B-2s Make First Deployment
Air Combat Command successfully executed a forward
deployment of B-2 stealth bombers. The March 23-April 3 deployment
of two aircraft and some 200 airmen to Andersen AFB, Guam, marked
the first-ever deployment of B-2 bombers for a sustained training
operation from a forward location.
The aircraft and personnel came from the 509th Bomb Wing at
Whiteman AFB, Mo.
The purpose of the action was to demonstrate the B-2's ability
to deploy and operate from locations around the world, officials
said. Exercises included weapons drops at a bombing range in
the Northern Marianas and a series of low-level mission flights.
The action came not long after a senior Pentagon official
cast doubt on whether the B-2s were ready to take part in real-world
operations. Deputy Defense Secretary John J. Hamre, meeting with
reporters on Feb. 25, maintained that only two or three B-2s
have been modified to the advanced Block 30 configuration which
allows them to carry a full load of conventional weapons.
"It takes a long time to develop a warbird, and this
one is still developing, to be honest," said Hamre.
Boeing Plans Kelly Unit
Boeing will establish a logistics and support center
for large aircraft at Kelly AFB, Texas, company officials announced
on Feb. 20.
The new center will handle both military and civilian aircraft,
with its workload split evenly between the two categories. Its
first job, set for this spring, will involve modifying DC-10
and MD-11 cargo airplanes for Federal Express. Boeing will also
soon move its C-17 support activities to Kelly.
The announcement comes nearly three years after a Base Realignment
and Closure Commission voted to close Kelly by 2001 and move
its Air Force work to other government depots. The new Boeing
operation--established under a 20-year lease with the Greater
Kelly Development Corp.--will create some 800 jobs. That is far
short of the 12,000 workers employed at the big depot at its
peak, but the number could grow as the Defense Department steers
more depot maintenance work to private contractors.
Justice, DoD Seek to Halt LockheedNorthrop
Merger
In a move that could bring the end
of the rapid consolidation of US defense industries, the Justice
Department on March 23 filed suit in federal court to block Lockheed
Martin's proposed $12 billion purchase of Northrop Grumman.
Government officials said they are concerned about lack of
competition in a number of key areas of technology if the deal
is allowed to proceed. The Justice Department contends that the
new firm would have a monopoly in airborne radars and electro-optical
missile warning systems, according to a court filing.
Lockheed Martin/Northrop Grumman might also have a dominant
position in stealth technologies and remote mine-hunting gear,
they said.
Furthermore, the Pentagon is worried about the dwindling number
of US corporations capable of producing combat aircraft. If Lockheed
Martin and Northrop Grumman are allowed to combine it would be
one of only two such firms-Boeing/McDonnell Douglas being the
other.
Attorney General Janet Reno and Defense Secretary William
S. Cohen announced the lawsuit, saying the combination of the
No. 1 and No. 3 defense contractors would stifle competition
and dampen innovation. "This merger isn't just about dollars
and cents," Reno said. "It's about winning wars and
saving lives."
Lockheed Martin and Northrop Grumman executives vowed to fight
the government in court. They said their union is necessary if
they are to be able to compete against electronics giant Raytheon
for new business. If the deal does not go through, Northrop Grumman
in particular might become isolated as a weaker fourth competitor
in a market dominated by Lockheed Martin, Boeing, and Raytheon,
said analysts.
USAF Space Support Improved Since
'91 Persian Gulf War
Since the end of the
Gulf War in 1991, the US Air Force has vastly improved its ability
to deliver precise targeting and location information from space,
said top officials of US Space Command in a Feb. 18 Pentagon
news conference.
The upgrades of the last seven years mean US forces would
rely heavily on space support during any future conflict in the
Gulf region. "Space-based information has become like electricity
or water--nobody really appreciates it until they flip that switch
or turn that faucet, and it's not there. That information is
important now and will become even more critical to our future
warfighting capability," said Maj. Gen. Gerald F. Perryman
Jr., commander of 14th Air Force, a US Space Command component
which oversees USAF space operations from Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
Theater missile warning is one area that is much better today
than it was during Desert Storm. During the war with Iraq it
took nearly five minutes to alert people on the ground of an
incoming Scud missile. Warning time now is "dramatically
better," said Space Command Commander in Chief Gen. Howell
M. Estes III. The exact figure is classified.
That is at least partially due to the establishment of the
11th Space Warning Squadron at Falcon AFB, Colo., in 1995. That
unit is the only one in USAF specially tasked with using information
from Defense Support Program early warning satellites to identify
theater ballistic missile launches.
