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  • Keeping our military safe on social media

    Social media. It incorporates several platforms that allow military members to stay in touch with friends and loved ones around the world, however, sometimes what is shared comes with a hefty price tag; loss of operational security.

  • Keeping Predators flying helps keep Balad safe

    Airmen who maintain the MQ-1 Predator here take great pride in ensuring the unmanned aerial vehicles they look after can keep and eagle eye on what goes on in Iraq. The 61 Airmen of the 46th Aircraft Maintenance Unit -- and three Royal Air Force Airmen -- keep the Predators flying for the pilots who

  • Keeping Sather safe requires joint team effort

    Airmen, Soldiers and Ugandan contractors who make up the 447th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron here combine forces to patrol, protect and defend Sather Air Base every day.In addition to securing the base, 447th ESFS members patrol the area around Baghdad International Airport."While working

  • Keeping social networks free-speech friendly

    So, you think Facebook, MySpace and Twitter are just for fun and games? Think again. Since Department of Defense officials authorized military personnel to use these sites, social networking has become serious business. With every new freedom comes new boundaries and more opportunities to get into

  • Keeping tabs on the airfield

    When many aircraft need space on a limited airfield, a small section steps in to ensure there is room for all. Like a game of musical chairs, Airmen in the 379th Expeditionary Operations Squadron airfield management section here constantly shift assets around to maximize use of the airfield,

  • Keeping the B-1 airborne

    The Air Force employs thousands of aircraft maintainers to perform the upkeep on all of its different airframes. It's up to maintainers like Senior Airman Jason Stach, a B-1B aircraft technician from the 28th Aircraft Maintenance Unit, to keep the Lancer mission ready.

  • Keeping the buff young: Nondestructive inspection

    Like a radiologist who can see fractures without using a scalpel, there are Airmen who can find deficiencies in the B-52 Stratofortress’s bones to proactively ensure the aircraft’s structural integrity.

  • Keeping the C-17 in the fight

    The 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron maintenance team at Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar, helps keep the base’s C-17 Globemaster III fleet mission ready by performing regular maintenance on each aircraft. The unit provides the only tier two C-17 maintenance capability in the U.S. Central Command

  • Keeping the C-5 fleet in check

    The 436th Maintenance Squadron Isochronal Maintenance Dock helps keep the largest aircraft in the Air Force inventory, the C-5 Galaxy, in the air to deliver cargo, combat equipment and humanitarian relief supplies to anywhere in the world whenever called upon.

  • Keeping the eyes of the eagle sharp

    On the night of Oct. 4, 1958, 111 passengers boarded a Pan Am Boeing 707 at New York's Idlewild Airport for a non-stop 8 hours and 41 minutes flight to Paris' Le Bourget Airport. The journey ushered in the jet age for the United States and made the world a seemingly smaller place.

  • Keeping the 'Hercs' humming

    Airman 1st Class Lyle Sentman from the 374th Maintenance Squadron engine regional repair center, runs up a pair of C-130 Hercules engines during an operational check here. Sentman is looking for air, fuel and oil leaks during the inspection. The repair center handles all C-130 cargo aircraft

  • Keeping the mission going at home, away

    It has been nearly six months since the runway here closed for construction and more than 300 base Airmen “deployed” to Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., to continue the wing’s mission.Since then, a great relationship between the two bases, said Lt. Col. Paul Schultz, the 905th Air Refueling Squadron

  • Keeping Tuzla’s airfield operational

    There was a time in the late 1990s when Tuzla Air Base was crawling with hundreds of Airmen. As times changed, the duty of airfield maintenance has increasingly moved into the hands of contractors, but the Air Force still has a presence at the base. While the majority of the U.S. military presence

  • Keeping Yokota moms fit

    The team at the health and wellness center here has recently added a prenatal aerobics class to help expectant mothers stay in shape.Staff Sgt.Treshawna Gwendo, a diet therapist with the 374th Aerospace Medicine Squadron, is the instructor for the class. She said the class is for anyone a soon-to-be

  • Keesler AFB ensures cyber training continues online

    With the threat of COVID-19 impacting the health and well-being of the technical school students in training on Keesler Air Force Base, leadership has had to develop creative solutions to a unique problem.

