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U.S. Air Force News

  • Childhood adversity drives Airman’s passion for diversity & inclusion

    It was the heckling from other kids that truly cut Flavia the deepest. As a young Romanian girl in a new country where she barely spoke the local language, Flavia Carver learned early on that some negative preconceptions are picked up at a very young age, and she experienced how painful it is to be

  • Keesler AFB NCO derives purpose from her heart

    Senior Master Sgt. Jessica Player, Mathies Noncommissioned Officer Academy director of education, began contemplating her purpose after losing her family member. Growing up in the small town of Greensboro, Alabama, separation and racism was no rarity to Player. After reminiscing of her days as the

  • Blue Grit podcast features stories of resilience, strength

    You may have noticed a recent addition to the Air Force Portal homepage. A logo depicting a warrior looking over his shoulder with a fighter jet above him. It’s the face of the Blue Grit podcast. The podcast is the brainchild of Maj. Anna Fedotova, Los Angeles Air Force Base psychologist.

  • Through tragedy, loss, amputation, Airman learns ‘new norm’

    “My leg looked like a boomerang.”Those were the words of Staff Sgt. August O’Niell, an Air Force pararescueman, to members of the Air Force Technical Applications Center when the combat warrior visited the base to discuss resiliency during the center’s Combat Airman Fitness Day.

  • Chaplain survives aftermath of son’s suicide; spreads awareness

    While enjoying a drive through the rolling Tennessee countryside with his wife, the shrill ring of his cell phone pierced through the tranquility of the moment. Maj. William D. Logan's daughter, Blair, managed to utter, "Zac has done something really bad."

  • Airman keeps serving after overcoming rare cancer

    "Death smiles at us all. All a man can do is smile back." -- Maximus. This quote from the movie “Gladiator” rings powerful and true to Tech. Sgt. LaPaul Williams, who said, "I don't believe death is to be feared." Williams, a 5th Air Support Operations Squadron fighter duty technician stationed at

  • Airman overcomes adversity to follow soccer dream

    What happens when a dream you’ve been working toward since you were 6 gets ripped from you? How do you cope, move on and rekindle that dream? First Lt. Charity Borg, a Headquarters Pacific Air Forces protocol officer, faced this dilemma a few years ago when she was in the middle of her freshman year

  • Warrior Games: Wounded warrior overcomes adversity with archery

    Staff Sgt. Seth Pena, a highly decorated tactical air control party member, noted for calling in coordinated close support air strikes that killed up to 70 Taliban members in one fight, sat down with a crossbow draped across his lap and a target 25 meters in front of him, reminiscing about the night

  • Airman escapes adversity for shot at new life

    One Airman underwent the toughest challenge of her life in 2007, transitioning from her native background to a land she never imagined.After spending the first 15 years of her life in Bogota, Colombia, Airman 1st Class Andrea Spanjer, 4th Aerospace Medicine Squadron bioenvironmental engineer, left