U.S. AIR FORCE PHOTOS

FROM: U.S. AIR FORCE
Guardians at the gate

Airman 1st Class Willie Fox, inspects a vehicle at the contractor gate of Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., Aug. 28, 2012. Fox is with the 377th Security Forces Squadron. (Air Force photo by Ken Moore)

Moving into position

Two F-16 Fighting Hornets from 148th Fighter Wing out of Duluth, Minn., prepare to fly in formation behind the boom of a KC-135R Stratotanker from the 128th Air Refueling Wing after being mid-air refueled on August 15, 2012. Air National Guardsmen nominate their civilian employer(s) to witness an air refueling mission as a measure of thanks for the support their employers give to the Air National Guard and the guardsmen. (Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jeremy Wilson)

Aiming for fuel

An F-22 Raptor from Tyndall Air Force Base, Fla., moves into position behind a KC-135 Stratotanker from Altus AFB, Okla., during an air refueling, Aug. 21, 2012.The F-22 was refueled outside of New York in support of the Brooklyn Cyclone flyover during Air Force Week. (Air Force photo by Airman 1st Class Kenneth W. Norman)

BOMBER AIRCRAFT DEVELOPMENT IN THE EARLY 1940S

U.S. AIR FORCE FACT SHEET
One of the first North American B-25s built. (U.S. Air Force photo) 
The pace of U.S. bomber development accelerated through the 1930s into the World War II years. Projects on the drawing board in the late 1930s were built and flying by the early 1940s. These projects could be grouped into three broad development categories: medium bombers, very heavy bombers and special projects.

The two most famous medium bombers were the North American B-25, which was developed using knowledge gained in the unsuccessful XB-21 project, and the B-26, the first successful Martin bomber since the ground breaking B-10.

At dawn on April 18, 1942, a U.S. Navy task force was heading through rough Pacific seas toward Japan. One of the ships in the flotilla was the aircraft carrier Hornet with 16 AAF B-25s on deck. Plans called for the B-25s to take off from the carrier within 450 to 650 miles of Japan, bomb selected targets at such locations as Yokohama and Tokyo, and then fly another 1,200 miles to friendly airfields on mainland China.

AAF B-26 medium bombers in England became operational in the spring of 1943. Not having the long range of the B-17 and B-24, B-26s were used almost exclusively for missions to Holland, Belgium and northwestern France, where they bombed airfields, transportation and lines of communication.

Very heavy bomber development can be traced back to the Boeing XB-15 and Douglas XB-19. Although neither design was successful, the data gathered led to the development of the B-29 -- one of the best bombers of WWII.

Development of the Boeing Superfortress, "very heavy bomber," began late in 1939 and the first XB-29 made its initial flight on Sept. 21, 1942; however, in a bold wartime gamble, the AAF ordered the plane into quantity production months before this first flight. Among the B-29's new features were pressurized crew compartments and a central fire-control system with remotely controlled gun turrets. Flying combat missions first from India and China and later from the Marianas Islands, the Superfortress repeatedly demonstrated its capability for carrying bomb loads of up to 20,000 pounds against targets as far away as 1,500 miles from its base.

Even larger bombers were in development during the war. The prototypes for the Northrop B-35 flying wing and the massive Consolidated B-36 Peacemaker were both ordered in 1942.

Finally, some bombers series were modified to test the feasibility of the escort bomber concept. Because of the limited range of escort fighters early in the war, bombers with greatly increased armament were built. The plan failed mainly because the increased weight of the escort bomber made it too slow to keep pace with the regular bomber formation and it had no maneuverability to avoid enemy fighter attacks.

TALIBAN LEADER DETAINED IN DASHT-E QAL'AH AFGHANISTAN

Photo:  Refueling Over Afghanistan.  Credit:  U.S. Air Force 

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE

Combined Force Detains Taliban Leader

Compiled from International Security Assistance Force Joint Command News Releases

WASHINGTON, May 23, 2012 - An Afghan-led, coalition-supported security force detained a Taliban leader during an operation in the Dasht-e Qal'ah district of Afghanistan's Takhar province today, military officials reported.

The detainee was the senior insurgent leader in the neighboring Darqad district, and was responsible for planning attacks against Afghan government officials, Afghan security forces and coalition troops, officials said. He also provided weapons, ammunition and explosive devices to insurgents under his command.

In other Afghanistan operations today:

-- In the Nawah-ye Barakzai district of Helmand province, a combined force detained several suspects during a search for an insurgent leader. The sought-after insurgent is responsible for roadside bombings and other attacks against Afghan and coalition troops. He also supplies weapons and explosive devices to insurgents under his command.

-- An Afghan-led, coalition-supported force detained a Haqqani leader and one other insurgent in the Khost district of Khost province. The leader organized roadside bombings and other attacks against Afghan and coalition forces throughout the Nadir Shah Kot and Manduzai districts.

