cases involving terrorist activities and violations of the laws of war. They are Col. Will Gunn, who will be acting chief defense counsel, and Maj. John Smith, who will serve as the commission’s judge advocate spokesman. Gunn said he did not seek the position he’s been given, but that he realized it would be “a critical role ... not just for the individual but also for the nation.” Army Col. Frederick Borch will serve as acting chief prosecutor.
• For the first time, one of the more than 800 unknown US servicemen killed during the Korean War who are buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific has been identified. The Army’s Central Identification Laboratory in Hawaii exhumed two of the unknowns to attempt identification using new forensic techniques. The remains of Marine Pfc. Ronald D. Lilledahl were identified after a nearly four-year effort. CILHI teams continue to attempt to identify and recover remains. According to DOD, there are still more than 8,100 missing in action from the Korean War.
• The first KC-135 tanker with the Global Air Traffic Management system installed made its maiden flight around the world recently to complete a 10-day flight test, culminating more than a year’s work of modifications and ground and air testing. A 24-person team led by members of the KC-135 Combined Test Force from Edwards AFB, Calif., conducted the flight test to determine whether the system is indeed interoperable with air traffic systems around the world and will enable the tanker to fly in congested airspace. Officials said the test was successful.
• Enhancing public health, improving disease surveillance and detection, and ensuring the health and fitness of America’s warfighters are the missions of the newly formed Air Force Institute for Operational Health. AFIOH resulted from the recent merger of two separate organizations, the Air Force Institute for Environment, Safety, and Occupational Health Risk Analysis and the Development Center for Operational Medicine.
• Two airmen were found guilty in separate courts-martial at Osan AB, South Korea, and both received bad conduct discharges. The charges against MSgt. Clarence Lott, a 19-year veteran, included larceny of about $19,000 in excess housing allowances and obstruction of justice when he attempted to enlist a former subordinate to cover up his crime. A1C Francisco Lira III was convicted of writing $7,200 in bad checks and using his government travel card for personal expenses that he did not repay.
• Pilot error caused the Dec. 4 collision of two A-10s on a training mission out of Nellis AFB, Nev., investigators have concluded. One pilot, Capt. Eric Palaro, was killed, while the second, Maj. Scott Kneip, ejected with only minor injuries. (See “Aerospace World: A-10 Pilot Dies in Crash,” January, p. 11.) According to the accident report, Palaro lost situational awareness when he tried to rejoin a four-ship formation and mistook another aircraft as the lead. The lead pilot contributed to the accident by failing to note Palaro was not in proper position.
• The Pentagon is participating in an Internet voter registration and voting demonstration project for 2004. The Congressionally mandated effort will enable thousands of absentee uniformed services personnel, their dependents, and overseas US citizens to register to vote and cast their ballots from any Windows-based computer with Internet access. States currently participating are: Arkansas, Florida, Hawaii, Minnesota, North Carolina, Ohio, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, Utah, and Washington. To register and vote, log on to www.serveusa.gov.
• DOD launched a financial readiness campaign in May after studies revealed that money woes among service members are a growing problem and could affect readiness. According to a report DOD provided Congress, pay grades E-1 through E-6 have the most trouble making ends meet. Within USAF, E-3 through E-5 airmen, some 50 percent of the force, receive 76 percent of nonjudicial punishment handed out for indebtedness.
• SrA. Jeffrey Beagle, assigned to Osan AB, South Korea, was found guilty at a court-martial of attempted arson and writing more than $5,000 in bad checks. His sentence included five years’ confinement and a dishonorable discharge.
• Two Air Force civilians were among this year’s top 50 Hispanics in Business and Technology, listed by Hispanic Engineer and Information Technology magazine: Michael L. Dominguez, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs, and Michael Montelongo, the assistant secretary of the Air Force for financial management and comptroller.
• The Defense Logistics Agency awarded Northrop Grumman’s Integrated Systems Sector a Best Value Gold Medal on May 20. The company achieved perfect scores in product quality and on-time delivery of parts and assemblies for several aircraft, including the B-2 bomber and T-38 trainer.
• The Pentagon is sponsoring activities around the nation under a program called “Operation Tribute to Freedom” to show appreciation for the troops that are serving in the global war against terrorism. Officials plan to make veterans of ongoing operations available to speak in communities and to try to match up speakers with their hometowns. For more information about Tribute to Freedom, go to the DOD Web site www.defendamerica.mil.
• Air Mobility Command enlisted the help of Russian An-124 cargo carriers to airlift troops and equipment for operations in Southwest Asia, reported the Honolulu Advertiser. The huge airlifters, several of which were at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, to pick up troops and equipment, had been hired when AMC had no C-5 or C-17 transports available and no carriers in the Civil Reserve Air Fleet could do the job. (See “The Squeeze on Air Mobility,” p. 22.) The An-124, larger than a C-5, can carry four Black Hawk helicopters, two Humvees with ammunition trailers in tow, and troops.
• On May 27, the National Security Administration awarded the Air Force Academy the first traveling cyber-defense trophy for besting the other service academies in an annual cyber-defense exercise.
• Lt. Col. Edward Cabrera, 411th Flight Test Squadron commander, Edwards AFB, Calif., received a National Image Meritorious Service Award on May 22 for his work with Hispanic American youth and service to the nation. Cabrera, who is also an F/A-22 test pilot, said that he grew up in East Los Angeles where technical job recruiters were rare and feels he needs to share his experiences with minority youths who may not otherwise learn of such opportunities.