The squadron has a window of about 30 seconds to determine
if a flash detected by DSP equipment is indeed a hostile launch.
Information about confirmed Scud shots is disseminated via both
voice and data networks.
Location information is another much-improved area that is
reliant on space systems. US military forces now have access
to a full constellation of 24 Global Positioning System satellites,
as opposed to only 16 during the Gulf War. GPS is also now linked
to precision guided weapon systems.
"This new generation of smart weapons will save lives,"
said Perryman. "Our pilots are no longer tied to their target.
... They can 'fire and forget' thanks to the accuracy provided
by GPS targeting and guidance systems."
B-2 Panel Releases Findings
A Congressionally mandated review board has concluded
that the Air Force should use its B-2 bomber money for the baseline
stealth program and to upgrade the deployability, survivability,
and maintainability of the existing B-2 force--not attempt to
procure more of the stealth bombers.
The Panel to Review Long Range Airpower was charged by lawmakers
with deciding whether the upgrade approach or continued low-rate
production should be the continuing focus on the B-2 program.
Heading the panel was a former USAF Chief of Staff, Gen. Larry
D. Welch. Another ex-service chief, Gen. Merrill A. McPeak, and
former Air Force Secretary Donald B. Rice were among its other
members. The panel also included Samuel Adcock, Daimler-Benz
Corp.; former Sen. James Exon (D-Neb.); John Foster, TRW Inc.;
Frederick L. Frostic, Booz·Allen & Hamilton, Inc.;
Walter Morrow, Massachusetts Institute of Technology Laboratory;
and retired Air Force Gen. Robert L. Rutherford.
The review board also recommended that the Pentagon make better
use of its current bomber force--B-1s and B-52s, as well as B-2s--through
more operational attention and more money for support and upgrades.
DoD needs to develop a long-term bomber sustainment plan, said
panel members.
USAF Eyes U-2 Follow-On
The U-2 surveillance airplane has been one of US
intelligence's most valuable tools since the early days of the
Cold War. But the design is aging, and Air Force officials believe
now is the time to begin planning the U-2's replacement.
By the end of the year service planners expect to draw up
a mission requirements statement for a next-generation spy aircraft
dubbed "U-X." Current concepts call for U-X to be able
to operate in both manned and unmanned modes and to be capable
of collecting a wide variety of data, including imagery, signals
intelligence, and measurement and signature intelligence.
Still to be determined: Whether U-X will be a traditional
air breather or a transatmospheric vehicle and whether it should
be capable of hypersonic speed.
The U-X will not be a derivative of current unmanned aerial
vehicle programs such as the Global Hawk, according to the Air
Force.
Development of the new system is expected to begin in 2010,
with first aircraft delivery scheduled for eight years later.
The current fleet of 35 U-2s would be phased out by 2025, the
end of their predicted structural lifetime.
U-2s are already undergoing upgrades in an effort to keep
them fully capable until their replacement shows up in adequate
numbers. Modifications include replacement of the airplane's
Pratt & Whitney engine with a General Electric F118-GE-101
capable of boosting the airplane's operational altitude by 5,000
feet and radar and defensive system upgrades.
C-141 Accident Laid to German
Aircraft
A USAF investigating board blamed
a German aircraft flying at the wrong altitude for the Sept.
13 crash of an Air Force C-141 in the south Atlantic. The accident
claimed the lives of nine on the C-141. Another 24 aboard the
German aircraft, a Tu-154, also perished.
The Air Force on March 31 released the accident investigation
report detailing the circumstances of the midair collision of
the two aircraft off the coast of Namibia, in southwest Africa.
The board, headed by Col. William H.C. Schell Jr., 375th Airlift
Wing vice commander, Scott AFB, Ill., said the Tu-154 was flying
at the wrong cruise altitude. The board further learned that
the German aircraft's planned and actual flight altitudes violated
the rules of the International Civil Aviation Organization.
The C-141 had departed Namibia for Ascension Island in the
Atlantic after delivering US Army personnel and mine-clearing
equipment to Windhoek Field, Namibia.
F-16 Crashes Off Korea
A pilot assigned to the 51st Fighter Wing, Osan AB,
South Korea, died on March 25 in the crash of his F-16 fighter
over the Yellow Sea between the Korean peninsula and China.