-- A combined force detained a Haqqani leader and one other insurgent in the Nadir Shah Kot district of Khost province. The leader conducted roadside bombings and other attacks against Afghan and coalition forces throughout the district, and was responsible for the movement of explosives into Khost province.

-- A combined force called in an airstrike that killed two insurgents and captured three suspects during an operation to detain a Taliban leader in the Khugyani district of Ghazni province. The sought-after insurgent leader plans kidnappings and conducts attacks against Afghan and coalition forces throughout the district. He also supplies insurgents with weapons and equipment.

And yesterday, combined forces in eastern Afghanistan discovered eight weapon caches that in total contained about 7,150 pounds of aluminum and ammonium nitrates used to make improvised explosive devices, more than 1,000 rounds of rifle ammunition, three 107 mm rockets, two 155 mm and one 120 mm artillery rounds, six 82 mm mortar rounds, two rocket-propelled grenades, two RPG warheads and a launcher, seven small arms and various amounts of clothes, communications equipment and IED-making components.

U.S. EUROPEAN COMMAND CONTINUES "ROBUST EXERCISE PROGRAM"

FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE 

An F-16 Fighting Falcon from the 480th Fighter Squadron takes off from Konya, Turkey, during Exercise Anatolian Falcon 2012, March 12, 2012. U.S. and Turkish air forces exercise air interdiction, attack, air superiority, defense suppression, airlift, air refueling and reconnaissance capabilities. U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Benjamin Wilson  

Eucom Exercises Adapt to Operational, Fiscal Environment

By Donna Miles

American Forces Press Service

STUTTGART, Germany , May 9, 2012 - Budget tightening won't mean an end to U.S. European Command's robust exercise program, but it could bring big changes to the program that keeps U.S. and allied forces at the top of their game, Eucom officials here said.

In fact, as operations wind down in Afghanistan, Navy Vice Adm. Charles Martoglio, Eucom's deputy commander, told American Forces Press Service he expects an increase in U.S. exercises with NATO allies and other partners.

U.S. participation dropped measurably over the past decade because forces were tied up in real-world events in the Middle East, he said. But as those forces return, he said, the exercise program will become key to maintaining their combat edge and the interoperability developed working on the ground, in the air and at sea.

"We do not want to lose this muscle that we have built with our partners," agreed Navy Rear Adm. Mark Montgomery, Eucom's deputy director of plans, policy and strategy.

Building on those hard-earned skills will be critical to sustaining NATO into the future, Martoglio said. "So we have to look toward ensuring interoperability of those forces and routinely training together so that if we have to conduct high-end operations, we have the ability to work together from a technical perspective, and the skills to work together from a training perspective," he said.

Throughout its history, Eucom has aligned its exercise program to changing geopolitical conditions and challenges, said Marine Corps Col. Edward Bligh, chief of the command's joint training, readiness and exercise division.

During the Cold War, exercises focused on a land battle in the Fulda Gap. After the Berlin Wall fell, they shifted toward building partnerships with new Eastern European democracies.

Then, after the 9/11 terror attacks, exercise planners moved into high gear to prepare U.S. and coalition forces for deployments to Afghanistan and Iraq.

"The people who fight with us downrange are coming from our [combatant command area of responsibility]," Bligh said. "So to ensure they are capable and ready to go, our exercise program has been highly focused on International Security Assistance Force preparation."

Now, as Eucom continues to support that training mission, Bligh and his fellow planners are looking toward the next challenge. "How can we sustain that partnership capacity and build on it and go to that next tier, whatever that may be?" he said.

It's a question being asked within the context of looming budget cuts that will have a direct impact on the exercise program.

The simple answer would be to eliminate or scale back some of the command's 20-plus annual exercises. But Bligh said he sees another trend: more targeted engagements focused on specific capabilities and partners and directly in line with contingency plans.

That, he said, means basing scenarios not just on current threats, but also on emerging ones ranging from ballistic missiles to cyber-attacks.

Bligh also projected that some exercises will be combined, he said. This year, for example, Austere Challenge, an annual senior-level decision-making exercise, is being combined with Juniper Cobra, a combined air defense exercise between the United States and Israel.

Although doing so is a significant challenge for exercise planners -- who must build enough into the scenarios to keep all players engaged at both the tactical and strategic levels -- it stands to reduce costs and streamline planning efforts, the colonel explained.

Bligh said he also anticipates more regionally focused exercises and increased engagement with Turkey, Poland, Russia and Israel, nations specifically identified in the command's theater engagement plan.

The recent Anatolian Falcon 2012 exercise between U.S. and Turkish air forces, for example, was designed to test the two countries' military interoperability as they conducted a variety of air missions.

A new exercise for fiscal 2013, Saber Guardian, will bring together about 150 U.S. Army Europe soldiers and their Romanian counterparts as part of a broader effort to build partnerships in the Black Sea region.

Although the United States traditionally has sponsored exercises and invited other allies and partners to participate, Bligh said, U.S. forces will increasingly participate in other countries' exercises. This year, for example, U.S. Army Europe plans to send troops to a land-forces exercise hosted by Poland. As that program matures, Bligh envisions that U.S. Air Forces Europe also could participate.

