News from the Air Force

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Air Force Depot Delivers its First C-130H with Upgraded Avionics:

The first Air Force C-130H aircraft fitted with state-of-the-art cockpit equipment at Warner Robins Air Logistics Center in Georgia arrived last week at Little Rock AFB, Ark. This is the fourth overall C-130H upgraded under the Boeing-led C-130 Avionics Modernization program and delivered to Little Rock, but the first one that USAF technicians modified as opposed to Boeing workers at the company's San Antonio plant. "This is the first of the US Air Force C-130 AMP aircraft we will deliver to the warfighter, and we are proud of the product," said John Adams, chief of Warner Robins' tactical airlift division. This C-130 is one of five that will participate in initial operational testing and evaluation at Little Rock beginning later this month. The second aircraft undergoing the modifications at Warner Robins is scheduled for delivery to Little Rock in February. It will be the fifth updated C-130H for IOT&E.

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Kentucky Air Guardsmen Host International Delegation:

Members of the Kentucky Air National Guard's 123rd Airlift Wing in Louisville recently hosted a delegation of military and government officials from five European countries as part of a State Department exchange program. The visit showcased how the wing supports both state and federal missions with its C-130H transports. "We were very excited to host the international visitors for their tour of the base," said Lt. Col. Robert Hamm, 123rd AW vice commander. He added, "I found the visitors very motivated to understand what the Air National Guard does, and very interested in the dual-role mission sets and dynamics of the National Guard." Among the highlights, the guests from Britain, Bulgaria, Hungary, Ireland, and the Slovak Republic met with airmen of the 123rd Contingency Response Group and received a briefing on the unit's disaster-response capabilities, said wing officials.

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Command Change at 7th Air Force:

Lt. Gen. Jan-Marc Jouas took command of 7th Air Force at Osan AB, South Korea. Lt. Gen. Jeffrey Remington, who had led the numbered air force since November 2008, relinquished the organizational colors to Jouas during the change-of-command ceremony. "We will dedicate ourselves to improve what is already the world's most elite combined airpower," said Jouas, underscoring 7th AF's mission of defending the Korean peninsula with ally South Korea, during the Jan. 6 event. At the ceremony, airmen unveiled an F-16 bearing Jouas' name on the canopy as his command mount. In his new role, Jouas assumes the additional posts of deputy commander of both UN Command Korea and US Forces Korea, as well as air component commander of Republic of Korea/US Combined Forces Command. Jouas previously served as Pacific Air Forces' director of operations at JB Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii. Remington is retiring after 34 years of service, effective on March 1.

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Air Frame: Year in Review, August 2011:

Three air commandos and 27 additional US service members were killed in a Chinook helicopter crash in Afghanistan on Aug. 6, 2011. On Aug. 24, the Air Force completed the KC-46A tanker's integrated baseline review, outlining the way ahead for the program. Two days later, USAF officially unveiled the F-35A strike fighter at Eglin AFB, Fla., home of the initial F-35 joint schoolhouse. That same day, several F-35s flew from Lockheed Martin's production facility in Fort Worth, Tex., to Eglin, shown here. Also in August, the Air Force temporarily lifted an F-22 grounding order so Raptors based at JB Langley-Eustis, Va., could escape Hurricane Irene. The Air National Guard's C-27J transports began operating in Afghanistan for the first time. And, President Obama signed the Budget Control Act of 2011 into law.

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Next Two GPS III Satellites Ordered:

Lockheed Martin received a $238 million contract from the Air Force for the third and fourth Global Positioning System III satellites. "The acquisition of the next two GPS III satellites at one time will allow the Lockheed Martin-led team to maximize efficiencies in satellite manufacturing," states a company release. GPS III satellites, the first of which is scheduled for placement in space in 2014, will be more jam resistant and offer better accuracy than the existing satellite configurations in the GPS constellation, according to Lockheed. The Air Force awarded the company the contract for the first two GPS III satellites in May 2008. Air Force Space Command boss Gen. William Shelton has called GPS III a "model program" because it has been on time and on budget so far.

