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MC-12 in Afghanistan
MC-12 in Afghanistan:  The first Air Force MC-12W intelligence-surveillance-reconnaissance aircraft destined for operations in Afghanistan arrived Dec. 27 at Bagram Airfield. That same day, Bagram's 455th Air Expeditionary Wing stood up the 4th Expeditionary Reconnaissance Squadron, which will operate the twin-engine turboprop aircraft. "Knowledge is power and that is what we provide," said Lt. Col. Douglas Lee, the new unit's commander. Such knowledge, he added, "will help protect Afghans, provide security, and protect coalition lives." The MC-12 provides real-time full-motion video to ground troops and also collects signals intelligence. By late summer 2010, the Air Force expects to have 24 MC-12s operating in Afghanistan out of a force of 30 combat-ready airframes. The other six are already operating in Iraq out of Joint Base Balad. In addition to those 30, there will be another seven MC-12s based stateside that are dedicated to training. (Bagram report by TSgt. John Jung)
12/29/2009
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Verbatim
Preemptive Action
"Since the [Defense] Department's acceptance of the independent estimates last fall, we've been, in just about every respect, acting as if the program were in a Nunn-McCurdy breach. ... We've been taking all of the mitigating and corrective action that we would take as if there were a Nunn-McCurdy breach."
—Air Force Secretary Michael Donley, discussing with reporters the restructure of the F-35 strike fighter program announced in February 2010 and the probability that the program will soon exceed Nunn-McCurdy cost-monitoring thresholds that would necessitate, per US law, a program review and corrective steps, Washington, D.C., March 2, 2010. |
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Verbatim
Message for Grandma
"She has working for her as a citizen in the United States an Air Force Reserve that has some very talented, capable, patriotic, and willing individuals doing the business to keep this nation free. Just like her generation—the 'Greatest Generation'—was, I am very proud of the folks that we have got. If not the second greatest, then they are an extension of the greatest generation and they are ready, willing, and able to do the things that she would want them to do to make sure we keep our freedoms."
—Lt. Gen. Charles Stenner, Air Force Reserve chief, responding to a reporter's question on what the reporter should tell his 85-year-old grandmother to convey to her the importance of Air Force Reservists to the nation's security, Orlando, Fla., Feb. 19, 2010.
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