Air Force

Senators' outrage over the military’s approach to sexual assaults is halting the nomination of a female Air Force lieutenant general.

A House Armed Services subcommittee is proposing to block the Air Force’s planned retirement of the Global Hawk Block 30 drones at the end of 2014.

The House Armed Services Tactical Air and Land subpanel included a provision in its portion of the Defense authorization bill to prevent the Air Force from retiring the Global Hawks until the end of 2016.

The legislation from subcommittee Chairman Michael Turner (R-Ohio) would restrict any use of funds to retire the aircraft and require the Air Force secretary “to take all actions necessary to maintain the operational capability” of the Global Hawk.

McConnell Air Force Base in Kansas has been picked as the first home for the new Air Force tankers, the state’s congressional delegation said Wednesday.

The selection of the Wichita, Kan., base will be an economic boon to the region for years, as it will host 36 of the Air Force’s new Boeing KC 46-A tankers.

The KC-46A refueling tankers will be housed at McConnell beginning in 2016 as they replace the current fleet of KC-135s.

Rep. Michael Turner (R-Ohio) on Thursday blamed the Obama administration for failing to come up with an answer to the sequester, which he said is forcing people at a major Air Force base to work in buildings with no lights on.

On the House floor, Turner showed a picture of people working in darkened hallways of the Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Ohio.

Senate Appropriations Defense subcommittee Chairman Dick Durbin (D-Ill.) said the revelations that 17 Air Force officers were stripped of their responsibilities to control nuclear missiles “could not be more troubling.”

The Associated Press reported Wednesday that 17 officers at Minot Air Base in North Dakota had their authority to control nuclear weapons stripped following a poor review — in an unprecedented move — which prompted the group’s deputy commander to say it was suffering “rot” in its ranks.

"We are, in fact, in a crisis right now," the commander, Lt. Col. Jay Folds, wrote in an internal email that was obtained by the AP.

Sen. Lindsey Graham (R-S.C.) said President Obama has used drone technology in the "most effective" way of any president.

Obama said he expects "consequences" after a Pentagon report showed a sharp rise in reported sexual assault incidents.

The Air Force has requested jurisdiction of a criminal case where its former chief of sexual assault prevention is accused of sexual assault.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh told a congressional panel Tuesday that the Air Force had requested jurisdiction from the Arlington County prosecutor in the case of Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski, who was arrested Sunday and charged with sexual battery.

Arlington County police accused Krusinski of groping a woman in a parking lot in Crystal City, where he was arrested early Sunday morning.

Lt. Col. Jeff Krusinski was arrested and charged with sexual battery early Sunday morning, Arlington County police said.

A search continues for the third crew member of the Boeing KC-135, which exploded mid-air in Kyrgyzstan.