  • Keesler AFB medical team supports hurricane relief effort

    An Air Force Critical Care Air Transport Team, and a supporting logistics team, from Keesler Air Force Base arrived at George Bush Intercontinental Airport in Houston, Aug. 30, 2017, to support the Hurricane Harvey relief efforts.

  • 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

  • Keesler AFB wins AETC-level Installation Excellence Award

    One Air Education and Training Command installation won the highest command-level honor they can possibly receive -- two years in a row.AETC Commander Gen. Edward A. Rice Jr. announced the 81st Training Wing at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., as the AETC winner of the Commander-In-Chief's Annual

  • Keesler AFB, Vandenberg AFB Airmen build missile maintenance trainer

    Airmen from the 81st Training Support Squadron Simware section here are partnering with Airmen from the 532nd Training Squadron at Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., to build an ICBM maintenance virtual trainer.The importance of this training system can't be overstated as acquisition of the IMVT is

  • Keesler Air Force Base responds to shooting incident

    One person is dead and one injured after an incident near Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. Today at approximately 8:15 a.m. there were reports of shots fired in the Keesler Family Campground area near Thrower Park that arose out of a domestic disturbance.The scene was secured by first responders

  • Keesler Air Force Base: One year after Katrina

    Bent but not broken by the worst natural disaster in the nation's history, Keesler's recovery continues to exceed expectations. "The damage to the base by Hurricane Katrina was a staggering $950 million. With that in mind, no one imagined in the days immediately after Aug. 29, 2005, we'd be where we

  • Keesler Airmen answer call for help

    After the devastation from Hurricane Katrina left the base and the surrounding area in dire straits, the community desperately needed help to recover. Airmen here have answered that call. “We were in crisis mode right after the hurricane trying to make sure people had the bare minimum to survive,”

  • Keesler Airmen back in school at Sheppard

    Sheppard has a new electronic principles course to train Airmen from Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., displaced by Hurricane Katrina. It took Sheppard two weeks to have the course ready for instruction, said Master Sgt. Rosa Marlin, 365th Training Squadron avionics test equipment flight chief. It

  • Keesler Airmen send aid to Afghanistan

    Thanks to Airmen here, cargo earmarked for needy families is on its way to Afghanistan aboard an Air Force Reserve C-130 Hercules.The 403rd Wing here flew five pallets to Dover Air Force Base, Del., on July 21. Three more pallets are scheduled to leave July 29."I don't think we've done this type of

  • Keesler Airmen, Sailors, Marines rally to aid local community

    Military and civilian volunteers here are reaching out to help the local community after surviving and beginning recovery operations after Hurricane Katrina struck Aug. 29. More than 12 Airmen from the 81st Training Wing here provided medical aid, food, water and ice Sept. 3 to about 450 Biloxi

  • Keesler chaplains receive welcome additions

    For nine Air Force chaplains, providing ministry to Airmen recovering from Hurricane Katrina at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., is challenging.The chaplains and chaplain assistants there are working overtime, yet with the prospect of post-traumatic stress-related issues affecting troops and families,

  • Keesler chief to compete in Warrior Games

    A chief master sergeant here is one of only 20 Airmen and Air Force veterans to participate in the inaugural Warrior Games, May 10 through 14, in Colorado Springs, Colo.Chief Master Sgt. Damian Orslene, the 81st Training Support Squadron superintendent, will represent the Air Force and compete with

  • Keesler civilian makes music at home

    For most people, making music means strumming a guitar, playing a keyboard, drumming a beat or singing a song.When Fred McMichael makes music, he often makes the instrument himself. After creating more than 50 violins and 20 guitars in the past 30 years, he tackled his biggest challenge yet: a

