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PRINCIPAL OBJECTIVES In January 2012 the Department published a paper -- “Defense Budget Priorities and Choices” – identifying the major budgetary changes made in response to the new defense strategy. Changes in the Fiscal Year 2013 Budget support U.S. defense strategy and are organized around four major themes: 1. Making more disciplined use of defense dollars. 2. Applying strategic guidance to force structure and investment. 3. Ensuring the quality of the all-volunteer force. 4. Fully supporting deployed warfighters. Disciplined Use of Defense Dollars The FY 2013 budget continues the reform agenda advanced in the Department’s previous three budgets. The FY...

We need your help in calling on the Air Force to reverse its decision to remove a Latin reference to "God" from a logo after an atheist group complained. But after the Military Association of Atheists and Freethinkers complained, the line was rewritten in Latin to read, "Doing Miracles with Other People's Money."

WASHINGTON — Air Force Lt. Gen. Janet C. Wolfenbarger would become the highest-ranking woman officer ever to serve in the Air Force if a nomination forwarded Monday by President Barack Obama is approved by the Senate. Wolfenbarger would lead Air Force Materiel Command at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, and become the first female four-star general in the Air Force. The command focuses on development and sustainment of weapons systems. With a yearly budget of $60 billion, it’s the largest Air Force command in terms of funding. Wolfenbarger now serves as military deputy to the Air Force’s assistant secretary for...

Our son, Logan, received an appointment to the United States Air Force Academy today!

THE stealth qualities of the futuristic F-35 Joint Strike Fighter on order for the Royal Australian Air Force are overrated and the plane's combat performance greatly exaggerated, a defence lobby group has claimed. The complaints by Air Power Australia, longtime critics of the $16 billion JSF acquisition, were made last night before a public hearing of parliament's defence sub-committee. Latest-generation Russian fighters such as the Sukhoi T-50 would easily defeat the F-35 in air-to-air combat, Air Power's Peter Goon said, referring to recent modelling tests by his organisation. "The aircraft we are planning to buy is carrying over 2000 pounds...

The Air Force on Friday detailed plans to cut the service by nearly 10,000 active, National Guard and Reserve airmen next year, as part of a broad move to downsize and shift capabilities around the country to be better prepared for wars of the future. More than half of the personnel cuts, and much of the aircraft and other equipment moves, will be borne by the Air Guard, triggering criticism from the National Guard Association. The Air Force said the service cannot absorb any further cuts in active duty forces because that would limit their ability to respond to multiple...

Seattle, WA—Finding a panel dissecting the idea of American Exceptionalism at the Modern Language Association (MLA) annual gathering of English professors is not akin to locating a needle in a haystack. What made this one special, or, if you will, exceptional, was the fact that it was presided over by an instructor from the United States Air Force Academy. Led or cheer-led would probably be a better verb. “American exceptionalism is a form of cultural narcissism,” Wilson N. Brissett, who teaches at the academy, told an appreciative crowd at the MLA. “Belief in grandiosity, paranoia and focus on self are...

For Kansas lawmakers, Boeing's exit brings rare criticism of a defense firmBy John T. Bennett - 01/04/12 04:34 PM ET Boeing’s decision to close a Kansas aircraft facility put its congressional delegation in a place unfamiliar to many red-state lawmakers: locking horns with a defense contractor. The defense-aerospace giant, during a nearly decade-long competition to build new aerial tankers for the Air Force, said a win would bring production work on those aircraft to its Wichita, Kan., facility. That work, the firm estimated, would deliver 7,500 new jobs. But just months after the Air Force picked Boeing’s 767-based aircraft over...

This Iraqi Security Force (ISF) update provides a summary of changes to the ISF during December 2011. The article “ISF Total Force Mobilization Update December 2011” was published separately and will not be addressed here. The Iraqi Security Force Order of Battle is updated as of 31 December 2011. Highlights in this update include: * Kurdish forces still working with ISF; KRG getting a utility squadron of helicopters. * Iraqis shopping in Moscow; Mortars and unidentified armor received from Serbia; Kalsu to be IA Logistics Base. * Iraqis say they need 6 squadrons of F16s; First squadron of F16s ordered;...

