HomeNews

NATO Air Policing operations

U.S. Air Force News

  • Hurlburt Field rescuers help crash victims, save lives

    There were people staggering and people screaming. It was total chaos.That was the scene Tech. Sgt. Mike Gray, a pararescueman assigned to the 720th Special Tactics Group here said he saw as he and his wife turned the corner from their home in nearby Fort Walton Beach early April 9.Eight bicycle

  • Life-support techs keep OEF airlifters rescue ready

    For C-130 Hercules aircrews flying a combat airlift mission, there are various forms of lifesaving equipment on the plane and on the Airmen every time they fly.Whether it is a parachute or a helmet, aircrews here are fitted with the best equipment available from the 774th Expeditionary Airlift

  • AFRC streamlines augmentee program

    Air Force Reserve Command officials here are working with other major commands to streamline management of individual mobilization augmentees.In the past, the Air Force's 12,900 IMAs in the Selected Reserve reported administratively to the various active-duty units where most of them are assigned.

  • Sustainability of installations, environment key to readiness

    The best way to ensure that today’s warfighters have what they need to fight and win in the post-Sept. 11 world is to sustain the viability of both military installations and their surrounding environments, a defense official said here April 12.That idea of sustainability -- of the military

  • Grone: BRAC 2005 important for many reasons

    Base Realignment and Closure 2005 is in full swing and this round is important for many reasons, said Philip Grone, deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment.To support ongoing force transformation, to improve the joint use of Department of Defense assets and to convert

  • Two chiefs, one marriage, love for Air Force

    In a small farming town near what was then Loring Air Force Base, Maine, 18-year-old Roger Sirois made a decision. What he did not know was it would lead him and his high-school sweetheart on a 25-year personal and professional journey. In 1980, Roger asked his girlfriend, Lisa Warrington, to

  • Airmen keep B-2 Spirits safe

    The B-2 Spirit bomber’s capabilities to penetrate an enemy's most sophisticated defenses and threaten its most heavily defended targets depend on Airmen who help maintain the aircraft’s stealth characteristic. Mechanics deployed from the 509th Maintenance Squadron’s low observable section apply

  • Airman finds, destroys UXO

    An Airman assigned to watch over foreign workers working at a construction site near the flightline at a forward-deployed location spied something peculiar poking out of the ground recently.What Airman 1st Class Juan Jordan saw was an unexploded ordnance, probably left behind by Iraqi forces more

  • Dominguez: Recapitalization No. 1 priority

    Modernizing the Air Force’s aging systems is the No. 1 priority for the service’s acting secretary.Michael L. Dominguez recently gained the responsibility as acting secretary of the Air Force, besides his other duty as assistant secretary of the Air Force for manpower and reserve affairs. "The

  • Airman’s life-altering decision takes turn for the better

    Before Airman 1st Class Shannon Cavasos enlisted in the Air Force, she was at a crossroads in her life.With high-school graduation on the horizon, the Midland, Texas, native lived alone her senior year after her mother moved away. Her mom sent her small checks to cover bills while she cleaned

  • Air Guard medics return from homeland security exercise

    More than 20 guardsmen from the Scotia-based 109th Airlift Wing here returned home from Newark Airport, N.J., on April 7 after participating in the U.S. Department of Homeland Security’s Top Officials 3 exercise.Medics from the 139th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron and an LC-130 Hercules flight crew

  • NDI Airmen play big part in mission

    For Senior Airmen Kenda Lewis and James Cone, the nature of their work is among the most obscure in the Air Force. What they do, however, prevents disaster from taking center stage on the mission.Assigned to the 379th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron’s nondestructive inspection lab at a

  • Airmen get view from tower

    Picture yourself sitting in your car, stopped at a traffic light on a very busy highway. Every time the light changes, vehicles take their turns crossing the intersection. If not for that traffic light, you probably would not be able to cross the road to go home. Airmen of the 20th Operations

  • Separate services make distinct contributions to joint force

    The trend toward “jointness” does not mean Defense Department officials expect all the services to become cookie-cutter copies of each other, a senior official said.Military operations increasingly call for close collaboration among all the services as they pursue a common mission, a trend that is

