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Washington (AFP) - Long disliked by the US Air Force, the A-10 Thunderbolt II ground-attack jet may finally be heading for the chopping block due to budget constraints...

When former Air Force Academy cadet Eric Thomas faced a disciplinary board in August 2012, a special agent with the Air Force Office of Special Investigations said he would come to explain how Thomas worked dozens of cases as a confidential informant and had been of great service to the Air Force. The agent never showed up, and Thomas was expelled from the academy eight months later. On Friday, an active-duty member of the Air Force Academy with direct knowledge of the case said the agent, Brandon Enos, did not show up because he was told not to by the...

Why does Santa need a fighter escort? Children's groups outraged as NORAD militarises Christmas Eve tracker • NORAD officials say the inclusion of jet fighters is a nod to the true mission of the agency - which is to track and intercept airborne threats Outraged child advocates are blasting NORAD's new 3D Santa Tracker program because it includes a fighter jet escort for jolly old Saint Nick. Some say the new online portrait could give kids the wrong impression about Santa Claus - associating him with the military and violence. But Pentagon officials argue the North American Aerospace Defense Command...

<p>KINSHASA, Congo (AP) -- At a ceremony held at a pockmarked airport in Congo's troubled east, the United Nations launched the first of five drones which will be used to gather intelligence about the myriad armed groups still lurking in the nation's vast jungles.</p>

There has been a wave of attacks against religious freedom inside the United States Military. There was the Air Force officer who was forced to remove a Bible from his desk because it might offend someone. There is the military chaplain who was instructed to resign his commission if he refused to “get on board” with the abolition of the military’s “Don’t Ask, Don’t Tell” policy. There’s the 20-year-old ethics course that was eliminated in July 2011 because it referenced scripture. And there is the painting containing a verse from scripture that was removed from the Mountain Home Air Force...

The U.S. Air Force has released a new request for a high-powered laser weapon that could be mounted on a next-generation air dominance fighter in the post-2030 era. “The emphasis of this effort is to identify potential laser systems that could be integrated into a platform that will provide air dominance in the 2030+ highly contested Anti-Access/Area Denial (A2/AD) environments,” the Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) said in a Request for Information document posted on FEDBIZOPPS last week. The AFRL is particularly interested in lasers that would be at technology readiness level four (TRL4) by October 2014. That means the...

The debate over the U.S. Air Force Academy's recent removal of the words "So help me God" from oaths and making the phrase instead optional for cadets has intensified as a chaplains religious liberty group is calling for the military branch to explain why the action was taken, and activists have stepped up their campaign against expressions of Christian faith within the academy located in Colorado Springs, Colo. The Chaplain Alliance for Religious Liberty said in a statement received by The Christian Post on Tuesday that it is receiving calls from concerned parents of Air Force Academy cadets about the...

The Air Force is offering big bonuses to keep its pilots in the service, but they’re not taking them because budget constraints are forcing the service to limit both current flying hours and opportunities to fly the next generation of aircraft,...

Hello FRiends. I am going through my late father's papers from when he was in the Air Force (total of 17 years, active and reserve). I'd like to be able to decipher some of the acronyms and military terms used in duty assignments, etc. Does anyone know of a source online that would help me to decipher these things? Thank you. Examples: 2267th PerPron (CONAC) AFQT-1 I 98Mech 7 Cler 9 Tech 9

ALCON - FYI, the Air Force servers are back to not letting me log in to FR due to its "political and activist" nature. I thought we were through with this crap...

Could Lockheed Martin Skunk Works’ SR-72 hypersonic concept design fill the Pentagon’s need for a penetrating intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance (ISR) aircraft? The answer could be yes.

The Air Force Academy will make the "so help me God" clause of the cadet honor oath optional, academy officials announced Friday. "Here at the academy, we work to build a culture of dignity and respect, and that respect includes the ability of our cadets, airmen and civilian airmen to freely practice and exercise their religious preference - or not," said Lt. Gen. Michelle Johnson, academy superintendent, in a statement. "So, in the spirit of respect, cadets may or may not choose to finish the honor oath with 'so help me God.'"

<p>U.S. Air Force officers entrusted with the launch keys to long-range nuclear missiles have been caught twice this year leaving open a blast door that is intended to help prevent a terrorist or other intruder from entering their underground command post, Air Force officials said.</p>

How do you settle a rather sizeable bill for your milk delivery? If you are a cash-strapped superpower the answer is, apparently, to offer up a pair of fighter jets and a nuclear submarine as payment. The extraordinary offer was made by Russia to New Zealand in 1993, a new book reveals. After the collapse of the Soviet Union, Russia was struggling to pay the $100m it owed New Zealand for a range of imported dairy products. In a meeting with Russian officials to thrash out payment terms, Jim Bolger, then New Zealand prime minister, was "absolutely stunned" to be...

The Air Force on Friday fired the general in charge of all land-based nuclear missiles, the second time in a week that a senior commander of the country’s nuclear arsenal has been let go for allegations of personal misconduct. Maj. Gen. Michael Carey, commander of the 20th Air Force, was removed from his job “due to a loss of trust and confidence in his leadership and judgment,” said Brig. Gen. Les Kodlick, an Air Force spokesman. Air Force officials said Carey has been under investigation since this summer for allegations of “personal misbehavior” but would not specify what prompted his...

**SNIP** “The U.S. Air Force Academy has removed the words ‘So help me God’ from some written materials, including the oath administered to USAF inductees based upon the objections of a single atheist,” says Tom Fitton, director of Judicial Watch. **SNIP** “Unilaterally removing ‘so help me God’ from Air Force Academy materials is at odds with our nation’s history, the rule of law, and the fundamental values of the American people,” Mr. Fitton observes. “We want to get to the bottom of this controversy and it is a shame we had to go to court to try to get past...

This is about having priorities. Standing up for something. Having substance. So without money to fund things during this federal government shutdown, sacrifices just have to be made. The Department of Defense on Tuesday suspended intercollegiate sporting events at the service academies. For now, Air Force can’t pay to fly to Saturday’s football game at Navy. And Navy can’t hold the game, anyway. And here’s the problem with both of those things: They. Are. Not. True.

The record crowd that is expected to attend the U.S. Naval Academy – U.S. Air Force Academy football game in Annapolis, Md., Saturday may be in for a huge disappointment. The Department of Defense announced today that all intercollegiate athletic competitions at the service academies have been suspended due to the federal government shutdown.

Air strike with SU-25, from chechen war SU-25 used FAB 500 (1102.31 lbs) bomb, and NURS

One of the most distinctive features of U.S. military power is the Air Force’s fleet of heavy bombers. .... However, after 80 years of steadily developing better bombers — basically, since it entered World War One — the U.S. ceased spending money on new long-range strike aircraft following the collapse of the Soviet Union. There aren’t many bombers left. All of the bombers are old. No new bomber is waiting in the wings.