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Seeking Mutually Assured Stability:

The timing isn't right yet for the United States and Russia to come to the table to hash out the next round of bilateral nuclear weapons cuts beyond the New START agreement, said Ellen Tauscher, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security, Thursday. "We would like to get back to talks on what we call deployed and non-deployed and strategic and non-strategic [assets]. But I think we are sanguine about that fact that they are not ready to do it," she told reporters in Washington, D.C. The Russians are occupied with their presidential election in March. Plus, there is the US presidential election in November and the fact that NATO is still conducting its defense and deterrence posture review, she said. In the meantime, to lay the foundation for those future negotiations, when the opportunity does arise, the two nations are engaging in "strategic stability talks" over the next six to eight months to help foster "a much more mutually assured and stable relationship," said Tauscher. The two nations have identified a "baker's dozen" of topics to discuss, including conventional weapons in Europe, cyber issues, missile defense, and piracy, she said.

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Rescuers Down Under:

A C-17 aircrew supporting Operation Deep Freeze was called to the rescue when a Korean fishing vessel erupted in flames in the Ross Sea near Antarctica on Wednesday. The National Science Foundation icebreaker Nathaniel B. Palmer reached the burning vessel, evacuating the crew through the ice to McMurdo Station, Antarctica. The 304th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron crew from JB Lewis-McChord, Wash., was scheduled to fly from Christchurch New, Zealand, to McMurdo to meet the Palmer early Friday, reported Television New Zealand. Weather permitting, the Globemaster will then fly the seven fishermen—three of whom were severely burned—to Christchurch for treatment. An Air Force LC-130 Hercules at McMurdo is also standing by if the C-17 is unable to depart due to fog, according to the report. Operation Deep Freeze is the Defense Department's annual joint-service mission supporting NSF research on the frozen continent.

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German Government Honors Airman in Frankfurt Shooting:

SSgt. Trevor Brewer, an airman from Gray, Tenn., received Germany's highest civilian award for his role in helping to apprehend the Islamic extremist who shot two airmen to death in a cold-blooded bus attack last March at the main airport in Frankfurt, Germany. "I was definitely fearful, but I knew if I didn't take action, the attack could have continued and someone else could have gotten hurt," said Brewer, reported the Associated Press (via Fox News). Brewer received the Federal Cross of Merit from German Interior Minister Hans-Peter Friedrich on Monday in Berlin, along with American Lamar Conner, a civilian airport employee, who also helped catch shooter Arid Uka. A jihadist-inspired Kosovar Albanian, Uka entered the bus for airmen on March 2, 2011, and began shooting, killing SrA. Nicholas Alden and A1C Zachary Cuddeback and wounding two other airmen. Uka turned his pistol on Brewer and fired, but the gun jammed. Uka fled and Brewer chased after him, according to AP's account. Brewer accepted the cross on behalf of Alden and Cuddeback.

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F-15E Reaches 10,000 Flight Hours:

An F-15E operating from Bagram Airfield, Afghanistan, became the first Air Force F-15 of any type to reach 10,000 flying hours, according to airmen at Bagram. The Strike Eagle, No. 89-0487, achieved the milestone on Jan. 13. A crew from Seymour Johnson AFB, N.C., flew the aircraft on the historic mission. The F-15E, assigned to Seymour Johnson's 335th Fighter Squadron, has been flying for more than 21 years and is a veteran of combat going back to Operation Desert Storm. "It has taken more than 21 years of qualified maintenance technicians performing more than one million hours of inspections and repairs in all types of environments . . . to ensure aircraft #89-0487 was available," said CMSgt. John Parrott, superintendent of Bagram's 335th Expeditionary Aircraft Maintenance Unit. He also credited all the other airmen, like weapons loaders, involved in keeping the aircraft operating.

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WGS-4 Communication Satellite Launched into Orbit:

The Air Force and its industry partners successfully launched WGS-4, the fourth Boeing-built Wideband Global Satellite Communications spacecraft, into orbit aboard a United Launch Alliance Delta IV rocket that blasted off Thursday evening East Coast time from Cape Canaveral AFS, Fla. "The 45th Space Wing is proud to work this important Air Force launch of WGS-4 with [the] Space and Missile Systems Center, United Launch Alliance, and Boeing," said Col. Rory Welch, the wing's vice commander and the launch decision authority, in a release. Boeing announced that it received the first on-orbit signals from the satellite, indicating that it "is healthy and ready to begin orbital maneuvers and operational testing." WGS-4 joins three WGS Block I satellites already operating on orbit. It is the first spacecraft in the series in the Block II configuration that adds throughput support for airborne intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance platforms requiring ultra-high bandwidth and data rates. This week has been a busy one for the WGS program, with the United States entering a partnership on Tuesday with five nations to enable the purchase of WGS-9, which the Air Force ordered on the following day.

