31 Mar 2021

ACC’s U-2 Federal Laboratory rapidly integrates Platform One in first weapons system flight

Air Combat Command’s U-2 Federal Laboratory at Beale executed the first rapid, successful in-flight test of Platform One capabilities on an operational major weapons system with a U-2 Dragon Lady during a local training sortie March 23. Platform One, the first DoD Enterprise DevSecOps Enterprise Service, offers a suite of tools that DoD systems can use today to continuously develop, integrate and deliver software on any Cloud or hardware systems from months and years to hours, days and weeks. Fundamentally, DevSecOps practices combine software development, cybersecurity, and operations to quickly deliver top-tier, secure software functionality to end users.

31 Mar 2021

A Woman Making History is Tough as Nails

When you were 7 years old and your first grade teacher leaned down with a huge smile on their face and asked you, “What do you want to be when you grow up?” What do you remember saying? Some kids said firefighters or teachers, some said doctors or scientists, and some said pilots. Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Merryl Tengesdal was one of the dreamers who looked into her future and saw an astronaut. Tengesdal shot for the moon and she reached the stars.

31 Mar 2021

The A-10 Female Maintainer Legacy

Former A1C Meggen Pearsall-Ditmore, the first enlisted female A-10 crew chief, sits with two current female A-10 crew chiefs to discuss their own experiences and how the Air Force has improved on the treatment of women in male dominated career fields.

31 Mar 2021

Air Force Colonel’s Experience as a Female Leader

As a young child, Brenda Oppel knew she wanted to grow up to do great things. Coming from a strong military family, she wanted to continue that legacy. Choosing to follow through the college AFROTC route for commissioning, Oppel received a scholarship for Aviation Computer Science in the College of Engineering. It was at the AFROTC Detachment, that Oppel had her first experience with positive female leadership. Detachment Commander, Col McKelvy was an impactful role-model for Oppel and showed her how to be a mentor and leader to younger Airmen.

23 Mar 2021

Sword Athena 2021 launches with virtual ceremony

Air Combat Command launched the second iteration of its Sword Athena (SA) leadership development & action-oriented event with a virtual ceremony, March 23, 2020.  Over the next 60 days, nominees from across the command will work to solve stressors for Airmen and their families identified after last year’s event, through online crowdsourcing, and nominees’ experiences while collaborating in Mission Area Working Groups (MAWGs).

11 Mar 2021

First Air Force designated as air component to US Space Command

Following this reorganization, First Air Force will continue to provide uninterrupted air component support to North American Aerospace Defense Command and U.S. Northern Command while also exercising command and control over Air Force forces supporting U.S. Space Command.

11 Mar 2021

From childcare to ponytails: How can Sword Athena help you?

Recent updates to Air Force dress and appearance standards were a win for Airmen who advocated for a broader set of professional hairstyles for women in uniform. These changes, along with normalizing support to nursing mothers, identifying improperly fitting equipment, and demystifying seeking mental health assistance were among the central issues of Air Combat Command’s inaugural Sword Athena event last year. Sword Athena is designed to identify, tackle and present solutions to female and family-centric barriers to readiness using crowd-sourced topics and a Mission Area Working Group (MAWG) model.

10 Mar 2021

Red Flag 21-2 underway at Nellis

The 57th Wing’s 414th Combat Training Squadron (CTS) conducts Red Flag exercises to provide mission commanders, maintenance personnel, ground controllers, and air, space and cyber operators the opportunity to experience realistic combat scenarios in preparation for future warfare.

16 Dec 2020

GPS repeater to shed time from Team JSTARS maintenance process

Hangars used for E-8C Joint Surveillance Target Attack Radar System aircraft maintenance at Robins Air Force Base, Georgia, each received a global positioning system repeater that will ultimately shave hours from the maintenance process.

1 Dec 2020

Air Force chief of staff calls, selects Airman for commission

It’s not often an Airman personally gets a call from the Air Force chief of staff.