  • Officials announce Thrift Savings Plan open season

    Civilian and military employees can sign up for, or change, their Thrift Savings Plan contribution amounts during the "open season" April 15 to June 30."TSP is a long-term retirement savings plan, which everyone should consider," said Jackie Holland, task manager at the Air Force Personnel Contact

  • Airman gets perfect scores on CDC exams

    Scoring a perfect score on a career development course end-of-course exam is a remarkable accomplishment for anyone. Doing it twice is even more amazing.Airman Melynda Meshlovitz, of the 82nd Civil Engineer Squadron, did just that when she became the first in her career field, an environmental

  • Medical readiness instructors receive new C-130 trainer

    The next improvement to training medics at the 381st Training Squadron's medical readiness flight here has landed -- sort of.The flight received a C-130 Hercules on April 2 that will enhance medical evacuation training for medics scheduled to deploy.Giving medics an "as real to life as possible"

  • Air Force aggressively meeting challenges

    The two senior leaders of the Air Force spoke April 6 on Capitol Hill about budget cuts, the service's commitment to meeting end-strength requirements, total-force integration and fleet recapitalization. During testimony before the Senate Appropriations Committee subcommittee on defense, Michael L.

  • Airmen adopt-a-village … or two

    Airpower’s “global reach” took on a whole new meaning recently, when more than 50 Airmen traveled to two villages, a few miles from here, to equip local Afghan children with supplies for their future.Airmen of the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing delivered bags filled with basic school supplies to about

  • Two generations of air traffic controllers keep Nellis sky safe

    A sixth-grade student chose to write a school report about her dad, who is an air traffic controller in the Air Force. The student said she admired her father and his career, and watched him dress in uniform every day preparing to protect the sky for the military.That was 14 years ago. The

  • Service demographics offer snapshot of force

    Air Force Personnel Center officials here recently published the quarterly demographics report offering a snapshot of the service's active-duty and civilian force, as of March 31.More information can be found online at www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/demographics/. New U.S. government rules now provide

  • Security forces receive realistic deployment training

    Crawling around the wet grass in England may not, at first glance, compare much to being in hostile territory. But for 13 Airmen of the 100th Security Forces Squadron here, it felt pretty real.Spending 12 to 15 hours each day for five days at the training complex here, Airmen rode around in Humvees

  • Airman earns GEICO award

    Government Employees Insurance Company officials selected a firefighter from Beale Air Force Base, Calif., as the recipient of their 2004 GEICO Military Service Award in the fire prevention and safety category.Senior Master Sgt. Charles Funkhouser installed more than 200 smoke detectors in one day.

  • Little Rock receives second C-130J

    The Air Force's second active-duty J-model C-130 Hercules joined the other in the 314th Airlift Wing fleet here April 5.Flown by Lt. Gen. John Baker, Air Mobility Command vice commander, the aircraft is assigned to the 48th Airlift Squadron, which has been training aircrews to fly it since February

  • PT still mandatory for those on profile

    Many Airmen believe being on profile is an escape route from participating in unit physical training, but officials here said it is not.“Just because a (person) has a profile that says ‘no running, jumping, crunches, push-ups, and no cycle ergo’ does not mean that the (Airman) cannot go to the

  • Modified game show prepares Airmen for ORI

    The answer was, “The upper receiver, the lower receiver and bolt receiver,” but the question eluded the runner-up team during an operational readiness inspection “Jeopardy” tournament here.“I wish I had known the three parts of an M-16,” said Senior Airman Sarah Rogers, a crypto-maintenance

  • Civil engineers improving Uzbek base

    From digging to designing, Airmen with the 416th Expeditionary Mission Support Squadron’s civil engineer flight have been busy making improvements here.CE Airmen here are involved in a majority of the construction projects that support the Air Force mission, said Maj. Frederick Cade, the flight’s

  • International affairs cadre to build global relations

    Air Force officials will begin training more than 100 officers this spring to become international affairs specialists in a managed secondary career path.Ultimately, as many as 3,000 officers will form a pool of experts in regional, political and military affairs who will advise combatant commanders