The crash occurred during a routine combat training mission
being carried out by a formation of four aircraft, USAF said.
The Air Force identified the pilot as Capt. Keith A. Sands
of Tulsa, Okla. The body of Sands was located by a search team
about 11 hours after the crash.
The cause of the accident is unknown. The Air Force said it
had launched a formal crash investigation.
Cohen Orders Training Changes
In a sweeping directive aimed at improving basic
training, Defense Secretary William S. Cohen on March 16 ordered
US military services to toughen physical fitness standards for
recruits, as well as do more to separate male and female enlistees
in their boot camp living quarters.
The guidance marked Cohen's response to the work of a special
panel on training issues headed by Nancy Kassebaum Baker, the
former Republican Senator from Kansas.
At least for now, Cohen rejected the panel's recommendation
that the military services segregate trainees by sex for much
of their basic experience.
Still, the Pentagon chief insisted that his orders will improve
one of the most crucial periods in the life of all US military
members. "We must do more to ensure that basic training
provides the skills, the discipline necessary to become a valuable
member of our armed forces," said Cohen.
SECDEF's Training Changes
The new plan addressed three general training areas:
- Leadership. Cohen ordered the Air Force, Army, Navy, and
Marines to develop rewards and incentives that emphasize the
value of assignment as a basic trainer and counter notions that
a stint as a drill sergeant is detrimental to a military career.
- Training rigor. The Secretary directed the services to review
and toughen their physical fitness standards. "I have been
rather surprised to find that I perhaps can do more of the physical
activity than some of the recruits--even at my advanced age [57],"
said Cohen. "I think that does not bode well for those young
people."
- Billeting. While Cohen stopped short of ordering male and
female basic recruits to live in separate buildings, he did direct
that they live in separate areas, complete with alarms, guards,
and closed doors. "The goal is a basic training system which
provides gender privacy and dignity in safe, secure living conditions,"
he said.
In addition, the Pentagon will accept a number of other recommendations
made by the Kassebaum Baker panel, said Cohen. They include increases
in the number of female recruiters and trainers, reexamination
of recruitment advertising to put more emphasis on patriotism
and challenge, and institution of training meant to produce professional
relationships without use of such blanket policies as "no
talk, no touch" between the sexes.
Drawdown Incentive Plan Closes
The 1998 Air Force drawdown incentive program for
officers has ended early, service officials announced on Feb.
18.
Plans had called for 1,000 officers to take early retirement
and another 700 to leave after being granted service commitment
waivers in 1998. Last year, applications for the drawdown plan
were accepted into late summer. This year the numbers choosing
to leave are such that the program was closed March 3.
The early retirement program is voluntary. The Air Force started
accepting paperwork for those wanting entry last Dec. 2. A week
later they were nearly a quarter of the way toward their 1,700
goal.
Officer Training Selection
Rates Up
Now is a good time for airmen and
civilians to apply to Officer Training School, because selection
rates are currently high, say Air Force officials.
At an OTS selection board in February, 35 percent of 650 applicants
were chosen to attend the 13-week course, which commissions graduates
as second lieutenants.
"We're ramping up our OTS production to meet the Air
Force's need for new line officers," said Maj. Dori Johnson,
chief of line officer accessions for USAF Recruiting Service.
"Although OTS selection remains very competitive, across
the board our selection rates are way up."
Civilian college graduates can apply for OTS through Air Force
recruiting offices. Active duty enlisted members apply through
base education offices. Applicants can choose from four OTS programs:
pilot, navigator, technical, and nontechnical.
Some categories are in greater demand than others. Seventy
percent of applicants in the navigator program were accepted,
more than double the rate of last year. The pilot selection rate
was more than 31 percent. Figures for technical and nontechnical
program applicants were 49 percent and 14.3 percent, respectively.
OTS applicants must be US citizens, 18 to 29 years old, and
meet certain physical requirements.
Wing Drop Problem "Solved,"
Navy's Top Admiral Asserts
Wing drop problems
in the F/A-18E/F have been essentially solved, Chief of Naval
Operations Adm. Jay L. Johnson told Congress March 12. The Navy
still had to give Pentagon officials a formal briefing on the
change and receive their concurrence.
