• Abstract and Figures
• Public Full-text

Air Force World By Aaron M. U. Church, Associate Editor Tyndall Joins ACC assumed a new role as the Air Force Tyndall AFB, Fla., transitioned from Association’s President. Air Education and Training Command USAF photo screenshot to Air Combat Command Oct. 1 as Double Raptors in the Pacific part of the Air Force’s F-22 fleet re- A second package of F-22s from organization. JB Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, Tyndall, home to one Raptor train- deployed to the western Pacific, joining ing squadron, is due to receive a new Raptors from JB Langley-Eustis, Va., combat-coded F-22 squadron transfer- that deployed over the summer. ring from Holloman AFB, N.M. The placements were “a prudent “Co-locating a combat-coded F-22 measure to maintain a credible de- squadron together with F-22s assigned terrent posture and presence in the to the formal training unit ... provides region,” said Elmendorf spokeswoman training, maintenance, and operational Capt. Ashley Conner, quoted by the advantages that benefit combatant Alaska Dispatch Sept. 18. Though commanders and ensure operational territorial tensions between China and readiness,” AETC officials stated in a Japan were running high in September, press release Oct. 1. the deployments were “not in response Due to budgetary constraints under to any specific situation,” she said. the continuing resolution, the Air Force Elmendorf’s F-22s took up station had no immediate “specific timetable” at Andersen AFB, Guam, while the for the combat-ready jets’ arrival. A CR Langley Raptors operated from Kadena took effect at the beginning of October AB, Japan. to supply funds in lieu of Congress The twin deployments are the Rap- enacting Fiscal 2013 defense appro- tors’ first to the region since the F-22 priations legislation before the new fleet returned to flight in 2011. fiscal year began. The Elmendorf contingent includes The 337th Air Control Squadron airmen from the Active Duty 3rd Wing (redesignated from the 325th ACS Oct. and Air Force Reserve Command’s 4), trains air battle managers and is the 477th Fighter Group, which reached only unit at Tyndall that still remains full operational capability for the first under AETC. time in September. New Guard Bureau Chief Back on Campus Army Gen. Frank J. Grass replaced Air Force ROTC cadets took the oath Air Force Gen. Craig R. McKinley as of enlistment at Yale University for the National Guard Bureau chief in a first time in decades, at the beginning change-of-responsibility ceremony at of the school year at the New Haven, the Pentagon Sept. 7. Conn., campus. McKinley was the first four-star Return of an Air Force ROTC detach- leader of the Guard Bureau and the ment to the Ivy League school resulted first Guard chief to serve as a statutory from an agreement between Air Force member of the Joint Chiefs of Staff. Secretary Michael B. Donley and Yale “The National Guard has been an President Richard C. Levin, signed in integral part of our Active force for September 2011. decades, and I don’t think we’ve ever University officials allowed the de- reached a point where it’s been more tachment’s return after the Obama relevant, or reliable, or competent,” Administration’s repeal of the law ban- McKinley said at the handover. ning homosexuals from openly serving Grass, who previously served as in the US military. US Northern Command’s deputy com- Yale had an AFROTC detachment on mander, received his fourth star at campus until 1957. The school’s ban the event prior to taking charge of the predated DOD’s Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell National Guard Bureau. policy by several decades. McKinley, who had served as NGB Yale’s new AFROTC detachment chief since November 2008, retired officially opened its doors on Sept. 21, after 38 years of uniformed service and with 38 cadets from Yale and cross-town 12 AIR FORCE Magazine / November 2012 partnership institutions, said AFROTC Pacific Air Forces headquarters, also The inactivation ceremony took place officials at Maxwell AFB, Ala. at Hickam. on Sept. 28 and also celebrated the Classes began for the academic year “Our commitment to the region remains NAF’s 70-year history of supporting Aug. 29, and AFROTC Det. 009 Com- steadfast,” said Lt. Gen Stanley T. Kresge, the Pacific region. mander Col. Scott Manning administered who led the numbered air force at its In Air Force parlance, PACAF is a the oath in a ceremony Sept. 6. inactivation, effective Oct. 1. “The joining C-Majcom, or component major com- of 13th Air Force and PACAF not only mand, that now has direct operational Goodbye, 13th Air Force ensures an effective response in a crisis, responsibility under US Pacific Com- The Air Force inactivated 13th Air but also facilitates increased trust and mand for the area of the Asia-Pacific Force, headquartered at JB Pearl Harbor- interoperability with allies and partners,” region formerly covered by 13th Air