  • Keesler cop encounters fugitive

    A security forces Airman and his canine partner escaped severe injuries recently when a sport utility vehicle driven by a fugitive rolled over the Airman’s patrol car near here.Staff Sgt. Daniel Short, an 81st Security Forces Squadron patrolman, and Bobby, a 5-year-old German shepherd narcotics

  • Tyndall Airman convicted of possessing child porn

    An Airman was convicted of possessing child pornography during a recent court-martial here.A military judge sentenced Airman 1st Class Axel Acevedo, a 325th Operations Support Squadron air traffic controller, to five months confinement, reduction to airman basic and a bad conduct discharge.Airman

  • Joint Red Flag concludes

    The first U.S. forces and coalition Joint Red Flag exercise concluded April 2. The two week joint exercise is considered one of the largest distributive exercise in the history of the U.S. military with more than 10,000 participants in 44 different sites nationwide.Participants were stationed

  • Airman teaches Soldiers to call for CAS

    "Continue dry," crackled through the radio as Army Spc. Jarrod Stranahan guided British pilots onto a target.Specialist Stranahan, a forward observer for the 5th Infantry Regiment, is one of 20 Soldiers who participated in emergency close-air-support training at here recently.Infantry units are

  • Sheppard girl donates hair for second time

    A 7-year-old girl sat in a salon chair at the beauty shop here March 29 waiting for the snip, snip of the beautician's scissors.With her hair separated into three distinct rows, similar to those before braiding, Adriana Breuer felt the gentle tug of the silver cutting utensils as the first of three

  • Living wills: a matter of life or death

    The Terry Schiavo saga has both captured and divided the nation as moral and legal questions have been raised over the right to live or die. While many people remain at odds over the underlying issues, most agree on one topic -- the importance of living wills. “We’ve had a huge increase over the

  • Nine Airmen killed in crash

    Nine Airmen were killed in an MC-130H Combat Talon II aircraft crash in Albania on March 31, Special Operations Command Europe officials announced April 4. The Airmen were supporting a joint training mission with the Albanian military. They are:-- Capt. Todd Bracy, 34, of Murphysboro, Ill.-- Capt.

  • U.S., Albanian recovery teams continue to work at crash site

    U.S. and Albanian rescue and recovery teams are working continuously at the site of the U.S. MC-130H Combat Talon II crash, located about 35 miles southeast of Tirana, Albania. The aircraft went down the evening of March 31 while on a night training mission. Officials said the U.S. military will

  • Hurlburt Airmen bring space power to Joint Red Flag

    U.S. space forces are using their knowledge of joint and interagency operations to adapt to an ever-changing battlefield during Joint Red Flag 2005, an exercise aimed at improving joint training and experimentation capabilities among U.S. and coalition forces.Air Force space capabilities have long

  • Say ‘hello’ to the bad guy

    Seeing the MiG-21 Fishbed static display in the parking lot, a Soviet flag hanging from a doorway and a picture of a smiling Joseph Stalin on a nearby counter top, might make it difficult for some to believe they are actually on a U.S. Air Force base.Things definitely look and work differently here

  • Balad medics perform critical mission

    Evacuation team members brace themselves against the rotor wash of a Blackhawk helicopter as it lands, stirring up swirling clouds of dust. They immediately make their way to the chopper and hurriedly bring patients into the trauma center. Within seconds, the emergency room is buzzing with activity

  • Fighters flying new missions, Airmen serving jointly

    In the war on terrorism, both aircraft and Airmen are performing missions nobody ever thought they would, a U.S. Central Command official said. Air Force fighter aircraft are performing intelligence missions today that they have not in the past, said Lt. Gen. Lance L. Smith, CENTCOM’s deputy

  • Airman sentenced to 19 years for sodomy

    An Airman here was convicted of sodomy and sentenced to a dishonorable discharge, 19 years confinement, reduction to Airman Basic and forfeiture of all pay and allowances by a general court-martial March 29.Master Sgt. Bart Lipscomb, from the 86th Maintenance Squadron, was convicted of one charge of

  • Combat Talon crashes in Albania

    An MC-130H Combat Talon II aircraft that crashed while on a joint training mission with the Albanian military, U.S. European Command officials announced April 1. There were nine people on board. A EUCOM news release said the crash occurred in a remote, mountainous area southeast of the Albanian

