Brian Ferguson/Courtesy of the U.S. Air Force

A U-2 "Dragon Lady" takes off from Osan Air Base, South Korea, during the base Air Power Day air show last October.

Air Force holds off on retiring famed plane

It was born during the Cold War more than 50 years ago, and the Air Force deems it the world’s toughest plane to fly. But the high-altitude U-2 reconnaissance plane is so valued for its intelligence-gathering capabilities that, even in an age of high-tech unmanned drones, the old spy plane has found a whole new mission over the battlefields of Afghanistan and Iraq.

Obama to announce new airline safety measures

President Barack Obama is announcing new measures Tuesday to beef up airline security after an alleged terrorist attempt to destroy a Detroit-bound U.S. airliner on Christmas Day.

Policy chief pitches alternative Futenma plan

Transferring 23 F-15 fighter jets from Kadena Air Base, Okinawa, to Misawa Air Base in mainland Japan would free up room for operations at Marine Corps Air Station Futenma to be moved to Kadena, according to a proposal pitched Tuesday by the policy chief of one of the two junior partners of Japan's coalition government.

New policy makes post-deployment leave easier for Pacific airmen

A recent change to an Air Force regulation on taking leave can save Pacific-based airmen a lot of money. Effective Dec. 16, the Air Force began allowing its personnel to take vacation days in the United States while traveling back to their home duty stations after a contingency deployment

Top Stories

Military overhauls intelligence gathering, analysis in Afghanistan
U.S. military officials in Afghanistan have ordered a series of steps to overhaul intelligence gathering and analysis in the war-torn country in response to deficiencies uncovered during a lengthy White House strategy review last year.
Five U.S. suspects in Pakistan defend 'jihad' plans
Five Americans detained in Pakistan told a court Monday they intended to cross the border into Afghanistan to wage jihad against Western forces but denied any links to al-Qaida or plans to carry out terrorist attacks in Pakistan.
Bomber at CIA base was a double agent
The suicide bomber who killed eight people inside a CIA base in Afghanistan claimed to have information about Osama bin Laden's second-in-command, and was being recruited as a double agent to infiltrate al-Qaida, a former senior U.S. intelligence official and a foreign government official confirmed Monday.
South Korea snowed in by historic storm
The worst one-day snowstorm since South Korea started keeping records paralyzed air and road travel across much of the peninsula Monday, and extended the holiday weekend for most U.S. military personnel and their children.

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