Air Force Featured Stories

  • XPX team innovates solar power comm system

    With the help of 3-D printing and community partnerships, the Plans and Programs innovation team at McConnell Air Force Base created a portable, solar-powered communications system.

  • KC-46 pilot selection board calls for nominations

    Pilots interested in becoming KC-46 tanker pilots to fill positions in the Air Force’s first two operational KC-46 squadrons at McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, have until Sept. 7, 2018, to submit their application packages. (U.S. Air Force graphic by Kat Bailey)

  • KC-135 aircraft boom instructor platform wins Spark Tank cup

    Master Sgt. Bartek Bachleda, 22nd Air Refueling Wing aircraft boom instructor, from McConnell Air Force Base, Kansas, won the inaugural Air Force Spark Tank competition cup at the Air Force Association Air Warfare Symposium Feb. 22, 2018, in Orlando, Florida, for his KC-135 aircraft boom instructor

  • Air Force announces Spark Tank finalists

    The Air Force announced the six Spark Tank finalists who will showcase their innovative ideas to Air Force senior leaders Feb. 23, 2018, in Orlando, Florida, at the Air Force Association Air Warfare Symposium.

  • Air Force dual-military retention improves thanks to Airman’s idea

    The day comes when that final project is due for class. The project is ready and prepped for presentation or thrown together within twenty-four hours. Either way it has to be ready without delay. Despite being an academic project, sometimes there are cases where it could be implemented in real life.

  • Boom operator reaches 5,000 flying hours

    Just east of Denver, Nov. 29, 2017, McCrillis anticipated the moment he would complete his goal of reaching 5,000 flying hours. It came just after he completed refueling his favorite receiver, the B-52 Stratofortress.

  • Viper Patrol first layer of defense downrange

    Defenders of the 386th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron stand ready to protect lives and secure the installation in a deployed environment by going outside the wire each day as part of Viper Patrol.

  • Singing boom operator inspires others

    Growing up in a poverty-stricken, single-parent family, he used singing as a kind of therapy.Airman 1st Class Julian Awari, 349th Air Refueling Squadron boom operator, was only 6 years old when he first realized he had a talent for singing, and it was a hobby he would stick with throughout his life.

  • Heart to heart: AF steps up to help Airman’s family

    Five days after their baby was born in 2011, they realized something was wrong. When they took her back to the hospital, they found out they were in for a long, rough road ahead.“They quickly rushed us over to the neonatal intensive care unit, and we met with a cardiologist who said that my daughter

  • Guard, Reserve defenders bring experience to the fight

    The training and experience Air National Guard and Reserve law enforcement Airmen gain in their civilian and military careers help keep people safe from enemies foreign and domestic. Many of these security forces members, or defenders, bring the knowledge of both careers to make them more effective

  • McConnell AFB innovation saves $40K, increases safety

    The 22nd Logistics Readiness Squadron’s vehicle management flight recently constructed and installed a modification on a vehicle to enhance the safety of McConnell Air Force Base Airmen while saving the Air Force thousands of dollars.