  • Report recommends family-friendly initiatives

    A military women’s advisory panel recommends that the armed forces discontinue the practice of simultaneously deploying both military parents of minor children.That is among several proposed changes the Defense Advisory Committee on Women in the Armed Services cited in its 2004 report.“Our

  • Air Force announces media contest winners

    A panel of civilian journalists, teachers and public relations professionals selected the best in Air Force print and broadcast journalism for the 48th annual Air Force Media Contest. The winners were announced March 31. Geoff Janes, from the 78th Air Base Wing at Robins Air Force Base, Ga., is the

  • Officials announce Air Force comptroller awards

    Air Force financial management officials announced the winners of the 2004 financial management and comptroller awards.They are:Financial Management and Comptroller: -- Organization, 347th Comptroller Squadron at Moody Air Force Base, Ga. -- Individual, Lt. Col. Trent Edwards of the 92nd Air

  • OSI keeps Baghdad Airmen, Soldiers safe

    Force Protection. To many Airmen, it means fishing for identification, showing it to the gate guard, and then going to work for a 12-hour shift. To the special agents of Air Force Office of Special Investigations Detachment 2408, force protection encompasses a range of discreet, 24-hour operations

  • Unit deployment managers ensure readiness

    Described by officials as the squadron lifeline to deployment processes anywhere, unit deployment managers are tasked with ensuring their unit’s troops and cargo are ready for deployment.“Ask any commander who has a deployment mission, and they will tell you their UDM is invaluable,” said Lt. Col.

  • New course prepares NCOs for joint ops in Southwest Asia

    A new training course for senior enlisted leaders is giving them skills that are proving invaluable for those deployed here, officials said.The Command Senior Enlisted Leader Capstone Joint Operations Module course is giving warfighters the tools they need to operate in an environment in which they

  • Military dogs dig into security

    Not all Air Force equipment has engines, wings or even operating instructions. One unit here is responsible for equipment that has a mouth packed with sharp teeth and a hide of fur.“Osan has the largest operational dog kennel in the Air Force,” said Tech. Sgt. Jerry Woodard, 51st Security Forces

  • Nine recently selected for promotion to E-8 must now re-compete

    Personnel officials are correcting circumstances that recently led to nine master sergeants being selected for promotion to senior master sergeant in the incorrect Control Air Force Specialty Code during the 05E8 cycle.The problem began when 46 Airmen who were attending the First Sergeant Academy

  • Aircrew training, diversion saves Soldier

    Aircrews must display skill and ingenuity in handling difficult or unusual situations. While flying a combat mission supporting Operation Iraqi Freedom recently, a C-130 Hercules crew’s skillful actions prevented a potential loss of life.After picking up more than 50 Soldiers in Iraq, the aircraft

  • Officials announce 2005 Hennessy Trophy winners

    Air Force Services Agency officials have announced the winners of the 2005 Hennessy Trophy Awards.Kirtland Air Force Base, N.M., is the winner in the single-facility category, and Hurlburt Field, Fla., is the winner in the multiple-facility category.The Air Force Reserve Command award winner is the

  • Exercises prepare Airmen for deployment

    The Air and Space Expeditionary Force Center here nominates sourcing for about 38 exercises each year so Airmen can exercise their deployment capabilities before actually deploying, officials said.Exercises provide a realistic contingency environment to familiarize combat operation forces and

  • ACC officials release Predator crash report

    Crew error was the primary cause of an MQ-1L Predator remotely piloted aircraft crash during a training mission Sept. 22 at Indian Springs Air Force Auxiliary Field, Nev., according to an Air Force report released by Air Combat Command officials March 23.Officials said the pilot failed to correct a

  • Personnel chief outlines NSPS, other initiatives

    Defense Department civilians soon will be paid for productivity rather than longevity, while in the future, servicemembers may be required to serve longer tours of duty and spend more time in the military before becoming eligible for retirement.These initiatives are part of efforts by officials to

  • General explains new DOD sex-assault policy

    The new guidelines for reporting incidents of sexual assault within the military create, for the first time, a Defense Department-wide standard that will provide victims with the support they need after incidents occur and help commanders get to root causes of the problems, the head of the Pentagon

