Brian Everstine

Ground mishaps drop across the Air Force

By Brian Everstine on October 24, 2014 Air Force

The Air Force in fiscal 2014 posted its safest year for ground safety in 10 years, the Air Force Safety Center announced Oct. 22. There were three on-duty and 42 off-duty ground fatalities in 2014, down from seven on-duty and 47 off-duty fatalities in 2013, according to the Safety Center. Over the past 10 years, the average is 5.9 deaths on duty and 50.6 off duty. The drop comes after a spike in summer deaths in 2013, which was the highest since 2009. The service’s Critical Days of Summer campaign, focused on risk management, coincided with a drop in fatalities…

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James to chat on Twitter

By Brian Everstine on October 20, 2014 Air Force, Leadership

Air Force Secretary Deborah Lee James will take your questions on Twitter next week. The Air Force announced she will be available at 2:30 p.m. next Monday to talk about “top life and leadership lessons.” Get your questions ready, this is the first chat with James and the first for a current Air Force secretary.

First general officer qualifies in the F-35A

By Brian Everstine on October 2, 2014 Air Combat Command, Air Education and Training Command, Air Force

The first general officer has completed qualification training in the F-35A. Maj. Gen. Jay Silveria, commander of the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center, completed the training on Sept. 26 at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. Silveria topped off the seven-week training regimen with five hours of flying in two back-to-back sorties along with a hot pit refuel. “The Warfare Center is so involved with the development and future of this aircraft that it was important for me to see and experience this new program at the lowest tactical level and bring that knowledge base back to the higher level strategic…

65th Aggressor Squadron at Nellis deactivates

By Brian Everstine on September 30, 2014 Air Combat Command, Air Force, budget cuts

One of the two aggressor squadrons at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, has deactivated. The 65th Aggressor Squadron at Nellis, which flew F-15s, was deactivated Sept. 26, according to the Air Force. This means that Nellis will only have one squadron, the 64th Aggressor Squadron, to serve as adversaries during the large-scale Red Flag exercises at the base, along with Weapons School training. The squadron helped train pilots in F-22s, F-35s, F-15s, F-16s and F/A-18s. “It’s been a great asset for the U.S. Air Force Warfare Center to be able to have the F-15 Eagles here as an aggressor squadron…

Air Force unveils new ad campaign: New Frontiers

By Brian Everstine on September 9, 2014 Air Force, Video

The Air Force yesterday posted it’s new ad campaign, called “New Frontiers.” Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh narrates the commercial, which highlights Air Force history along with new missions and equipment, including the F-35 and CV-22 Osprey. The video was first posted on YouTube yesterday morning, and aired during ESPN’s Monday Night Football and on other networks.

QF-16 takes first flight as a target

By Brian Everstine on August 28, 2014 Air Force, Video

Boeing this week posted this video showing the QF-16 targeting drone in action for the first time as an aerial target at Holloman Air Force Base, New Mexico. The Air Force is in the process of converting older F-16s into optionally manned aircraft for target practice. Currently, the service mostly uses QF-4 Phantoms. The service plans to fly 210 of the aircraft, made up of the Block 15, 25 and 30 variants. This mission was the first time the aircraft was used as an aerial target for a test missile. The QF-4 made its first unmanned flight last fall in…

Airman heads world bike polo championship in France

By Brian Everstine on August 15, 2014 Air Force, Offbeat, Sports

A staff sergeant at Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson, Alaska, is traveling to France for an international competition of a different sort. Staff Sgt. Jonathan MacPherson, a fuels service center controller with the 673rd Logistics Readiness Squadron Fuels Management Flight, has qualified to compete the world championship of cycle polo. A combination of polo, hockey and cycling that dates back to the early 20th Century. “The best way to describe it is three-on-three hockey,” MacPherson said in an Air Force release. “You put the ball in the middle, somebody counts down, and one person from each team sprints [to the ball] in…

Guard C-130s busy battling wildfires

By Brian Everstine on August 4, 2014 Air Force, Air National Guard, Video

Two Wyoming Air National Guard C-130s are flying fire-suppression missions to help firefighters battle blazes in Idaho and Montana. The crews, assigned to the 153rd Airlift Wing based in Cheyenne, have flown two airdrops and discharged about 3,000 gallons of retardant at the Hard Creek fire in Idaho, four airdrops of about 9,000 gallons of retardant at the Thompson River fire in Montana and four airdrops of about 3,000 gallons of retardant at the Warland fire in Montana, according to the American Forces Press Service. Since July 20, Defense Department aircraft have flown 65 airdrops and dropped more than 114,300 gallons…

John Oliver goes after the nuclear missile community

By Brian Everstine on July 28, 2014 Air Force, Global Strike Command, Nuclear weapons, Video

Last night, HBO host John Oliver delivered a harsh takedown of issues in the nuclear missile community on “Last Week Tonight.” The segment focused on the cheating scandal, former 20th Air Force commander Maj. Gen. Michael Carey and other problems, including outdated and broken launch control centers. The 15-minute clip included references to past mistakes and mishaps, including the 2007 incident in which a B-52 mistakenly flew with a nuclear payload. Oliver, however, did not mention changes in the Air Force since the cheating scandal broke, which includes overhauling the testing system for missileers, new money for launch control centers and other…

Summer: The time of awkward Air Force safety PSAs

By Brian Everstine on July 18, 2014 Air Combat Command, Air Force, Offbeat, Video

Public affairs crews at multiple bases and major commands are doing what they can to keep airmen safe, notably uploading a series of awkward public safety announcements to YouTube. PA folks at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., have produced a series of great safety videos, with very high production and puppet value, called “Awkward Puppet Moments.” The one above reminds airmen to drink enough water while exercising in the Nevada heat. I recommend watching all of their videos. The videos focus on the typical summer safety issues: hydration, bicycle safety, water safety, etc. Air Combat Command’s entry, posted today, is…

Author Brian Everstine