"We are attending another nation's exercise at a fraction of the cost of us hosting our own," he said.

In another promising development, more partner nations are beginning to exercise together, independent of the United States. Bulgaria, for example, now hosts its own regional energy security exercise, Energy Flame, for its Balkan neighbors, using simulation capabilities the United States spent the past 10 to 15 years helping the Bulgarians build.

"They run it and do the whole show," Bligh said. "Not only do they have the capability to run a very sophisticated exercise out of their own simulation center, but they have graduated to a degree that they are able to share that capability in constructive ways with their Balkan neighbors. So that, to us, is a real success story."

Although sustaining partner-nation capacity will remain a command priority, Air Force Lt. Col. Phil Everitte, Eucom's exercise branch chief, said he expects the exercise program to also put increasing emphasis on putting contingency plans to practice.

"Since money is tight, we want to do things more smartly," he said. "That means being more focused on contingencies – basically our wartime tasking and our core missions. So we are trying to lead our program in that direction."

POLARIS WARRIOR COMPETITION

FROM:  U.S. AIR FORCE SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND
A CV-22 Osprey with the 20th Special Operations Wing at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., descends on the Air Force Academy Cadet Area during the Academy's Polaris Warrior event April 28, 2012. Polaris Warrior combined several military training challenges designed to reinforce skills that cadets may need in the field. (U.S. Air Force photo/Raymond McCoy) 
AFSOC headlines 1st USAFA Polaris Warrior 
by Don Branum
Air Force Academy Public Affairs

5/7/2012 - U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Almost a year of cadet training in military field skills culminated Saturday in what Commandant of Cadets Brig. Gen. Rich Clark called a "boom event."

The Polaris Warrior competition featured 10 events themed around skills cadets may need in deployed environments after they graduate.

"It's a chance for cadets to really show what they've learned, to have their skills tested and to compete, squadron against squadron, in all the skill areas they've been training in," Clark said.

Cadet Squadron 39 took top honors in the competition, which included self-aid and buddy care, mobile operations in urban terrain, combat arms and land navigation. CS 40 and CS 33 took second and third place, respectively.

Two teams each from the commandant's staff, the Dean of Faculty mission element and the 10th Air Base Wing also competed in the Battlefield Airman portion of the event.

Polaris Warrior started with Clark's stated desire to institute more military-style training during the academic year, culminating in a large-scale event, said Maj. John Schroeder, deputy chief of the Cadet Wing Training Division here.

"We tried to build an academic-year plan accordingly," Schroeder said. "We had to make course corrections along the way because this was our first year trying to plan such a large-scale event."

The overall training plan came together in spring of 2011, Schroeder said. Planning for Saturday's challenge began in December. Cadet 1st Class Michael Oakley of Cadet Squadron 30 and Cadet 2nd Class Tyler Stearns of CS 36 became involved a month later as the event's cadet in charge and cadet NCO in charge, respectively.

"We had to make sure every squadron was prepared," said Stearns, a native of Anchorage, Alaska. "We had to make sure they knew what Polaris Warrior was, that they knew about the final event, and most importantly, that they knew how to prepare for the final event."

Six of the events were compulsory. Another four, including a physical training challenge and a "sprint" from the Cadet Area to Falcon Stadium and back, were optional, Stearns said. After each event, squadron cadets in charge called in scores, which Oakley and Stearns tabulated with Schroeder's help.

Polaris Warrior allowed juniors to ease into leadership roles, which they will do to a larger degree as seniors during summer and 2013 academic year, Oakley said.

"Putting second-class cadets in charge is key for preparing them for next year. It gave them the opportunity for trial and error on a smaller scale before they really take charge of their squadrons," he added.

More than 50 Airmen with the 20th Special Operations Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., also supported the event, along with six aircraft, including two CV-22 Ospreys and an MC-130 Combat Talon, said Lt. Col. Tony Valerio, the Cadet Wing Training Division director and a 1992 Academy graduate.

"We got remarkable support from Air Force Special Operations Command," Valerio said.

Airmen with the 20th SOS interacted directly with cadets, including a gathering at Arnold Hall the evening of April 25 as well as attendance alongside cadets in classes and at the April 27 noon meal formation. The interaction worked well, said Maj. David Penuela, the squadron's assistant director of operations.

"Integration into the actual Polaris Warrior training events also proved to be a great recruitment tool" for special operations career fields, Penuela said. Cadets' enthusiasm also motivated the AFSOC Airmen who took part.

Valerio said he would like to refine the process of preparing for Polaris Warrior in future years but added that he was "extremely proud of the blood, sweat and tears" that Schroeder and the two cadets invested in coordinating and pulling off the inaugural Polaris Warrior.

"I couldn't be more proud of the job they did and the efforts they put out there," he said.

AIR FORCE WEEK IN PHOTOS

Air Force Week in Photos