Commentary by Missy Ryan via the Washington Post EVERETT, Wash. — As they conduct bombing and surveillance missions around the globe, today’s U.S. military pilots rely on aerial refueling aircraft built as early as 1957, when the Soviet Union dominated American...
Airpower Blog
Interested in submitting an article? Click the link to get started.
Need help or want to report misuse? Click the link to get started.
AIRPOWER BLOG PARTICIPATION RULES
Airpower Blog participants should observe the following rules:
Classified or Sensitive Information
The Airpower Blog is a public discussion blog serving the U.S. Military Aviation Community. Due to the nature of the topics discussed on The Airpower Blog, please exercise discretion. Neither articles nor comments should make reference to, or suggest the existence of, any information that resides in the Classified or Sensitive categories. If in doubt, don’t post it.
OPSEC
Operational Security (OPSEC) considerations always apply. Please alert the Airpower Blog moderators if you think a particular article or comment should be removed. This is certainly applicable for OPSEC-related items. Politely notify a commenter if a comment poses an OPSEC issue. This also serves as a reminder to others who comment. If the commenter reveals an ignorance of what OPSEC is, simply ignore the comment or refer the commenter to public domain information.
Comment Guidance
Ensure that any comments that you post are directly relevant to the Airpower article being discussed. Comments that are not truly germane to the article should be avoided in order to maintain focus. Be polite, courteous, civilized and respectful. Do not use obscene language. Treat the privacy of others as an absolute.
Submitting Your Own Articles to the Blog
- Use a clear and catchy title.
- Structure your article with an introduction, body and conclusion.
- Write well. Pay attention to spelling, grammar, and style. If an acronym is used, please use the full text version when the term is first used, followed by the acronym in parentheses, as demonstrated in the OPSEC paragraph above.
- Don’t misquote, be sure of your facts, and cite your sources.
- No copyright infringements, please. Observe copyright when posting content from other sources.
- Do not use obscene language or adult content
- Do not submit commercial messages or advertising.
Report Misuse/Abuse
To report abuse or misuse of the Airpower Blog, please contact the moderators and include a link to the comments in question.
The Airpower Blog reserves the right to delete, move, or edit any comments that it deems unsuitable for the Blog.
If you have a complaint about one of our actions such as deleting, moving, or editing your comments, don’t air it on the Blog; rather, please send us a message.
The U.S. system created the world’s most advanced military. Can it maintain an edge?
read more
End of the High-Low Mix?
by John A. Tirpak via Air Force Magazine The Air Force is launching a new tactical aviation study in an attempt to rationalize its swelling portfolio of manned and unmanned combat aircraft programs. The goal is to harmonize its efforts with those of the other...
One of Those Moments of Stark Terror
by Lt.Col. (then Captain) John Larrison, USAF (Ret.) A-1E Skyraider making a napalm run in Vietnam Sometimes flying has been described as “hours and hours of boredom separated by moments of stark terror.” I guess I have had very few of those moments but one of...
“Querer es poder”: A Conversation with Lt. Col. Olga Custodio, USAF (Ret.)
Interview conducted via telephone by Taylor E. Watson on Wednesday, March 24th, 2021. Lt. Col. Olga Custodio, USAF (Ret.) Lt. Col. Olga Custodio, USAF (Ret.) is a former Air Force aviator and American Airlines pilot. Of Puerto Rican descent, her family traveled around...
From the Archives: Daedalian Founding Documents
From the important documents of the Order of Daedalians, 1934-1939, are some founding documents of our organization, including the organization’s history, information about our name and motto, and the legend of Daedalus, our namesake. As World War I opened in...
Don’t Rush To JADC2: Army Gen. Murray
By Theresa Hitchens and Sydney J. Freeberg, Jr. via Breaking Defense Gen. Mike Murray WASHINGTON: The military must avoid getting swept away in a “rush to lockdown requirements” for the Joint All Domain Command and Control (JADC2) strategy, cautions Gen. Mike...
From the Archives: ‘To Look Back with Pride’ An Interview with Kathy LaSauce
by Master Sgt. Annette Crawford, USAF (Ret.) Capt. Kathy La Sauce stands in front of a C-141 Starlifter at Norton AFB, California, in the 1980s. Retired Air Force Lt. Col. Kathy La Sauce can’t remember a time when being a woman stopped her from achieving her goals. In...
