Operation Constant Peg allowed fighter pilots to secretly train with real Soviet aircraft for nearly 10 years. This is part of the Nellis legacy that is still reflected in the 57th Wing’s Adversary Tactics Group mission today, which replicates enemy threats to train the current generation of warfighters.

By late January 1944, Eighth Air Force had received sufficient numbers of P-51D Mustangs and P-47D Thunderbolts, both fitted with external fuel tanks, to resume the bombing of Germany. These fighters now had the range to escort the bombers all the way to their targets in Germany and back to home bases. Operation Argument was scheduled for late February, with the goal of establishing air supremacy over Western Europe prior to the invasion of France scheduled for late May or early June. During the week of Feb. 20-25, 1944, what became known as “Big Week” in Air Force history, Eighth Air Force and the Royal Air Force from England and Fifteenth Air Force from southern Italy conducted strategic bombing raids against German aircraft factories and other industrial targets.

While A-10 Thunderbolt IIs fly high above the desert mountains, U.S. Air Force maintainers and crew chiefs from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base await the airframe’s arrival on the flight line below, anticipating the workload to come. After their touch down, the A-10s taxi to their respective sun shades where the crews, with tools in hand, prepare to begin maintenance. They immediately get to work loading the aircraft with armaments, checking fuel levels and refueling it in order to get the jet back in the air as quickly as possible while the engines are still running. Once all processes are complete, the A-10s are ready to take off and fly another sortie. This rapid re-arming and refueling of the A-10 is known as an integrated combat turn. ICTs have been utilized by the Air Force in the past, but are making a comeback and D-M is leading the way in that effort.

Team Shaw members from the 20th Security Forces Squadron participated in a form of physical fitness designed to target all muscle groups as well as improve endurance and target real life scenarios. Staff Sgt. Marcos Greco, 20th SFS installation patrolman, got the idea to start a combat fitness test from his old leadership, Chief Master Sgt Brady McCoy and Maj. David Lycan. This type of physical fitness helps ensure the defenders are in optimal physical and mental shape for tier two testing. Air Force specialty codes are broken up into three different tiers depending on the need for physical fitness.

Cadres from the 820th Base Defense Group (BDG) evaluated approximately 37 Airmen during an Army Air Assault Assessment (AAA). The assessment measured each Airmen’s readiness to determine who would be selected to attend the 10-day Army Air Assault School (AAS), at Fort Campbell, Kentucky. The BDG is one of the few units within the Air Force that sends their Airmen to AAS to enhance their personal readiness and also reinforce their unit’s lethal capabilities.

The 379th EMDSS Apheresis Laboratory collects platelets from donors around Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, and fills a timely and critical role in delivering platelets to people who need them in the region.

The desert screams by below. The clouds scream by above. Both stretch on into the horizon. It’s deceptively calm in the cockpit. There’s a constant, seemingly discordant stream of chatter coming through his helmet. The digital screens in front of him, along with images projected onto his visor, provide enough information to save lives and take a few as well. In the sky ahead are more than 60 advanced enemy aircraft, flown by some of the best fighter pilots in the world. They are hunting – looking to kill him and his wingmen. He just graduated pilot training. Welcome to Red Flag.

The national recognition of the survivors of the Battle of Robert’s Ridge in August 2018 has begun to have an effect on the way Air Force members pause to reflect on the history and heritage of the service. One snapshot reflection focuses on the integration of the F-15E Strike Eagle fighter aircraft as a valued contributor to the close-air-support mission set. Close-air support takes place when enemy forces engage in proximity to friendly ground forces. The friendly forces then identify a target and communicate with the air assets overhead to direct a coordinated attack against the enemy. Sometimes, the enemies are very close to the friendly forces, which doctrine calls danger-close.

Deployed Tactical Air Control Party Airmen expect space effects to work; otherwise pilots get shot down, bombs miss targets, and soldiers die. TACPs may not know how space works, but if it doesn’t work well for America and its allies then its results devastating. Space operators from the 16th and 4th Space Control Squadrons at Peterson Air Force Base are working to change the TACP community’s knowledge of space by developing the first Space Operations Course. “Working with our Airmen on the ground and showing them how space capabilities can improve their operations is crucial to maintaining our warfighting superiority,” said Col. Devin Pepper, 21st Operations Group commander. “The creation of this course is such an important step for both Air Force Space Command and Air Combat Command.”

Operation Noble Eagle has become an enduring mission in the years since the terrorist attacks of September 11th, 2001, protecting the United States and Canada from airborne aggression. The North American Aerospace Defense Command is bi-national, bringing U.S. and Canadian forces together to provide aerospace warning, aerospace control and maritime warning for the defense of North America. Links: Eielson's 168th and 354th work together to support Operation Noble … http://www.pacom.mil/Media/News/News-Article-View/Article/1418487/eielsons-168th-and-354th-work-together-to-support-operation-noble-eagle/ Operation Noble Eagle is the extensive air defense effort designed to prevent Sept. 11, 2001-style air …

Gen. Mike Holmes, the commander of Air Combat Command, recently expressed his intent to emphasize a “ready now” mentality among Airmen across the command. To meet this intent, Holmes is encouraging Airmen to understand how physical fitness directly relates to agile squadrons and combat readiness.

While on TDY, 134th ARW Airmen explain the importance of health and fitness.