AFMC Command News

  • F-35B completes first airborne engine start tests

    The short take-off and vertical landing variant of the F-35 Lightning II Joint Strike Fighter successfully completed a major prerequisite test for in-flight performance Aug. 15.BF-2 completed the first air starts, which test the ability of the F-35's propulsion system to restart during flight.

  • ORS Office organizing three new programs

    Perhaps the Operationally Responsive Space Office should consider changing its motto of "Employ. Deploy. Develop" to "Reaching the Reality of Rapid Response." In the past 14 months, the organization experienced success with its initial satellite, ORS-1, transitioned for operational use to U.S.

  • Feature: Edwards 'angel' donates time, aircraft, fuel to help others

    If you ask Bruce Wilder about his job as a flight test engineer on the Air Force's premier fighter aircraft, the F-22 Raptor, he will tell you it is one of the coolest jobs in the world. When the aviation enthusiast is not working on the most advanced fighter in the Air Force inventory, Wilder rents

  • Heroic acts of two AFMC Airmen featured in Portraits in Courage

    Two Air Force Materiel Command Airmen were among the 20 Airmen featured in the latest volume of the Air Force's Portraits in Courage series. Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley announced  the names of selected Airmen during the Aug. 19, 2012, opening ceremony of Air Force Week New York City.

  • New CSEL capabilities provide additional communication options

    Recent improvements to the capabilities of the Combat Survivor Evader Locator radio are enhancing communications between an isolated person and rescue assets.CSEL is a hand-held survival radio used with base stations located across the globe that provides critical search and rescue infrastructure

  • My educational journey: How could I say no?

    I joined the military when the Iron Curtain was still up. My plan was to serve my country abroad and get an education. My first duty station was Templehof Central Airport, Berlin, Germany. I initially focused on getting through my first standardization evaluation and completing my Career Development

  • X-51A flight ends prematurely

    The X-51A Waverider successfully launched from an Air Force B-52 bomber over Point Mugu Naval Air Warfare Center Sea Range Aug. 14, 2012, at approximately 11:36 a.m. PST.The X-51 safely separated from the B-52 and the rocket booster fired as planned. However after 16 seconds, a fault was identified

  • Tinker's Green Infrastructure Plan harvesting big returns

    Most people would associate hay baling operations with agriculture and not grounds-keeping at one of the busiest aerospace maintenance, overhaul and repair complexes in the Air Force. At Tinker Air Force Base, baling hay is yielding a harvest designed to "green" the base while cutting

  • AFMC Airman among AF 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year

    Air Force officials selected the service's top enlisted members, naming the 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for 2012, Air Force Personnel Center officials announced.An Air Force selection board at the Air Force Personnel Center considered 35 nominees who represented major commands; direct

  • Welsh 'humbled' to serve as Air Force chief of staff

    The Air Force chief of staff flag passed to the service's 20th chief in a ceremony here Aug. 10, 2012.Gen. Mark A. Welsh III, a 36-year Airman, stepped into the position, taking over for Gen. Norton Schwartz, who also retired from the Air Force during the ceremony."Mark is respected throughout the

  • Lt. Gen. C.D. Moore II outlines the way ahead for AFLCMC

    In the first of several town hall meetings, Lt. Gen. C.D. Moore II, the inaugural commander of the new Air Force Life Cycle Management Center shared thoughts, themes, goals and challenges Aug. 1, 2012, at the Air Force Institute of Technology's Kenney Hall. The center, which has 26,000 employees,

  • Daughter of Edwards contractor takes bronze in Olympic long jump

    Air Force family member Janay DeLoach leaped 6.89 meters at Olympic stadium on the night of Aug. 8, 2012, to take the bronze medal in women's long jump.Her father is retired Chief Master Sgt. William DeLoach, whose last assignment was at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., and he now works as a

  • AEDC has role in Mars Rover success

    As news broke of NASA's Mars Science Laboratory (MSL) "Curiosity" rover's successful landing on the "Red Planet" Aug. 6, Arnold Engineering Development Complex's (AEDC) Hypervelocity Tunnel 9 Director Dan Marren was watching the live TV broadcast of the event."Last night, after eight months of

  • My educational journey: Turning stumbling blocks into stepping stones

    My educational journey began in Oklahoma, one very hot day in 1965. I was picking cotton in order to purchase school supplies and clothing for my children, and I looked up to the sky and said, "God, there must be something better than this!" And there was!At the start of the 1966 school year, I

  • Program to improve IT core services achieves key milestone

    An Air Force program that will save money, save energy and improve core information technology services, such as e-mail, has recently met a significant milestone.Hardware to consolidate four regional data processing centers into one area processing center has been delivered, installed and tested at