  • Joint Red Flag bringing big picture together

    One of the nation’s largest integrated exercise involving live and virtual simulations is well under way at locations throughout the United States.Joint Red Flag is a training exercise for U.S. military and coalition forces to enhance operational effectiveness, exercise officials said. More than

  • Officials announce Air Force safety awards

    Air Force safety officials announced the winners of the 2004 safety awards.They are:-- Secretary of the Air Force Safety Award: Category I, U.S. Air Forces in Europe at Ramstein Air Base, Germany; Category II, Air Force Academy, Colo. -- Maj. Gen. Benjamin D. Foulois Memorial Award: Air Combat

  • Special ops request funding to modernize, transform

    A continued need for modernization and transformation of special operations forces brought that community’s leaders to Capitol Hill on March 17 to testify on their portion of the president’s military spending request.The fiscal 2006 defense budget request that President Bush submitted to Congress

  • Creek Defender convoy prepares security forces Airmen

    Airmen of the 786th Security Forces Squadron here proved their grit alongside more than 80 U.S. Air Forces in Europe security forces Airmen at a convoy and static position live-fire event March 14 at a training range in nearby Baumholder.The Creek Defender exercise primed the participants for

  • New DOD sexual-assault policy affords victims privacy

    New guidelines for confidential, restricted reporting of sexual assaults in the Defense Department were announced March 18 in a Pentagon briefing.“The policy allows victims -- and here’s the big change -- to report a sexual assault to specified individuals without necessarily initiating an

  • Air Force seeks Airmen for detainee operations

    The Air Force needs about 100 enlisted Airmen to serve in Iraq as interrogators, analysts, and command and control specialists later this year.Eligible volunteers from across the total force, who want to serve at the forefront of the war on terror, must be sharp and meet certain qualifications,

  • Changing DOD's global posture an 'enormous undertaking'

    Pentagon officials’ move to change their global footprint will be an “enormous undertaking” that will be “unprecedented,” the Defense Department’s director of strategy on global posture said here March 17.Barry Pavel said this could well be the first time that any country has purposely designed a

  • Military pay, allowances recognize troops' contributions

    Since the Sept. 11 attacks, Defense Department leaders and U.S. legislators “have worked together to increase servicemembers’ basic pay by more than 21 percent,” a senior DOD official told House Armed Services Committee members March 16.DOD officials remain “committed to taking care of

  • Predator fleet to expand

    Air Force officials plan to expand the current Predator Unmanned Aerial Vehicle fleet to as many as 15 squadrons.This increase, announced March 18, is in response to the escalating demand for intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance capability in the war on terrorism. The plans are intended to

  • Joint Red Flag 2005 kicks off at Nellis

    More than 10,000 servicemembers from all four military branches, along with troops of some coalition forces kicked off Joint Red Flag 2005 March 14. The goal of the training exercise, which is scheduled to end April 2, is to develop improved joint training and experimentation

  • Airman gets 35 years for forcible sodomy conviction

    An Airman here was found guilty of forcible sodomy in a court-martial and sentenced to 35 years confinement. After three days of testimony and deliberation, a panel of officers found Staff Sgt. Michael Rangel, of the 97th Communications Squadron, guilty of forcible sodomy on diverse occasions and

  • Airman convicted of possessing child pornography

    An Airman was found guilty of possessing child pornography during a court-martial held here March 10.Airman Ryan Stephens, of the 18th Security Forces Squadron, was sentenced to eight years confinement after being found guilty at a general court-martial of two charges of possessing child

  • Sustainable security needs risk-based approach

    Risk management must guide decisions on preventing, responding to and recovering from terrorist attacks, the new homeland security secretary said here March 16.Michael Chertoff spoke at George Washington University in his first major address since taking office Feb. 15.“A nation as vital and

  • Air terminal operators keep OEF freight, passengers moving

    It could be a C-130 Hercules loaded with Airmen and Soldiers heading down range, a civilian cargo plane loaded to the hilt with mail for deployed troops or a C-17 Globemaster III carrying humanitarian supplies for some remote village in Afghanistan.Any time an aircraft lands with material for