In the wing drop phenomenon, asymmetric lift causes uncommanded
banking of the aircraft during flight. To fix it "the porous
wing full fairing is the right answer for us," Johnson said.
Researchers are currently fine-tuning the exact porosity of
such fairings and are no longer considering any other approaches,
added Rear Adm. Dennis McGuinn, the Navy's director of warfare.
The wing drop glitch endangered F/A-18E/F funds. Defense Secretary
William S. Cohen testified earlier that he would not allow the
release of $2.39 billion in 1998 money for the Lot II buy of
20 airplanes unless the problem was solved.
Falcon Name Changes
The Air Force has approved changing the name of Falcon
AFB, Colo., to Schriever AFB in honor of retired Air Force Gen.
Bernard A. Schriever, father of the USAF space and missile program.
Falcon, which derives its current name from a nearby town, is
home to the 50th Space Wing, the Joint National Test Facility,
and the Space Warfare Center, including the Space Battlelab.
Among his other accomplishments, Schriever was responsible
for crucial development of the ICBM program when he was commander
of the Western Development Division of Air Research and Development
Command in the mid-1950s. He also helped transform Atlas and
Titan missiles into reliable launching systems for sending men
into space in the Mercury and Gemini programs. He retired in
April 1966.
Enola Gay Exhibit Closes
The Enola Gay exhibition will end its long run at
the National Air and Space Museum in Washington May 18 because
of major structural renovations to the museum. The exhibition,
built around the famous B-29 that dropped the first atomic bomb
on Hiroshima, has drawn almost four million visitors since it
opened in June 1995.
It has been, by a wide margin, the most popular special exhibition
in the history of the museum, but it is not the exhibit originally
planned by the curators and the since-departed museum director.
In 1994, Air Force Magazine and AFA touched off a national controversy
by reporting on the museum's intention to use the Enola Gay as
a prop in a political horror show. That scheme was eventually
scrapped and a new director appointed.
Donald D. Engen, the current director, directed that the exhibition
remain open through Armed Forces Day on May 16 and close the
following Monday, when major refurbishing-much needed by the
museum which is showing the effects of 22 years of visitor traffic-gets
under way.
The Enola Gay will be a central element in the National Air
and Space Museum's Dulles Center, scheduled to open in suburban
Virginia in late 2001.
News Notes
On March 23, an F-16 fighter of the 388th Fighter Wing, Hill AFB,
Utah, veered off the runway during landing, forcing its pilot
to eject. The pilot, who sustained minor injuries, had completed
a night surface attack tactics mission over the Utah Test and
Training Range and was returning to the base when the incident
occurred. A mishap board is investigating the cause of the accident.
The Global Hawk unmanned aerial vehicle made its first flight
at Edwards AFB, Calif., on Feb. 28. Under autonomous guidance,
the aircraft flew a bowtie-shaped track for 56 minutes and reached
an altitude of 32,000 feet.
Air Force pilots are not rushing to accept new bonuses meant
to lure them into continuing their military commitment, according
to the Air Force. Several months into the new plan, barely a
third of those pilots eligible had accepted the long-term bonus,
which raised the rate for staying on active duty for 14 years
from $12,000 to $22,000 per year.
F-22 flight testing is on schedule for its planned mid-April
start despite a recent engine failure, according to USAF officials.
The Air Force suspended tests on the aircraft's F119 engine in
early March after a knife-edged seal broke while the power plant
was operating in afterburner mode. But indications are the problem
was a component failure rather than a design flaw.
According to one news source, a Congressionally mandated Pentagon
study of the impact of accelerating development of the Navy version
of the Joint Strike Fighter from Fiscal 2008 to 2005 would cost
an additional $4.9 billion in procurement funds. It would strain
deployment schedules for the Air Force and Marine Corps variants
of the aircraft, with a subsequent negative impact on the age
of those services' fighter inventories.
Maxwell AFB, Ala., has begun construction on a new $38 million
Officer Training School campus. The school--scheduled to be completed
by 2002--will include a two-story academic facility, two auditoriums,
conference rooms, and a computer lab.
MSgt. Sandra Cooper-McKay (AFRES), a firefighter from the
419th Civil Engineer Squadron at Hill AFB, Utah, was named GEICO
Reservist of the Year for 1997 on March 18. She will receive
a $2,500 cash award plus an all-expenses-paid trip for two to
Washington, D.C.