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Dismal Days Behind:

Sixteen months ago, 35 percent of 7th Bomb Wing B-1 bomber sorties never made it off the runway at Dyess AFB, Tex. Sorties that did, lifted off an average of two-and-a-half hours late, prompting a top-to-bottom scrub of 31 key policy areas. "Plain and simple, we weren't flying enough sorties," explained Col. Gerald Goodfellow, 7th BW vice commander. "B-1 maintainers were producing the maximum level of sorties they could, but even at our maximum sortie generation, their output wasn't meeting the requirement." Switching aircraft from two sorties per day to a single sortie cut time wasted in minor maintenance, and scrubbing sorties delayed by more than two hours keeps later sorties from being postponed. "For the first time that I can remember, we are flying 100 percent of the sorties contracted," summed Col. David Béen, 7th BW commander.

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Changing Assumptions in the Persian Gulf:

With the drawdown in Iraq and Afghanistan, the United States should re-evaluate its strategy for operating in the Persian Gulf, asserts a new Center for Strategic and Budgetary Assessments report. The proliferation of Iran's anti-access and area-denial capabilities threatens long-held assumptions that the United States will continue to "enjoy unfettered access to close-in bases, US battle networks would remain intact and secure, and neither the Soviet Union nor a regional power would pose a serious threat to air or sea lines of communications," reads Outside-In: Operating from Range to Defeat Iran's Anti-Access and Area-Denial Threat, which CSBA released on Tuesday. CSBA senior fellow Mark Gunzinger argues in the report that the United States should develop a new Persian Gulf operational concept. It should assume "that close-in basing may not be available, all operating domains will be contested, and Iran may threaten terror and [weapons of mass destruction] attacks, including the use of nuclear weapons, to deter or prevent a successful US military intervention in the Persian Gulf," he wrote.

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Minuteman Launch Control Centers Get Communications Boost:

The Air Force is upgrading the strategic satellite communications terminal in Minuteman ICBM launch control centers, recently awarding Raytheon a $9.4 million contract for this work. The terminals receive the emergency action messages used in the command and control of strategic nuclear forces. "By awarding this contract, we will provide improved satellite communications for the Minuteman ICBM launch control centers by enabling them to communicate with the new [Advanced Extremely High Frequency] satellites," said John Gould, program manager for the Minuteman Minimum Essential Emergency Communications Network Program Upgrade under which the terminals fall. Raytheon will modify the 46 existing terminals at Minuteman sites and test facility locations. Service officials in late December authorized the terminals for production. Initial fielding of the terminals is scheduled to begin in 2013, with all terminals expected in the field by the spring of 2015.

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Laughlin Busiest Airfield in Air Force:

The Air Force Flight Standards Agency named Laughlin AFB, Tex., USAF's busiest airfield and air traffic control tower in 2011, with a total of 337,439 operations. Laughlin hosts specialized undergraduate pilot training. According to AFFSA, Laughlin's 47th Operations Support Squadron radar approach control section conducted 266,591 operations last year, while Laughlin's tower carried out 70,848 operations. Sixty-nine controllers assigned to the RAPCON and tower control 62 airfields and roughly 10,000 square miles of airspace within 100 miles of Laughlin, said base officials. "Other than the instructor pilots who sit directly behind and are in control of the students flying the plane, no one comes close to touching the 47th Flying Training Wing's mission of graduating the world's best pilots than the controllers do," said CMSgt. Howard Teesdale, 47th OSS RAPCON chief controller.

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Airmen and Sailors Participate in Bahrain Air Show:

Airmen joined Navy personnel in Bahrain to represent the United States during the second Bahrain International Air Show at Sakhir Air Base. Airmen from Air Mobility Command, Air Combat Command, and the Air National Guard made the trip, displaying the C-17, C-130H, and an F-15C. Navy F/A-18 Super Hornets performed aerial demonstrations and the Navy also showed off a P-3 Orion, MH-53 Sea Dragon, and SH-60 Seahawk on static displays. "We always look forward to highlighting the great relationship we have with the Kingdom of Bahrain, one of our strongest partners in the region," said Col. Dean Neely, Air Forces Central's security cooperation director. "We are honored to once again get the invitation to come here and participate." The biennial air show took place Jan 19-21.

