Air Force provides opportunities for foreign area service

The Air Force is seeking officers from all Air Force specialties for a new foreign area officer program designed to build foreign language skills and regional expertise.

Meeting the demands of global engagement means sending Air Force members to conduct operations around the globe, involving them in international politico-military affairs in a very up close and personal way, according to Lt. Col. Bill Huggins, chief of the foreign area officer proponent office.

Once these officers have prepared themselves for foreign area officer duty, the FAO proponent office will work with the Air Force Personnel Center to help these officers obtain assignments that will appropriately match their skills with Air Force needs. When not assigned in their primary career field, these officers may serve in a variety of FAO billets. These include attache duty, the exchange officer and security assistance programs, joint and major command headquarters staffs, the Joint Staff, the office of the secretary of defense, the State Department and others.

Besides managing the FAO program, the proponency office is providing opportunities for officers to enhance their foreign language skills.

Though the FAO program has several components, the most basic element is foreign language proficiency, said Huggins. In 1996, Air Force leaders directed that 10 percent of all Air Force officers must be proficient in a foreign language by 2005. This 10 percent provides a pool from which to draw FAOs.

Opportunities to learn Russian, Arabic and Chinese are among a dozen language programs now available through the language immersion training program. This involves sending a small contingent of officers, who already have a basic ability in the language of the host country, to spend a month living and studying in that country, totally immersed in its language and culture.

For more information about the foreign area officer and language immersion programs, visit http://www.hq.af.mil/af/saf/ia/afaao/fao/ on the World Wide Web, or call DSN 425 8337/8321.

August, 27 1998

Osan F-16 pilot in excellent condition

The Osan pilot who ejected from his F-16 Aug. 24 is in excellent condition after undergoing a medical evaluation at the base hospital. He was evaluated and released the same night.

The pilot, Capt. David W. Murphy, from the 36th Fighter Squadron, ejected approximately one mile off the East Coast of South Korea near Kangnung at 6:15 p.m. A South Korean fishing boat picked him up and brought him to the port at Kangnung. A Republic of Korea air force CN235 cargo aircraft then transported him to Osan.

Reference: Pacific Air Forces News Service

August, 25 1998

Osan pilot ejects from F-16

A pilot from the 36th Fighter Squadron here ejected from his F-16 at 6:15 p.m.
Aug. 24, approximately one mile off the east coast of South Korea near Kangnung. The pilot was on a routine training mission.

The pilot was picked up by a South Korean civilian boat and was transported to the Osan hospital where he underwent medica evaluation. His condition was not released.

The cause of the accident is under investigation. (Courtesy of Pacific Air Forces News Service)

Reference: Air Force News Link

August, 24 1998

Altus upgrades KC-135s to enhance mission capability

The first KC-135 of Altus' aerial refueling fleet was upgraded Aug. 13 with two modifications that will enhance the overall mission capability of the aircraft.

The Pacer CRAG, and Traffic Collision Avoidance System, are being used to improve the safety conditions of aircrews along with their capability to aviate and navigate the aircraft.

The KC-135 was first upgraded with a compass and radar system, including the addition of a Global Positioning System.Together, the upgrades are referred to as the Compass Radar and Global Positioning System, or CRAG. The system has several benefits, the largest being the pilot's capability to view several functions through multifunction glass displays, saidStaff Sgt. James Hill, an instructor boom operator here.

Reference: Air Force News Link

August, 22 1998

Singapore aircraft veers off the runway

A REPUBLIC of Singapore Air Force aircraft veered off the runway while landing at the Royal Australian Air Force (RAAF) Gin Gin Airfield in Australia. This is about 24 km north-west of RAAF's Pearce base, in Western Australia, where the RSAF Flying Training School is located. The incident happened at 10.50 am on the 21st of August after a routine training flight. The pilot, who was flying an SIAI Marchetti S-211, was not hurt. He was sent to the medical centre at Pearce for observation. The undercarriage of the aircraft was damaged. A Mindef statement said the RSAF was investigating the incident.

Reference: The Straits Times

August, 7 1998

NASA Solar-Powered Aircraft Reaches Record Altitude

NASA's remotely piloted, solar-powered Pathfinder-Plus flying wing reached a record altitude of
more than 80,000 feet during a developmental test flight Aug. 6 in Hawaii. The altitude is the highest ever achieved by a propeller-driven craft and surpasses the official record altitude of 71,530 feet for a solar-powered aircraft set by an earlier version of the Pathfinder last summer. The Pathfinder-Plus was aloft for almost 15 hours and reached its peak altitude of 80,285 feet at about 3:30 p.m. Pathfinder-Plus spent nearly three hours above its previous record altitude,
with much of the flight ocurring over the Pacific Ocean west of Kaua'i.

July, 31 1998

X-34 Completes Critical Milestone

The first wing assembly for NASA's X-34 technology demonstrator has completed qualification tests and has been shipped to the prime contractor, Orbital Sciences Corporation, Dulles, VA, where it has been mated to the X-34 test article under construction there. Integration of the wing assembly with the test article fuselage marks a major milestone in the program. Flights of the air-launched X-34 are scheduled to begin next year in conjunction with flights of its larger and more advanced sister ship, the X- 33.

Reference: Today@nasa.gov