Redefine Readiness or Lose
Commentary by Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. and Gen. David H. Berger via War on the Rocks In the halls of the Pentagon and on Capitol Hill, military, civilian, and congressional leaders regularly discuss the “readiness” of our armed forces. Department of Defense...
The Air Force Wants to Outsource Some of Its Pilot Training to Private Companies
by Oriana Pawlyk via Military.com Second Lt. Rafael Galvoa, 37th Flying Training Squadron student pilot, and 1st Lt. Thomas Buckley, 37th FTS instructor pilot, conduct pre-flight checks on a T-6 Texan II at Columbus Air Force Base, Miss., Jan. 24, 2020. (Davis...
Reflections of a Space Pioneer: A Conversation with Col. Eileen Collins, USAF (Ret.)
Interview conducted via telephone by Taylor E. Watson on Thursday, March 4th, 2021. Col. Eileen Collins, USAF (Ret.) Col. Eileen Collins, USAF (Ret.) is a former astronaut and military instructor and test pilot. An Irish-American native of Elmira, New York, she was...
It’s a Family Affair: The Danielsons Legacy of Service
Ben Danielson as a Lieutenant, in front of his T-38 trainer. Cadet William Danielson is a junior in the AFROTC program at Washington State University. He was awarded a Daedalian Foundation matching scholarship tied to Inland Empire Flight 41 in December. However, the...
TRUST AND TECH: AI EDUCATION IN THE MILITARY
by Joseph O. Chapa, via War on the RocksCommentary originally published March 2, 2021 The average life expectancy of a non-instrument trained pilot in instrument conditions is 178 seconds — or so says a 1954 study that pilots have referenced ever since. The...
Desert Storm: 30 Years Later
The AFA’s Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies is pleased to release a special report on the 30th anniversary of the start of Desert Storm, Desert Storm: 30 Years Later. According to the U.S. Government Accounting Office, the Persian Gulf War of 1991 “was...
Why Was the A-1E Used In-Lieu-Of Jet Aircraft in Vietnam?
by Lt. Col. John Larrison, USAF (Ret.) To answer this question, we need to go back to the French battles with the Viet Minh at Dien Bien Phu, Vietnam. The French used the B-26 in their failed combat actions to save the garrison at Dien Bien Phu. With the downfall of...
‘Dearest Sweetheart’: The passion and poignancy of wartime love letters
“Darling, I hope you like this rather weird pose. This was the surprise I had for you and I do hope you like it. I love to keep you well supplied with pictures, so you won’t ever have a chance to forget me … so this photo is from me … Lots of...
The Old Man and the New Plane
by Lt. Col. Michael A. Buck, USAF (Ret.), Former Commander 186th Fighter Squadron A History of the 186th Aero Squadron in the Great War, Part 3 28 August – 30 October 1918 The 186th left Le Havre, France, by rail on the morning of 29 August 1918. The men rode...
Bureacracy Never Dies
Shared by our friends at the DCMA Boeing Seattle Contract Management Office (CMO) Col. Corkille Col. John D. Corkille was an early U.S. Army Air Corps aviator who flew in WWI, the 1923 Bendix Air Races, the ill-fated Martin Bomber flight to Alaska, and was lead test...
His Storied Life: James Wiley, Tuskegee Airman and American War Hero
This was our first date. Even so, the stories swirled around us. I suppose, as older singles, there was a lot of life for Bill and me to draw from. We sat in the morning sun over coffee, exchanging snippets of our lives, honest achievements. Still, each of us was...
T-6 Gear Check via a Control Tower Fly-By
by Lt. Col. John Larrison (USAF, Ret.) It is not uncommon for a pilot to request a control tower “Fly-By” for the tower personnel to provide a “visual” check of his landing gear when the pilot questions his cockpit indicators. The following story took...
Daedalians Twelve Days of Christmas
by Taylor E. Watson Can you complete our Twelve Days of Christmas...
NORAD Santa Tracker Celebrates 65th Anniversary
Taylor E. Watson NORAD celebrates its 65th year of tracking Santa this December 24th. The tradition began in 1955 when a child dialed a misprinted number from a newspaper ad encouraging kids to call Santa. The phone was picked up by Colonel Henry Shoup, Director of...