  • Eglin Airmen go to war with stumps, trees

    When Hurricane Ivan hit the coastal area here Sept. 16, destructive winds as high as 130 mph knocked down power lines and countless trees. It left a devastating mark on the landscape of Northwest Florida, including nearby Bob Hope Village, one of two Air Force Enlisted Village locations.Six months

  • Guard Airmen help drive transformation

    A C-5 Galaxy and a prototype of the Army’s new general-purpose cargo vehicle arrived here March 12.The vehicle is for use with both the C-5 and the C-130 Hercules, and has the ability to go for 72 hours without stopping to refuel. The ability to transfer cargo directly from the aircraft and carry

  • Two deployed KC-135s get rare engine swaps

    If a consumer rating service reviewed Air Force aircraft, the KC-135 Stratotanker would most certainly earn a “Best Buy” rating. After all, it is one of the most dependable aircraft in the Air Force inventory and would definitely get high marks for reliability.But, even the best can have the

  • C-130 crew delivers cargo, morale to remote locations

    When Soldiers, Sailors or Marines need something moved, C-130 Hercules crews here answer the call, and recently, that request took one 746th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron crew to Africa and beyond.Their cargo ranged from helicopter rotors to medical supplies to personal mail. Their mission was to

  • Myers: Work toward jointness, but take pride in services

    Jointness is the way ahead, but that does not mean Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen and Marines are going to merge into some national joint force, the chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff said here March 13.Gen. Richard B. Myers spoke to U.S. servicemembers at the embassy here and complimented them on

  • AETC names new command chief

    Air Education and Training Command officials recently named Chief Master Sgt. Rodney Ellison as the command’s new command chief master sergeant.As the command’s top enlisted Airman, Chief Ellison succeeds Chief Master Sgt. Karl Meyers who retired March 11.The command chief master sergeant advises

  • Air Force officials project budget shortfall

    Supporting the war on terrorism and ongoing operations around the world have created a projected budget shortfall forcing the Air Force to tighten its belt.Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John P. Jumper has directed all major commands to cut back on low priority spending in an attempt to stave off a

  • Task force aims to prevent sexual assault

    Everyone has a role in preventing and responding to sexual assault, said the commander of the Joint Task Force on Sexual Assault Prevention and Response during her remarks at a women’s history luncheon here.Brig. Gen. K.C. McClain assumed command in October 2004. The task force is establishing

  • Creating power behind airpower

    If aircraft are the power behind the Air Force, then Hill supplies the power behind the power.When a generator, which supplies all electrical power to an aircraft, needs to be repaired, it will most likely end up in the 309th Electronics Generator Squadron's airborne flight here."We support the

  • Virtual reality prepares students for parachuting

    When you are plunging toward earth at speeds as fast as 20 feet per second there is not a lot of time to think about your next course of action. Dave Dawson makes sure his students don’t have to.As the 19th Air Refueling Group’s aircrew continuation training specialist, he uses a device called the

  • Technicians use aircraft wreckage for testing

    After 11 years of service as a flight trainer, a T-1A Jayhawk aircraft is joining the Aeronautical Systems Center here.The aircraft, although damaged past the point of repair, still has its avionics and other subsystems intact, along with most of its fuselage. Technicians in the center’s training

  • Airman performs CPR, saves toddler

    Most people don’t remember what they were doing Jan. 23, but for the Clemsic family the date is one they said they will never forget. It was on this day that 23-month old Jason Clemsic nearly drowned in an icy pond behind the family’s off-base home.The boy’s mother, Tech. Sgt. Carmen Clemsic of the

  • Health officials recommend changes to fitness program

    Air Force health officials recommended seven changes to the fitness program during the program’s first annual review.This first annual assessment consists of reviews by three panels: functional, external and leadership, said Lt. Col. Sherry Sasser, chief of health promotions for the Air Force

  • Pilots make long commute to Global Hawk University

    For Global Hawk pilots, training is a little like going to a university with a large main campus and an extension campus a few miles away -- make that half a world away.While that is one heck of a commute, it is necessary because the Global Hawk, an unmanned aerial vehicle used to provide real-time

  • Air Force surgeon general testifies on four health effects

    The Air Force surgeon general spoke before Congress on March 3 on the state of medical care for servicemembers serving in the war on terrorism. Air Force Surgeon General Lt. Gen. (Dr.) George Peach Taylor Jr. told members of the House Armed Services Committee subcommittee on military personnel that