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Stealth Transition:

Last month's factory rollout of the Air Force's last F-22 on order marked the end of the sophisticated stealth fighter's production run, but also heralded the service's shifting focus to modernizing the Raptor fleet. "This is only the beginning," said Col. Sean Frisbee, the F-22 system program manager at Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio. "The next phase will include [adding] greater capability to an already incredible aircraft." Aircraft 4195, the final Lockheed Martin-built Raptor, will be in a combat-ready configuration, like 148 other F-22s in the fleet, allowing it eventually, with planned upgrades, to employ the service's most sophisticated air-to-air missiles and surface-attack munitions. The Air Force will utilize its remaining 37 Raptors in training or as dedicated test assets.

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Osprey Basing Plan:

The bed down of CV-22 Ospreys at RAF Mildenhall, England, has "slipped to the right a little," due to the enduring requirement for these tilt-rotor aircraft in Afghanistan and additional issues like a still-maturing support infrastructure, said Lt. Gen. Eric Fiel, Air Force Special Operations Command commander. "It's just part of the normal growing pains as you bring a new weapon system on the battlefield," Fiel told the Daily Report in an interview. He added, "It's not an issue with the airplane, or with the people, or with spare parts. It's just that every time you set up a new location, you split your experience base." The initial basing plan had called for Ospreys to begin arriving in England in this fiscal year and then in the Pacific shortly after that. Fiel said the first birds still are expected to arrive at Mildenhall within the next year and then in Japan the following year. AFSOC already has a detachment at Mildenhall and construction of Osprey facilities there is under way. Of the 50 Ospreys that AFSOC intends to procure, 23 are already in the inventory. The goal is to have a squadron of seven aircraft for training at Kirtland AFB, N.M.; 10 at Cannon AFB, N.M.; a squadron of 10 aircraft at Hurlburt Field, Fla.; 10 at Mildenhall; and 10 at Kadena AB, Japan. Hurlburt also will receive three more CV-22s, including one test aircraft and two that will be assigned to the weapons school.

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Robins has Big Role in Saudi F-15 Work:

The Air Force's F-15 program office at Robins AFB, Ga., is expanding thanks to the $29.4 billion foreign military sale to Saudi Arabia agreed to last year. To deliver the 84 new-built F-15SAs and refurbish the kingdom's existing 70 F-15s, Warner Robins Air Logistics Center will add 80 technicians and engineers by year's end, according to Robins officials. The Royal Saudi Air Force F-15 fleet modernization program "solidifies Robins' role as a leader in foreign military sales throughout the Department of Defense," said Col. Robert Stambaugh, program manager at WRALC. "We will be buying the electronic warfare systems for the conversion of the airplanes, . . . refurbishment kits for the LANTIRN navigation pods, and additional Sniper targeting pods," explained Stambaugh. Modification, logistics, and training conducted through Robins will account for roughly $10 billion of the total sale. Deliveries of the first new-built F-15s are slated to begin in 2015.

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Guns in the Sun:

Wisconsin Air National Guard F-16s of the 115th Fighter Wing in Madison took on Marine Corps F-18s for a fortnight of dissimilar air combat training in the skies above NAS Key West, Fla. Key West "provides an excellent opportunity for flying against the F-16 Fighting Falcon in some of the best airspace the country has to offer," said Marine Capt. Michael Huck, an F-18 pilot with Marine Fighter Attack Squadron 314. In fact, the training airspace around Key West is about four times larger than the designated airspace back in Wisconsin and allows for supersonic maneuver, according to Madison officials. Supported by three KC-135s of the state's 128th Air Refueling Wing, the Madison F-16s accumulated a total of 175 flying hours and 120 sorties from Jan. 7 to Jan. 21. "The F-16 is a very capable aircraft," noted Huck. "We look to use our tactics and find gaps in those strengths . . . and have a good engagement."

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Bogus Theory:

The originally perceived need for a smaller sized airlifter to provide direct support to Army units in difficult environments such as Afghanistan didn't materialize in practice. So states the Pentagon budget priorities document released Thursday outlining the programmatic cuts that will be reflected in the Defense Department's forthcoming Fiscal 2013 budget proposal—including the decision to divest the Air National Guard's new C-27J transport fleet. Pentagon planners "thought the C-130 might not be able to operate effectively" in those tough environments, reads the document. "However, in practice, we did not experience the anticipated airfield constraints for C-130 operations in Afghanistan and expect these constraints to be marginal in future scenarios." Since the Air Force has an "ample inventory of C-130s and the current cost to own and operate them is lower, we no longer need—nor can we afford—a niche capability like the C-27J," states the document. C-27Js deployed last summer for the first time to Afghanistan. The Air Guard already has more than 20 C-27s in its inventory. The Air Force planned to procure 38 in total.