Hickam, Hawaii, transferring its airpower said Kresge, taking up his new post as Force. PACAF’s 7th Air Force at Osan planning and execution functions to PACAF vice commander. AB, South Korea, still has operational A loadmaster with the 192nd Airlift Squadron watches out the back of a C-130 during a 10.04.2012 Spouse Lift operation over Lake Tahoe. The 152nd Airlift Wing performs these flights occa- sionally to orient spouses of airmen to the unit aircraft and familiarize them with the unit’s mission. The flights are retention and recruitment incentives for airmen with critical skill sets. AIR FORCE Magazine / November 2012 13 Air Force World at Edwards AFB, Calif. The others are Afghanistan Surge Ends assigned to the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman AFB, Mo. The United States has completed the drawdown of surge forces from Afghanistan, returning to the US all 33,000 additional troops authorized by Space Fence Post President Obama in December 2009. The Air Force will base its first Space Completion of the surge drawdown marks an “important milestone” in Fence radar site on Kwajalein atoll in the the gradual handover of security in Afghanistan to Afghan forces, Defense Marshall Islands, Air Force space officials Secretary Leon E. Panetta said in a Sept. 20 statement. revealed Sept. 25. The return of US surge forces fell at a difficult time for NATO’s International Space Fence features an S-band Security Assistance Force. A week before Panetta’s announcement, the co- radar system expected to be capable alition suspended the majority of its joint operations with Afghan forces, due of detecting, tracking, identifying, and to a spike in “green on blue” killings, incidents in which uniformed Afghans characterizing objects as small as a turn on allied forces. (See: “Green on Blue Scourge,” p. 44.) softball in low and medium Earth orbits Speaking in a press briefing Sept. 21 during a visit with New Zealand up to 1,200 miles away. Defense Minister Jonathan Coleman in Auckland, Panetta said the 68,000 Construction is scheduled to begin US troops in Afghanistan will continue working to reduce violence. next September and take 48 months to In addition, US forces remain dedicated to building the capacity of Afghan complete, leading the site to initial opera- forces to ensure the Taliban does not regain momentum in the region, he said. tional capability in Fiscal 2017, according In his statement, Panetta reiterated that the transition to Afghan control to the service’s news release. “will be completed by the end of 2014” per the Administration’s plan. Lockheed Martin and Raytheon have been maturing their respective Space Fence designs, and the Air Force is ex- responsibility for the Korean peninsula and northwest Pacific. In addition to 13th Air Force, USAF stood down 17th Air Force in April and inactivated 19th Air Force in July as part of a servicewide initiative to operate more efficiently and shed redundancy. B-2 Fleet Upgraded USAF photo by SSgt. Kenneth Bricker Northrop Grumman completed field installations of an upgraded radar sys- tem for the B-2 stealth bomber fleet, according to company officials. “Every operational B-2 is now equipped with the new radar” thanks to efforts undertaken for the B-2 Ra- dar Modernization Program, Northrop Grumman said in a Sept. 24 news release. Raytheon supplied the components to upgrade the B-2’s 1980s-vintage AN/APQ-181 multimode radar; they include active electronically scanned array antennas, a power supply, and a modified receiver/exciter. Northrop Grumman completed hard- ware installation at Whiteman, deliv- ering jets “anywhere from one to 11 days early,” said Ron Naylor, company director of B-2 modernization. The total package improves the radar’s maintainability and lays the foundation for future capability en- hancements. USAF operates a fleet of 20 B-2s, including one normally used for testing Not Just Blowing Smoke: SSgt. Ernest Andrews wades though smoke during combat airman skills training at JB McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. The train- ing ensures that soon-to-deploy airmen have fundamental skills in fighting and survival in a combat zone. Andrews is from the 7th Civil Engineer Squadron, Dyess AFB, Tex. 14 AIR FORCE Magazine / November 2012 AIR FORCE Magazine / November 2012 15 Air Force World National Guard photo by SMSgt. Brian Avery See Ya, C-5: The last 105th Airlift Wing C-5 aircraft at Stewart ANGB, N.Y., heads off to retirement on Sept. 19. The wing is tran- sitioning from the venerable C-5A aircraft type to the more modern C-17, an airlifter capable of rapid strategic delivery of troops and cargo to forward bases. pected to select one competitor to begin problem since the weapons can’t engage The center is meant to support the engineering and manufacturing develop- targets at that range,” said Fiel, speak- increased education and training require- ment early this fiscal year.

Load more

  15

Copy Link