  • Keesler cleanup going well

    Staff Sgt. Art Hughes brushed wood chips and sawdust from his black T-shirt, which smelled of sweat and fresh pine. After cutting down trees all morning, it was break time, so he grabbed a bottle of water and gulped it down.Across the street, the rest of “Youngblood’s Crew” kept working. The crew,

  • Keesler commander: Don’t count us out

    Two weeks after Hurricane Katrina caused $500 million in damages at this training base, it has become a vital staging area for Gulf Coast disaster relief efforts.The base has a new transitional mission supporting relief efforts, said Brig. Gen. William T. Lord, 81st Training Wing commander. And the

  • 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

  • Keesler couple earns 2007 O'Malley award

    The former Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., commander and his wife, who led the base's recovery efforts the two years following Hurricane Katrina, recently won the 2007 Gen. and Mrs. Jerome F. O'Malley Award. Brig. Gen. Paul Capasso and his wife, Laura, received the award that recognizes the wing

  • Keesler Fire Department trains to maintain readiness

    The fire department worked in conjunction with the Gulfport Combat Readiness Training Center Fire Department, Stennis Airport Fire Department and the U.S. Naval Air Station Pensacola Gulf Coast Fire Rescue to further increase personnel readiness, lethality and joint operation efficiency.

  • Keesler gets $90 million to repair infrastructure

    The Air Force has distributed nearly $90 million to speed repair of the storm-ravaged infrastructure at Keesler Air Force Base.Air Force officials estimate Hurricane Katrina caused nearly $1 billion in damage when it swept across the Gulf Coast facility Aug. 29.“Keesler’s recovery team has done a

  • Keesler helping restore Gulf Coast medical infrastructure

    The Air Force joined a unified medical command of local, state and federal agencies aiming to restore primary care services to Mississippi’s ravaged Gulf Coast.The area needs a unified response since Hurricane Katrina crippled its medical infrastructure and scattered many of its health-care

  • Keesler hospital recovery picks up

    Part of the huge medical center at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. -- closed by Hurricane Katrina damage -- could open sooner than base officials estimated less than a week ago.The section, on the hospital’s first floor, could open in as little as two months, said Brig. Gen. (Dr.) James J. Dougherty,

  • Keesler hospital takes big step forward

    Officials here celebrated a milestone Aug. 29 with a ribbon-cutting ceremony at the base's medical center, marking the transformation of the facility from an outpatient clinic to a fully functional hospital. Hurricane Katrina struck only two months after Brig. Gen. (Dr.) James J. Dougherty took the

  • Keesler infrastructure continues to improve after Katrina

    In the aftermath of Hurricane Katrina, people here don’t take things like electricity, drinking water, housing, offices and plumbing for granted. Thanks to a team effort, each day brings improvements in base infrastructure, facilities and utilities, as the base braces for the next hurricane season.

  • Keesler issues stop travel order

    All servicemembers who have been recalled to duty here and are still en route to the base are ordered to stop travel and remain in place until Sept. 25.The 81st Training Wing vice commander issued the order because of potential hazards associated with Hurricane Rita.Servicemembers are authorized to

  • Keesler keeps an eye on Ernesto

    As Tropical Storm Ernesto gets stronger and churns toward the Gulf of Mexico, Airmen at one Gulf Coast base are beginning to take notice. In a forecast report released today by the National Hurricane Center, weather forecasters expect Ernesto to become a powerful hurricane -- the first of the season

  • Keesler lab wins 3 Air Force-level awards

    The 81st Medical Group's Medical Simulation Laboratory earned three Air Force-level achievement awards at the 2012 Air Force Medical Modeling and Simulation workshop held in San Antonio in August.The Keesler medical simulation staff earned the following Air Force first-place honors for the 2011