The 14th Air Force's Flying Tigers celebrated their 55th anniversary
in March. Today the numbered air force oversees the launch and
control of Air Force satellites and space surveillance and missile
warning forces, but it traces its lineage to the famous Flying
Tigers of Claire Chennault and their epic battles with Japanese
aircraft in the skies over China and Burma during World War II.
On Feb. 24, President Clinton nominated Dr. Sue Bailey to
become assistant secretary of defense for health affairs, the
Pentagon's top health official. A veteran physician, Bailey served
as deputy secretary for health affairs from July 1994 to June
1995.
Capt. Susan Shelley, Medical Service Corps utilization and
education manager, was named the Air Force's Young Health Care
Administrator of the Year for 1997 on March 4.
Despite a series of accidents last September, the US military
lost fewer airplanes in crashes in 1997 than in any year since
at least 1975, the General Accounting Office said in a report
released March 23. The armed forces suffered 54 crash losses
in Fiscal 1997, as compared to 221 in 1975, said the GAO.
US service personnel who lost personal property during the
devastating flood that hit the Grand Forks, N.D., region last
April have until this Sept. 30 to file claims for recompense
with the government. US officials estimate about 400 military
members from Grand Forks AFB may be eligible for such aid, but
only about 150 had filed personal property claims as of early
March.
They are normally based hundreds of miles apart, but a father
and son who both serve as Air Force communications specialists
found themselves deployed to the Gulf region together on Feb.
21 and stationed in close proximity. SMSgt. Russell Sinclair,
from Langley AFB, Va., and his son A1C Chris Sinclair, from Robins
AFB Ga., said their family was in fact glad they were near each
other in a tense part of the world. "My mom was happy we
were both going together--so we could take care of each other,"
said the younger Sinclair.
F-16s from the 177th Fighter Wing, New Jersey Air National
Guard, helped save a straying civilian aviator lost over the
Atlantic on Feb. 28. The private pilot was heading from Rochester,
N.Y., to Teterboro, N.J., but his navigational equipment had
failed and he was 225 miles out to sea. The F-16s caught his
attention by flashing their running lights and lighting their
afterburners. They managed to turn him around and he landed safely
near Atlantic City, N.J.
On March 20 at F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., USAF tested the capability
of launch control centers from the 400th Missile Squadron and
Airborne Launch Control Center aircraft from Offutt AFB, Neb.
The test allowed both systems to execute their warfighting mission
with Giant Pace 98-1P, a Simulated Electronic Launch-Peacekeeper,
or SELP. The purpose was to exercise the ground and airborne
command-and-control elements and exercise the Peacekeeper ICBM
up to initiation of the launch-eject gas generator.
Via a program dubbed Hickam Family Helping Families more than
150 volunteers renovated kitchens and bathrooms in 10 older homes
at Hickam AFB, Hawaii, recently. Work included replacing cabinets,
sinks, countertops, and floors. The project saved the base $10,000
to $15,000 per home due to its use of free labor.
The Air Force Chief of Staff announced the winners of the
1997 Outstanding Civil Engineer Unit Awards on Feb. 26. Winner
for the large base category was the 52d Civil Engineer Squadron,
Spangdahlem AB, Germany. The award for the small base category
went to the 4th Civil Engineer Squadron, Seymour Johnson AFB,
N.C.
The new Tricare Management Activity began operations on Feb.
10. Formed from a consolidation of the Tricare Support Office,
the Defense Medical Programs Activity, and various other health
management programs, the new TMA will oversee management of the
Tricare health program. Both TMA and its acting executive director,
Diana G. Tabler, will report to the office of the Assistant Secretary
of Defense for Health Affairs.
William D. Stroud was awarded the Purple Heart on Feb. 23-53
years after the B-24 the then-private was flying in was downed
over Czechoslovakia by a German fighter. Struck in the head by
shrapnel, Stroud was a prisoner of war for over a year. It is
unclear why Stroud did not receive the decoration shortly after
his release, but his daughter said the award was still welcome
after all these years. "He deserves it. He went through
so much," said Joyce H. Ward, who submitted the Purple Heart
paperwork for her father.
Alliant Techsystems unveiled the first production Outrider
tactical unmanned aerial vehicle at its Hopkins, Minn., facility
on Feb. 19. The Outrider was developed under a two-year Advanced
Concept Technology Demonstration program and promises to provide
tactical commanders invaluable real-time target acquisition information,
said company officials.