The Air Force is preparing to trim hundreds of aircraft from its aging fleet in order to meet an Obama administration austerity order. The move will strike many Air Force supporters as ironic. Because just as the fleet is set to shrink, Defense Secretary ...

Without telling anyone but Embraer, the Brazilian company he has decided to give the contract to, Barack “transparency” Obama has bypassed an American company and shutdown any further bidding on a project to build Light Air Support (LAS) planes for the Air Force. Given the Obama Administration’s penchant for double talk and outright lying it’s no wonder Hawker Beechcraft a Kansas air ship building company was snubbed. In Obama’s world building American really doesn’t count for much except as a phrase to use when talking to union members whose votes and money he needs. Since Hawker is a heavily unionized...

Israel and Turkey are reactivating their military ties, beginning with a coordination mechanism between the two air forces. The link exists to prevent aerial mishaps and potential disasters between aircraft from the two nations over the Mediterranean Sea. The coordination mechanism was recently reactivated, a senior IAF officer said, as part of the effort on both sides to stabilize and improve relations. Turkey's military attache to Israel also attended an IAF briefing for foreign military officers two weeks ago. .....

Officials at Travis Air Force Base, Calif., are talking with lawyers in response to a watchdog group’s demand that the base relocate its Christian nativity and Hanukkah menorah displays from an open space to the base chapel. “As of right now, we are reviewing the concerns of the [Military Religious Freedom Foundation] and consulting with our legal experts and our higher headquarters,” base spokesman Johnathan Monroe told Military.com. It’s not only the MRFF that wants the religious displays moved. The California Council of Churches, which represents about 5,500 Protestant congregations with about 1.5 million members, has added its own voice...

PEARL HARBOR, Hawaii (AP) — A snafu marred the critical moment of silence Wednesday at the Pearl Harbor ceremony observing the 70th anniversary of the Japanese attack.... ...But on Wednesday, emcee Leslie Wilcox was still speaking at 7:55 a.m., even as the Hawaii Air National Guard's F-22's roared overhead on schedule 42 seconds later.

The Air Force dumped the incinerated partial remains of at least 274 American troops in a Virginia landfill, far more than the military had acknowledged, before halting the secretive practice three years ago, records show. The landfill dumping was concealed from families who had authorized the military to dispose of the remains in a dignified and respectful manner, Air Force officials said. There are no plans, they said, to alert those families now. The Air Force had maintained that it could not estimate how many troops might have had their remains sent to a landfill. The practice was revealed last...

N. Korea's participation in Vietnam War specified in new dossier By Lee Chi-dong WASHINGTON, Dec. 4 (Yonhap) -- North Korea dispatched dozens of pilots to the Vietnam War decades ago, with its communist ally short of specialists to operate MiG-17 and MiG-21 fighter jets in battles against the United States, according to a recently released dossier. "On 21 September 1966 an official North Korean request to be allowed to send a North Korean Air Force regiment to help defend North Vietnam against U.S air attacks was officially reviewed and approved by the Vietnamese Communist Party's Central Military Party Committee, chaired...

The X-37B Mystery Spacecraft Just Had Its Nine Month Mission Extended Indefinitely Robert Johnson Dec. 3, 2011, 9:15 AM Image: US Air Force The pilotless X-37B Orbital Vehicle has been silently circling the planet for the past nine months and the Air Force has announced it will continue its classified mission indefinitely. W.J. Hennigan of the Los Angeles Times reports the X-37B resembles a smaller version of the space shuttle and is said to test various new technologies in space. Via CSM: "We initially planned for a nine-month mission, which we are roughly at now, but we will continue to...

This Iraqi Security Force (ISF) update provides a summary of changes to the ISF during November 2011. The Iraqi Security Force Order of Battle is updated as of 30 November 2011. Highlights in this update include: * IA emphasizing Field Artillery; 15,600 additional IA being recruited. * First An-32B delivered; First F16s deliver in 2014-2015; Second order of F16s planned; C130Js to deliver starting 2012. * Sixth PB delivered. * Golden Lions to be MoI Battalion?

The US military has built a stone circle in its Air Force academy to give pagans, druids and witches somewhere to practice their religion. The Colorado base has spent around £50,000 building the Stonehenge-like structure to allow witches to cast spells, and pagans to form "circles of power" by night. It is situated on top of a wooded hill and includes a fire pit. The academy says it is for cadets who practice 'Earth based' religions including druids, witches and North American faiths. Despite the expenses it is believed only three out of the 4,300 cadets have openly admitted that...

