News

Senate confirms Kendall to be Air Force Secretary
July 26, 2021 — Frank Kendall won confirmation from the Senate July 26 to be the 26th Secretary of the Air Force, placing an official with decades-long service in defense issues in the top civilian job at a time when the department is navigating new global challenges and wide-reaching modernization efforts. ... MORE

Department of the Air Force approves special leave accrual for fiscal year 2021
July 23, 2021 — Air Force and Space Force members performing active service, and Reserve and Guard Airmen on Title 10 or Title 32 orders, can now accrue up to 120 days of annual leave for fiscal year 2021 instead of the typical 60 days of leave. ... MORE

COVID-19 pandemic not over, concerns over delta variant growing
July 6, 2021 — According to the military health system, the delta variant of the COVID-19 virus is more transmittable, causes more severe disease, and results in higher cases of hospitalization and death than any other strain of the virus... MORE

An airman gives a COVID-19 vaccine to a senior Air Force officer

Air Force releases cardio and strength fitness assessment alternatives, new online capabilities
July 2, 2021 — The Air Force will provide Airmen five physical fitness assessment alternatives—three for the cardio portion and sit-up components and two for the push-up component of the physical fitness assessment beginning in early 2022... MORE

Under Secretary of the Air Force nominee testifies during Senate Armed Services Committee hearing
June 16, 2021 — Nominated by President Biden in April, if confirmed, she will assume the position of Under Secretary and Chief Management Officer of the Department of the Air Force... MORE

Current PCS, household goods affected by supply shortages
June 14, 2021 — According to a newly released communiqué from the Air Force’s Personal Property Activity Headquarters, “Department of Defense demand this peak (PCS) season has greatly exceeded commercial industry capabilities, largely due to resource constraints associated with the COVID-19 pandemic. Per industry, this resulted in a 25% decrease in their labor pool, resulting in (decreased) personal property movement capacity necessary to support private sector and government demand.”... MORE

Air Force coins official Maintenance Duty Uniform, adds immediate wear of tactical OCP caps
June 14, 2021 — Air Force commanders of units with aircraft maintenance, industrial and other labor intensive Air Force Specialty Codes will have the option to authorize wear of a standardized, maintenance duty uniform, also referred to as coveralls, which may be worn on a day-to-day basis upon publication of the updated AFI 36-2903 anticipated for August 2021... MORE

AMC debuts first large-scale virtual command center during MG21
May 28, 2021 — As the Air Force’s largest and longest exercise in rapid global mobility, Mobility Guardian served as the proving ground for AMC’s first large-scale integration of an Advanced Battle Management System, ensuring decision superiority with speed, agility and resilience and advancing warfighting capabilities in support of globally-integrated operations... MORE

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Lee Bostson, 621st Contingency Response Group contingency location team lead, tests a new virtual reality system during Exercise Mobility Guardian 2021 at Alpena Combat Readiness Training Center, Alpena, Michigan, May 17, 2021. Mobility Guardian 2021 includes Air Mobility Command’s first large-scale training on Agile Combat Employment and Advanced Battle Management System through use of Tactical Data Link. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Lawrence Sena)

Air Force releases updated fitness test score breakdown
May 26, 2021 — Without the waist measurement as a scored component, push-ups and sit-ups will increase from 10 to 20 points each, while the 1.5-mile run will remain at 60 points. Scoring will fall into five-year age groups, as opposed to the previous 10... MORE

Physical fitness testing will resume July 1, 2021. Several changes have been made to the test to include increasing scoring for push-ups and sit-ups from 10 to 20 points each, five-year age groups and the waist measurement no longer being required. The Air Force has also worked on alternative strength and cardiovascular testing exercise options with plans to announce them in the coming weeks.

AF GeoBase safely integrates sUAS in AFCEC operations
May 23, 2021 — The Department of the Air Force is one step closer to safely and more widely integrating small unmanned aircraft systems into civil engineering operations, thanks to the Air Force GeoBase Program’s sUAS office... MORE

Julio Toala, Air Force Civil Engineer Center GeoBase program geospatial operations manager, receives training from Joseph Campbell, Emerging Technologies Institute chief technology officer and lead instructor, on drone pre-flight checks at San Geronimo Air Park, Texas, May 7, 2021. The training focused on pre- and post-flight checks, projecting flight patterns and 3D mapping using images from the drone. The Air Force GeoBase mission is to create and exploit geospatial information and services to optimize agile combat support and minimize operational risk.