Free Republic

The Middle East newsline has confirmed that Saudi Arabia has advanced in negotiations to purchase a fighter jet from the United States. The Saudi leadership, in wake of receiving the first Eurofighters, has been examining the U.S.-built F-15 for a procurement contract in 2010. They said Saudi Defense Minister Crown Prince Sultan Bin Abdul Aziz has supported the prospect of an additional purchase of at least two squadrons of F-15s in a deal that could top $5 billion. “The assessment is that the Royal Saudi Air Force requires a platform that it is comfortable with, yet much more advanced than...

After the QDR, USAF will have fewer fighters, fewer options, and therefore tougher choices. The Air Force is poised to launch a dramatic restructuring of its fighter fleet. Anticipating years of flat budgets and a changing military strategy, the service will shrink its fighter force as much as 20 percent. There will be fewer squadrons and they will have fewer people. There will be newer machines—and the average age of the fighter fleet may stabilize after steadily graying for 20 years—but a portion of the inventory will be geared toward less demanding wars. The service has developed a matrix of...

Last month, the U.S. Air Force created four new UAV squadrons (29th Attack Squadron, 6th Reconnaissance Squadron, 16th Training Squadron and 849th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron). All these new units are actually training squadrons. The air force is training 220 operator crews (each with a pilot and one or two sensor operators) a year. In two years, this will increase to 400 a year, which will enable the air force to run 50 CAPs (Combat Air Patrol; UAVs in the air over a combat zone) simultaneously. The large number of new crews are needed because the pilots only operate UAVs for...

AL ASAD, Iraq, May 21, 2007 — While deployed to Al Asad, Iraq, some Marines are working outside of their military occupational specialties doing anything from security to detaining suspicious personnel. One sergeant is using his experience to help ensure that those Marines are trained and ready for almost anything. Sgt. James J. Creel, an infantryman currently assigned as the Anti-Terrorism Force Protection (ATFP) and ground training chief for Marine Aircraft Group 29 (MAG-29), is the Marine responsible for training the group’s squadrons. “Creel’s job is to organize and train the squadron's interior guard personnel and help develop and integrate...

NORFOLK, Va. (NNS) -- Six squadrons from Carrier Air Wing (CVW) 8 will return to Naval Station Norfolk and Naval Air Station Oceana March 9 and 10 following their six-month deployment to the Persian Gulf aboard the aircraft carrier USS Theodore Roosevelt (CVN 71). The remainder of CVW-8’s squadrons will return to their homebases of Naval Air Station (NAS) Jacksonville, Fla., and NAS Whidbey Island, Fla. The “Tomcatters” of Fighter Squadron (VF) 31 and the “Black Lions” of Fighter Squadron (VF) 213 will close a chapter in the history of naval aviation by completing the final combat deployment in the...

/13/2006 - RANDOLPH AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFPN) -- The Air Force Manpower Agency activated four new manpower squadrons to more effectively meet the needs of today’s expeditionary Air Force and to better position itself to support future capabilities. The 5th Manpower Requirements Squadron at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla., and the 4th MRS at Buckley Annex, Colo., held formal activation ceremonies in January. The 2nd MRS at NASA-Langley Research Center, Va., and the 3rd MRS at Scott AFB, Ill., will have formal activation ceremonies later this spring. “These new squadrons have a clear mission: to determine Air Force manpower...

'Independent Action' tests abilities to plan, schedule and execute missions. By U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Herb PhillipsCoalition Military Assistance and Training Team Air Cell BAGHDAD, Iraq, Oct. 25, 2005 — With the lift-off of two fully-loaded C-130E Hercules aircraft from Ali Base in southern Iraq Oct. 12, the Iraqi Air Force's 23rd Squadron (Transport) began its move to its new home at Al Muthana Air Base at Baghdad International Airport. The move is part of "Independent Action," the first in a series of exercises aimed at developing the C-130 squadron. The intent of this exercise was to deploy...

EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. (AFPN) -- The purple force isn't just for joint operations at deployed locations. Technicians with the 95th Aerospace Medical Squadron, the 95th Medical Operations Squadron and the 95th Medical Support Squadron here helped out a Marine detachment recently by making sure their physical examinations were current after returning from deployed locations. "After the Marines had returned from a prolonged deployment, many of their physical exams had expired," said Lt. Col. James Elliott, commander of the 95th AMDS flight. "And because they currently have limited organic medical support, they requested our help in updating their physicals....

A MILITANT group killed two US intelligence agents in Iraq on December 8, according to a video released on an Islamist website today. The video shows two armed and masked men reading a statement announcing the deaths of the two men near Taji, north of Baghdad, described as "two members of the Pentagon and the CIA''. The footage from the Saraya al-Jihad Al-Islami group shows various photos and official documents belonging to the two men, one of whom is named as Joseph James Wemple. The statement said that "fighters attacked the vehicles (carrying the two men), killed them and took...

Upon the heels of the news that the US Navy’s Multimission Maritime Aircraft Program is undergoing serious revision and may be in trouble ( US Navy’s Multi-mission Maritime Aircraft Program May Be In Trouble), Secretary of Defense Donald Rumsfeld, making good on his public decision to restructure the US military, has ordered the Army, Air Force, Navy and Marines to draft plans for a major restructuring of the 900,000-strong National Guard and Reserve forces. The Nav Log notes that, chief among the changes will be the end to the US Navy’s Reserve maritime air patrol (VP) squadrons – a type...

Posted on Tue, Oct. 08, 2002 F/A-18 squadron receives orders for mobilization By Chris Vaughn Star-Telegram Staff Writer FORT WORTH - The U.S. Navy has mobilized all of a Fort Worth-based Naval Reserve F/A-18 squadron -- a rare step -- and ordered it to begin workups for deployment to an aircraft carrier next year. The activation of about 200 personnel in VFA 201, which began Monday at Naval Air Station Fort Worth, is likely to last at least a year, officials said. The call-up is not directly related to Afghanistan or Iraq, Navy officials said, but is necessary because one...