  • Keesler medical aid reaches community neighbors

    As a team of medics here walked to the doors of a local high school converted into a shelter, a man approached with wide eyes and a huge smile.Stopping a few steps from the Airmen, he raised a hand to his brow and said, “I salute you. I’m proud of you all and thank you for your support.”Jack

  • Keesler Medical Center rebounds from Katrina

    Keesler Medical Center, the second largest Air Force medical center, has made great strides in rebounding from the damage inflicted by Hurricane Katrina one year ago. The facility is rapidly returning to its pre-Katrina status, both from the standpoint of the physical plant and services. Full

  • Keesler medical teams aid Haiti relief efforts

    Airmen on 81st Medical Group critical care air transport teams here completed eight medical missions to provide care to victims of the Haiti earthquake who were airlifted from Haiti to hospitals in Florida, as of Feb. 7. Emergency medicine physician Maj. (Dr.) Stephen Boskovich of the 81st Medical

  • Keesler medical teams provide Haitian victim care

    Two 81st Medical Group medical teams from here are providing vital care to Haiti earthquake victims who are airlifted to hospitals in Florida.Two, three-person critical care air transport teams from the 81st Medical Operations Squadron at Keesler Air Force Base, are bringing aid to the earthquake

  • Keesler medics ready to support Hurricane Irma relief efforts

    Medical Airmen from Keesler Air Force Base are standing by to support Hurricane Irma relief efforts if called upon.Fresh off of a deployment to Houston, to support Hurricane Harvey relief efforts, a critical care air transport team is standing by to provide the same capability to those affected by

  • Keesler newcomers face family housing hurdles

    As this base struggles with housing shortages from Hurricane Katrina's wake, Airmen being assigned here accompanied by family members need to have a plan before they leave their current assignment. Due to Katrina, permission for servicemembers to bring their family members to Keesler has become much

  • Keesler nurse thwarts robbery of elderly lady

    Don't mess with an Air Force nurse.That may be what a purse-snatcher thought after 2nd Lt. Stacy Thomas and a friend thwarted an attempted theft May 24 in the William Carey University campus parking lot near here.Thomas, an 81st Inpatient Operations Squadron surgical inpatient unit clinical nurse,

  • Keesler officials assessing Gustav damages

    Officials here are preparing preliminary damage assessments from the effects of Hurricane Gustav. Peak sustained winds received from Gustav topped out at 42 miles per hour, with gusts reaching 61 miles per hour.  Keesler leaders remain cautious about the residual threat of tornadoes as the storm

  • Keesler officials host Women's Soccer Championship

    Keesler Air Force Base officials are hosting the 5th Counseil Du International Sports Militaire Women's Soccer Championship tournament June 6 through 13 here. CISM sports tournaments are conducted worldwide, with the soccer championship being the only event taking place in the U.S. this year as the

  • Keesler officials launch new force support officer course

    The first group of force support officers in a new Air Force Specialty Code began classes Oct. 6 at Keesler Air Force Base. The new 38F AFSC, which becomes official Oct. 31, is a combination of what used to be three separate career fields: personnel, manpower and services. Training previously was

  • Keesler officials open gates to military bloggers

    Airmen in the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron here hosted the Air Force's first ever orientation flight for military bloggers May 19. The flight, which took place aboard one of the Reserve unit's WC-130J Hercules, was designed to give the bloggers a taste of what it's like to fly on a military

  • Keesler personnel chief named Air Force's best

    The personnel chief at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., has been named the top Air Force manpower and personnel flight chief of the year.Becky Green, 81st Force Support Squadron, leads a 68-member flight that includes military and civilian members, is responsible for planning, development and

  • Keesler personnel to participate in LIFESAVER 2009

    Keesler AFB Airmen join local, state and federal agencies in "LIFESAVER 2009," a major federal coordinating center and national disaster medical system exercise being conducted May 5-7. With an estimated 2,000 participants, this is the largest "LIFESAVER" event since May 2005. "LIFESAVER 2009" will