Air Force Academy Adapts To Pagans, Druids, Witches and Wiccans Officials say an $80,000 Stonehenge-like worship center underscores a commitment to embrace all religions. (Pic in URL) Cadets gather for the dedication ceremony of the Air Force Academy's Cadet Chapel Falcon Circle worship center this spring. The center serves cadets whose religions fall under the broad category of “Earth-based.” (Jerilee Bennett, (Colorado Springs) Gazette / May 3, 2011) By Jenny Deam November 26, 2011 Reporting from Colorado Springs, Colo.— In the still of a cold November evening, a small gathering of pagans, led by two witches, begins preparations for the...

Reporting from Colorado Springs, Colo.— In the still of a cold November evening, a small gathering of pagans, led by two witches, begins preparations for the coming winter solstice. But these are not just any pagans, and this is not just any setting. They are future officers of the United States Air Force practicing their faith in the basement of the Air Force Academy's cadet chapel. Their ranks are slim. According to the academy's enrollment records, only three of 4,300 cadets identified themselves as pagans, followers of an ancient religion that generally does not worship a single god and considers...

Military advocates decry ‘illegal’ early terminations of 157 Air Force majors 44 mins ago The Chapman University of Military Law and its associated AMVETS Legal Clinic are blowing the whistle on what they say is an injustice set to be perpetrated on 157 Air Force majors on the last day of November. “The Obama administration has ordered massive reductions in forces, resulting in many officers who are near retirement being involuntarily separated without retirement or medical benefits,” explained institute director Maj. Kyndra Rotunda. The Department of Defense specifies that service members within six years of retirement normally would be retained...

One of the best ways to destroy American military capabilities would be to convince career military personnel -- both officers and enlisted -- that their commitment to service will not be rewarded with the retirement benefits they have earned by their faithful obedience to orders, no matter the personal cost or risks they endure. The Obama administration seems to be ready to destroy the belief that service will be rewarded as faithfully as duty was performed, one step at a time. The latest step in that direction is the announcement that 157 Air Force majors will be terminated prior to...

The telegenic Texan took two steps forward sitting in the “center chair” on Fox Monday evening. One step backward too alas, but more about that in a bit. Gov Perry was relaxed and alert as he fielded a variety of questions. He smartly used his answers to remind conservatives why they should consider him. This is a man who is a quick study and a formidable politician. Instead of just Texas this and Texas that he pointed out that the Lone Star state all by its lonesome is the 13th largest economy in the world. A nice way to pivot...

Yesterday we reported that the Arab League (with European and US support) are preparing to institute a no fly zone over Syria. Today, we get an escalation which confirms we may be on the edge. Just out from CBS: "The U.S. Embassy in Damascus urged its citizens in Syria to depart "immediately," and Turkey's foreign ministry urged Turkish pilgrims to opt for flights to return home from Saudi Arabia to avoid traveling through Syria." But probably the most damning evidence that the "western world" is about to do the unthinkable and invade Syria, and in the process force Iran to...

Anita Perry, the 59-year-old wife of Republican presidential candidate Rick Perry, has been very actively campaigning for him on her own all fall. Now, she's taken on a new assignment. Mrs. Perry has launched an online drive to recruit hundreds of volunteers for what she calls the Perry Strike Force. This would consist of Perry fans who would travel to Iowa and work across the state Jan. 2-4, getting out Perry caucus-goers to the hundreds of meeting sites on the evening of Jan. 3. (Don't worry, the BCS Championship Game is not until Jan. 9 this time.) "With over 1,700...

Full Article Follows, less graphics From the AP, "the Pentagon faces some $500 billion in reductions in projected spending over 10 years — on top of the $450 billion already under way." This is the result of Obama's Defense cuts and the failure of Republicans to extract themselves from such a trap as the SuperCommitte. Boehner is no Gingrich, when it comes to House maneuvering. "...eliminating one of three "legs" of the U.S. nuclear arsenal — would force a historic shift in nuclear planning. Panetta said he would be forced to eliminate intercontinental ballistic missiles, the globe-circling missiles based in...

