It was an eerie sight at this normally bustling F-16 base. The flight line was completely away from aircraft. Tools were neatly tucked away, hangars were silent and operations had completely come to a halt. For the 388th Fighter Wing, it meant the beginning of sequestration, with one fighter squadron forced to minimize flying hours and another squadron completely shut down. For greater than three months, the 421st Fighter Squadron was reduced to “basic mission capable” flying hours, and the 4th FS stood down completely, causing a ripple effect for commanders, maintainers and pilots alike, and challenging them to seek... Read More »

The F-35 Joint Program Office (JPO) today informed Lockheed Martin that it decided to halt development of the alternate F-35 helmet and focus exclusively on maturing the Rockwell Collins Elbit Systems of America Vision Systems Generation 2 (Gen 2) helmet currently utilized in training and testing. This system will recoup approximately $45 million in funds it had originally allocated for the construction of the alternate helmet. In 2011, program and industry officials acknowledged that there have been technical issues facing the main helmet system. To make sure viable combat capability was available when needed, this system began a dual-path development... Read More »

The US military will deploy 800 additional troops from an armored unit to South Korea to strengthen its forces in case of a crisis with North Korea, the Pentagon said Tuesday. The US Army soldiers, armored vehicles and tanks from the first Battalion, 12th Cavalry Regiment could be stationed at camps Hovey and Stanley near the demarcation line with the North starting next month, military officers said. The rotational deployment is a part of a strategic shift towards the Asia-Pacific region “and allows greater responsiveness to raised meet theater operational requirements,” the Pentagon said in an announcement. “This is a... Read More »

The last 1 Regiment Army Air Corps Lynx helicopter has left Gütersloh in Germany, marking the top of British military flying within the country. The last flight brought an end to an extended association with Germany stretching back to 1975 when the regiment first formed up in Lower Saxony. During their time at Gütersloh elements of the regiment have deployed on operations 17 different times, the latest occasions being Operation Protego (for the London Olympic Games) and Operation Herrick 18 (Afghanistan). With the regiment rebasing within the UK next year, where they’re going to convert to using the recent Wildcat... Read More »

Researchers from the U.S. Army Research Institute of Environmental Medicine have teamed up with the Trainee Health Surveillance Flight 559th Medical Group’s Basic Military Training Team at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, to make a decision whether increased vitamin D and calcium intake can improve bone health in military personnel. Stress fractures and musculoskeletal injuries are among the many leading causes of medical holdovers during basic military training, and sometimes bring about attrition of military personnel early of their careers. As many as five percent of males and 20 percent of females may develop some kind of stress fracture during... Read More »