  • Good vibrations, music lends healing hand

    Have you ever found yourself tapping your foot or bobbing your head when listening to upbeat music? It is nearly impossible for most of us to sit perfectly still when we hear a beat we like. Similarly, a softer, slower rhythm can be calming and relaxing. These involuntary motor responses to

  • Fitness instructor loses nearly half of herself

    Keyra Donaldson was sitting on the bathroom floor while her children were taking a bath. Her back was in pain, and her patience was growing thin because they were taking too much time in the tub. This was the moment, she said, when she admitted to herself that she was severely overweight.The year

  • Filipino Airman sets his sights high

    He left a career, his home country and some members of his family to become part of the bite behind America's bark.Airman 1st Class Michael Dizon is an Airman-in-training at the 381st Training Squadron here, studying to become a dental technician. But he was much more than that before enlisting in

  • Air Force reaches privatization milestone

    The Air Force recently surpassed the 10,000-home milestone in its military family housing privatization program. In February, Air Force officials closed a deal privatizing more than 1,300 homes at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii. This means the Air Force now has more than 10,900 privatized homes.

  • Kandahar pararescuemen poised to save lives

    Rescue specialists in southern Afghanistan say their primary reason for living is to prevent others from dying.Based out of Kandahar Air Field, the 59th Expeditionary Rescue Squadron is ultimately tasked with rescuing downed aircrew and others in isolated areas.“Luckily, that doesn’t happen too

  • Exercises test mobilization process

    Air Force officials will kick off a "push-pull" mobilization test March 10."Push-pull" is the process used to quickly access and return reservists, categorized as Pretrained Individual Manpower Airmen, back into the active-duty force to meet wartime and contingency needs. They are Individual Ready

  • Elmendorf doctor to lead pack in Iditarod

    Imagine working all day as chief of surgery at the base hospital, and then caring for and running 20 sled dogs before returning home at 3 a.m. to your wife and 5-month-old baby and catching whatever sleep you can.It is all in a day's work for Maj. (Dr.) Thomas Knolmayer, of the 3rd Medical Group

  • Integrated training smoothes future joint operations

    As the face of battle has changed with more and more multiservice operations, interservice training for all ranks is becoming an increasing necessity to win the fight on global battlegrounds, officials said.Command and staff war colleges have been holding integrated training for decades, ensuring

  • Airmen track terrorists off base

    To keep Balad Air Base, Iraq safe and secure, the Airmen of Task Force 1041 venture off base daily to take the fight to the enemy.“This is a war against insurgents, and the battlefield is asymmetric,” said Lt. Col. Chris Bargery, task force commander. “The vast majority of attacks against air bases

  • Guardian Challenge 2005 canceled

    Guardian Challenge, the Air Force’s annual space and missile competition, has been canceled for 2005 to allow Airmen to focus on real-world deployments and ease budget constraints, Air Force Space Command officials said.“It takes a lot of manpower and resources to support an event like Guardian

  • AMC stands up first contingency response wing

    Air Mobility Command stood up the Air Force’s first contingency response wing here March 1.The wing, which replaced the 621st Air Mobility Operations Group, expands the group's current mission and embeds all necessary capabilities, such as security forces, finance, intelligence and civil

  • First B-2s deploy to Andersen

    B-2 Spirit bombers have deployed here for the first time to support Pacific Command’s security efforts in the Western Pacific. More than 270 Airmen of the 393rd Expeditionary Bomb Squadron deployed from the 509th Bomb Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., currently the only B-2 unit in the Air

  • Officials working to retain seasoned special operators

    A new incentive package is expected to help the military better compete against other federal agencies and the private sector for skills possessed by special operations forces, said the Defense Department’s top official on special operations and low-intensity conflict.Assistant Secretary of Defense

  • President nominates General Looney to head AETC

    President Bush has nominated Lt. Gen. William R. Looney III to be the next commander of Air Education and Training Command, Air Force officials announced Feb. 28.General Looney, who also is nominated for his fourth star, is the commander of the Aeronautical Systems Center here. Both nominations