The F-16 Falcon has been a mainstay in the U.S. Air Force arsenal, but the jet fighter and other types of tactical aircraft are being retired by the service for reasons of age and pressure to meet budget-cutting demands. (Associated Press)
People disembark from a U.S. Air Force plane said to be carrying sick U.S. engineer Renee-Nicole Douceur, who suffered a stroke in August at the South Pole, upon the evacuation flight's arrival at Christchurch, New Zealand, on Monday, Oct. 17, 2011. (AP Photo/SNPA, David Alexander)
Associated Press photographs U.S. Air Force and Army officers serving in Hungary pose with the new statue of former President Ronald Reagan in Budapest on Wednesday. The 7-foot-2 bronze statue honors Reagan for his efforts to free Hungary from the yoke of communism.
This undated photo provided by the U.S. Air Force shows Air Force Gen. William Shelton, the commander of Air Force Space Command, Peterson Air Force Base, Colo. Shelton addressed the National Space Symposium in Colorado Springs, Colo., on Tuesday, April 12, 2011. He said he expects no increases in his budget but said demands for such critical services as the military-run Global Positioning System won't decline. He told space contractors that the military and industry must find a way to contain costs, especially on launches. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force)
Rear Admiral Paul Zukunft of the U.S. Coast Guard, left, Lieutenant General Richard Y. Newton III of the U.S. Air Force, Vice Admiral Michael Vitale of the U.S. Navy, Lieutenant General Terry G. Robling of the U.S. Marine Corps, and Major General Karl Horst of the U.S. Army throw out the first pitches before the Washington Nationals Atlanta Braves opening day baseball game at Nationals Park in Washington, D.C., Thursday, March 31, 2011. (Rod Lamkey Jr/The Washington Times)
U.S. Air Force honor guard members carry a casket containing the remains of Vietnam veteran Leroy Earl Brumbaugh at Arkansas Veterans Cemetery in North Little Rock, Ark., on Friday. Hundreds of people attended his funeral. Mr. Brumbaugh served 20 years in the Air Force. (Associated Press)
This undated photo provided by European Aeronautic Defense and Space Company (EADS) shows an aerial refueling tanker aircraft, that EADS North America has offered to the U.S. Air Force as the KC-45, as it refuels an F-16 fighter aircraft via a refueling boom system. EADS is competing with Boeing Co. to win a $35 billion contract to build nearly 200 giant airborne refueling tankers, to replace the Air Force's Eisenhower-era KC-135 planes. If EADS wins, the tanker would be assembled in Mobile, Ala., at the former Brookley military base, shuttered in the 1960s. Either way, about 50,000 jobs would be created in the U.S. (AP Photo/EADS North America) NO SALES.
** FILE ** Chief Master Sgt. William Gurney, shown in an undated photo provided by the U.S. Air Force through the Dayton Daily News, pleaded guilty on Monday to several charges including sexual misconduct. (AP Photo/U.S. Air Force via Dayton Daily News, File)
Two injured Afghan civilians lie in the back of a medical evacuation helicopter after being picked up by U.S. Air Force pilots and pararescuemen from the 46th and 26th Expeditionary Rescue Squadrons in Afghanistan's Kandahar province on Monday, Oct. 11, 2010. (AP Photo/David Guttenfelder)