The number of U.S. ground forces would drop to levels not seen since 1940, the Navy would drop to the smallest number of ships since 1915 and the Air Force would be the smallest ever, Defense Secretary Leon Panetta said in warning Congress of the dire implications of deeper defense cuts. The Pentagon chief on Monday offered a litany of drastic steps triggered by the automatic, across-the-board cuts if Congress' Super Committee fails to come up with a $1.2 trillion deficit-cutting plan by Nov. 23. If the panel stumbles, the Pentagon faces some $500 billion in reductions in projected spending...

US Air Forces have received super-heavy bunker buster bombs, a spokesman with Pentagon lieutenant-colonel Jack Miller told reporters Tuesday. He said that Boeing, had begun to supply the bombs to the Air Force Global Strike Command in September. The bombs will be carried by B-2 bombers. Each bomb weights 13.6 tons and has a built in satellite navigation system. Some experts note that this type of bomb which is capable of breaking a 18 meter thick concrete walls, is perfect weapon for attacking nuclear facilities in Iran. (TASS)

The Dover Air Force Base mortuary for years disposed of some dead troops’ body parts by burning them and dumping the ashes in a Virginia landfill, a practice that officials have since abandoned in favor of burying the remains at sea. The Dover mortuary, which is the main point of entry for America’s war dead, sent remains to the landfill from 2003 until 2008, according to Air Force officials. The manner of disposal was typically withheld from the relatives of fallen service members. The disclosure comes in the aftermath of several federal investigations into mishandling of remains at the mortuary....

The U.S. Air Force Academy has pulled out of a Christian-sponsored children’s toy drive after commanders were accused of religious intolerance. Mikey Weinstein, an academy graduate who runs the Military Religious Freedom Foundation, said the academy’s participation in Operation Christmas Child is inappropriate because of its evangelical Christian roots. Operation Christmas Child is sponsored by Samaritan’s Purse, headed by Franklin Graham — the son of evangelist Billy Graham. It packs toys and other items into shoe boxes and sends them to needy children around the world, along with a Christian message in each gift. “This is arrogance beyond measure,” Weinstein...

Open Letter to Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta and President Barack Obama Gentlemen, For the last seven years I have written about the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan. I have covered the US Army, Marines, Air Force and Navy. I’ve also covered the British, Lithuanian, Afghan and Iraqi forces, among others, in places ranging from Iraq to the Philippines and beyond. My most recent embed in Afghanistan was at personal invitation from then-General David Petraeus. It is said that I have spent more time with American combat forces than any writer in US history. I do not know if this...

File this under “disconcerting.” No matter what military computer technicians do, they can’t seem to remove a virus from the computer systems that control military drones. The virus infecting ground control stations at Creech Air Force Base in Nevada was identified by military’s Host-Based Security System two weeks ago. It is reported the virus is tracking everything the drones do as they fly over areas like Afghanistan. "We keep wiping it off, and it keeps coming back,” says a source familiar with the network infection, one of three that told Danger Room about the virus. “We think it’s benign. But...

A source on the Rick Perry campaign tells Hot Air that the Texas governor conducted some Texas-size fundraising in the third quarter. Coming in just a little over halfway through, Perry raised $17.1 million. That number would put Perry somewhere between $4-6 million ahead of Mitt Romney’s rumored total for Q3, according to this report last week from the Boston Globe. It’s also likely to far outpace Herman Cain’s fundraising or that of the other Republicans currently in the race. The pace is even more impressive. Perry had 49 days in which to raise funds, rather than the full 92...

U.S. Air Force Staff Sgt. Angie Johnson and Sidewinder perform a cover of Adele's "Rolling in the Deep." http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=eBaskRZDbNA&feature=player_embedded

The United States Air Force was established September 18, 1947.The U.S. Air Force song "Wild Blue Yonder"

Air Force leaders discovered Christian-based themes in the ethics course for nuclear officers. Top officer has issued a stern reminder to leaders about religion… Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz (to), leaders at all levels… review of all ethics and character development training.

The KGUN9 News desk has received call from half a dozen people saying that David-Monthan AFB is on lockdown due to a possible shooter in the Civil Engineering building. KGUN9 News has not been able to reach anyone in authority to confirm those calls. One caller said she was inside the BX grocery store in the base when an announcement came over the PA stating that the store's doors would be locked due to reports of a shooter on base with an AK 47. Three callers stated that there were up to 2 shooters and that multiple shots had been...

