The deployment of the Ghostrider, assigned to the 73rd Special Operations Squadron out of Hurlburt Field, Florida, also marked the first time the updated J model of the AC-130 has landed in or operated in Japan.
Air Force suicides plateaued above 100 deaths in 2020 3 hours ago Air Force Maj. Onyema Okorie, 366th Fighter Wing deputy wing chaplain, holds a tea-light candle Sept. 30, 2020, at Mountain Home Air Force Base, Idaho. The End the Stigma event, held by the 366th FW mental health clinic, educated airmen on clinical services, noticing signs of depression and establishing a safety plan. (Airman 1st Class Natalie Rubenak/Air Force) The Air Force avoided a spike in suicides among uniformed personnel amid the pandemic and isolation of 2020, but has not managed to bring down the number of deaths despite a push to address mental health.
Entire B-1B bomber fleet grounded over fuel pump filter housing problem 1 hour ago A B-1B Lancer sits on the flightline while receiving a post-flight inspection Nov. 9. (Airman 1st Class Joshua Seybert/U.S. Air Force) The Air Force has again pulled its entire B-1B bomber fleet from the skies as it investigates problems with a part of the fuel system. Gen. Tim Ray, head of Air Force Global Strike Command, indefinitely grounded the service’s 57 active Lancers amid safety concerns April 20, a command spokesperson said Friday. The War Zone first reported the standdown. “During the inspection process following a B-1B ground emergency on April 8 at Ellsworth Air Force Base, South Dakota, a discrepancy with an augmenter fuel pump filter housing was discovered,” the command said. “As a precautionary measure, the commander directed one-time inspections on all B-1B aircraft to resolve this issue.”
Test Pilot School looks to the cosmos in new space program 6 hours ago Gen. John W. “Jay” Raymond, the Space Force s chief of space operations, presents a coin to Lt. Col. Morgan Sparks, Space Test Fundamentals Class 21-1 class leader and student, at Edwards Air Force Base, California, April 6. (Giancarlo Casem/Air Force) The Air Force’s Test Pilot School on April 6 graduated its first 15 space testers from a new three-month program, broadening the school’s role in educating a new generation of experts in the field as their role evolves. The space enterprise is no stranger to the schoolhouse at Edwards Air Force Base, California, which has trained astronauts, shuttle specialists and space mission systems testers. But the Space Test Fundamentals course offers an expanded opportunity to learn about the job than in previous courses, without an air-centric lens.
4 days ago Maj. Gen. William T. Cooley, former Air Force Research Laboratory commander, will face court-martial on a sexual assault charge. (R.J. Oriez/Air Force) Maj. Gen. William Cooley, the former commander of the Air Force Research Laboratory, will face court-martial on a sexual assault charge, marking the first time the Air Force has ever opted to prosecute a general officer. Cooley is accused of making unwanted sexual advances toward a civilian woman, kissing and touching her through her clothes while off duty in Albuquerque, N.M., in August 2018. The two-star general also faces allegations that he made the woman touch him sexually through his clothing, without her consent. The woman is not a military employee.