  • Keesler picked as one of five top installations in DOD

    Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel today announced Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., as one of five of the 2013 recipients of the Commander in Chief's Annual Award for Installation Excellence.The award recognizes the outstanding and innovative efforts of the people who operate and maintain U.S. military

  • Keesler recovery efforts already showing results

    People here are well into recovery operations just a week after the base and much of the Gulf Coast sustained massive damage from Hurricane Katrina."We're in the recovery and reconstitution stages where we're assessing the damage and repairing the facilities we're going to need in order to be able

  • Keesler takes preventative measures as Isaac approaches

    Darlene Gnuschke, Air Force retired and Biloxi resident, receives help from Maria Ainaga, head bagger at the base commissary with loading cases of water and other hurricane supplies into her trunk Aug. 27, 2012, at Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. Keesler personnel are taking preventative measures to

  • Keesler turnaround: training starts Sept. 19

    Training in five key career fields restarts for 400 Airmen here Sept. 19, six months sooner than base officials forecasted more than a week ago.Then, more students will start training the following week, said Col. Jessie Canaday, 81st Training Group commander. And more students will gradually enter

  • Keesler, Columbus survive Hurricane Katrina

    Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., survived a direct hit by Hurricane Katrina, but initial estimates show it suffered extensive damage to industrial and housing areas.At Columbus AFB, Miss., about 290 miles north of Keesler, base officials said the pilot training base suffered only moderate damage to

  • Keesler, industry set new standard for telephone service

    With the cutting of a telephone cable Nov. 15, officials here culminated a six-month project to upgrade communications technology and "dialed in" to a new level of disaster preparedness. The date marked the official implementation of the new Voice Over Internet Protocol, or VOIP, solution for

  • Keesler's first energy, environmental-friendly home certified

    Keesler Air Force Base officials received their first certified Leadership in Energy and Environmental Design home Aug. 28 here. This new green two-unit home at 244 and 246 Fairchild Dr., Biloxi, Miss., the first of more than 700 to be built at Keesler AFB, incorporates smart design, technology,

  • Keesler's Flying Jennies receive final C-130J-30

    A crew from Air Force Reserve Command's 815th Airlift Squadron recently delivered the unit's final C-130J-30 aircraft here after accepting it from the manufacturer at Dobbins Air Reserve Base, Ga. Maj. Gen. Hanferd "Rusty" J. Moen Jr. piloted the aircraft from Georgia to Mississippi Jan. 9. General

  • Kehler lauds capability, credibility of nuclear enterprise

    Sweeping improvements across the U.S. nuclear enterprise since a 2007 incident have increased the focus on the nuclear mission and raised the bar in terms of standards and performance, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command told reporters July 24."In general, I feel much more comfortable today with

  • Kehler succeeds Chilton as commander of Strategic Command

    Air Force Gen. Kevin P. Chilton passed the flag of U.S. Strategic Command to Air Force Gen. C. Robert Kehler Jan. 28, giving the nation's nuclear deterrent mission a new commander.General Chilton, a pilot who served 10 years with NASA and flew three space shuttle missions, retired after 34 years of

  • Kehler: Spherical battlespace is new theater of operations

    The world is no longer flat and information is no longer static. Neither can military operations confine focus to one area of a conflict while remaining oblivious to interconnections with the larger picture. It is time the view of the battlefield is turned upside-down. This is the message of the

  • Kehler: 'The future of Space is now'

    "Air Force Space Command performs a national, and in some cases, an international space mission," said Gen. C. Robert Kehler, the new commander of AFSPC. "The space capabilities we provide today are embedded in all of our combat operations," he said. "They're also embedded in our military

  • Kendall cites progress on F-35 performance, schedule, cost

    The F-35 Lightning II program (also known as the Joint Strike Fighter program) is making progress on performance, schedule and cost, Frank Kendall, the undersecretary of defense for acquisition, technology and logistics, told U.S. reporters last week during a teleconference from Norway.