The Islamic Republic of Iran Air Force (IRIAF) officially announced that the country's fighter jets have been equipped with anti-missile capability and are now able to detect and intercept any kind of incoming missiles, Fars News Agency reported.

Turkey has developed a new fighter plane control system specifically to hit Israeli targets, Ankara's Star Gazete reported.

Your must-read of the day. We already knew, of course, that Bush had given the order to shoot down the plane if necessary, before it could crash into another building. I remember vividly walking home to Queens from Manhattan on 9/11 and hearing a fighter jet overhead, the only time I’ve ever heard that sound in 30 years of living in NYC. It was obvious even in the chaos of that moment what they were up there looking for and what they were prepared to do if circumstances warranted. What wasn’t obvious — what we didn’t know until today, I...

Major Heather Penney recounts the drama in the skies after District of Columbia Air National Guard pilots scrambled to intercept incoming hostile planes. She describes why F-16’s initially took off from Andrews Air Force Base unarmed – and what she was prepared to do to bring down a plane piloted by terrorists.

Release No. 09-02-11Sept. 6, 2011WASHINGTON (AFRNS) -- The Department of Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office announced Sept. 1 that the remains of a serviceman, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and returned to his family for burial with full military honors. Air Force Maj. Thomas E. Reitmann of Red Wing, Minn., will be buried Sept. 8 in Arlington National Cemetery. In 1965, Reitmann was assigned to the 334th Tactical Fighter Squadron deployed out of Seymour-Johnson Air Force Base, N.C., to Takhli Air Base, Thailand. On Dec 1, 1965, he was flying a strike mission as the No....

Suspension of Air Force Class Over Bible Passages 'Misrepresents First Amendment,' Lawmaker Argues By Todd Starnes September 05, 2011 A Texas lawmaker is asking for a detailed report from the Air Force over revelations that a “Just War Theory” class was suspended because it included passages from the Bible. Sen. John Cornyn, a Republican, sent a letter to Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley expressing his concern over the suspension of the class taught at Vandenberg Air Force Base in California. “Suspending a course like this because of references to religious texts misrepresents the First Amendment,” Cornyn wrote in...

In their quest to widen the low-road and increase its rider-ship, the liberal Washington, D.C-based Politico just offered up this hackneyed but oh so predictable headline: “Is Rick Perry Dumb?” Really? While it’s no surprise to conservatives and independents that the liberal mainstream media would pull out the old “attack Ronald Reagan” hand-book, dust it off, and use its previously discredited assaults to go after the surging Perry, a better question to be asked is: “What are they all so afraid of?” First of all, something which must be highlighted and stressed by all who care about fairness and accuracy...

An Air Force veteran who was discharged from the service in a dramatically quick move last week after he challenged Barack Obama's eligibility to be president says he's back in his home town in Nebraska, but his campaign to reveal the truth about the present occupant of the Oval Office is just beginning. Daryn Moran was serving as a staff sergeant in the Air Force in Germany when he first became alarmed at Obama's insistence on installing open homosexuality in the U.S. armed services. Then, as part of his research into that issue, he found out about the many questions...

Col. Cecil L. Reavis, USAF Ret., age 90, of San Antonio, TX, passed on August 8, 2011. He died quickly and peacefully in the place he loved and was loved, the Inn at Los Patios. After enjoying his dinner, thanking the staff for the meal, and complimenting them on the fancy bulletin board, he simply walked to his room and passed into the Lord's embrace. Cecil was born in Childress, TX, the oldest of three sons born to Cecil and Ira Reavis who later moved to Shamrock, TX, where Cecil graduated high school in 1938. After high school, Cecil began...

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It is a pocket of rural America that has changed little in a century and is about as far removed from the bustle and marble monuments of Washington DC as one could imagine. But Paint Creek, where ranches and wooden homes, some now abandoned, are dotted beside cotton and wheat fields, is the place that defines the man who some Republicans believe could unseat President Barack Obama next November. Governor Rick Perry was part of the fifth generation to work the land at Paint Creek, some 200 miles west of Dallas on the flat expanse of plains known as “the...