Sergeant and dog on patrol during Air Force birthday

  • Published
  • By Louis A. Arana-Barradas
  • Air Force Print News
SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) --  Staff Sgt. Keith Lippy and his dog, Beni, will be too busy on patrol to have time for cake, ice cream and punch on the Air Force's 59th birthday.

The sergeant and his dog will be like Airmen around the world, they will report to work to fight or support the ongoing war on terrorism.

This war -- like all the ones before -- is taking Airmen to dangerous, far-flung locations to do their jobs. Some of those jobs they had never done before. Others at stateside bases provide the people and support needed carry on that war.

Sergeant Lippy is a military dog handler with the 506th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron at Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq. He deployed there from the 437th Security Forces Squadron at Charleston Air Force Base, S.C. He and Beni help keep the base secure.

"Our duty is to protect the men and women at Kirkuk," the 12-year veteran said.

The Air Force may be a year older, but it is doing more today, with a smaller force, than it did even five years ago. Since becoming a separate service in 1947, the Air Force has increased its capabilities and its global reach now stretches into space.

Today, the Air Force and its sister services are busy achieving what Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne called spherical situational awareness. This allows the U.S. military to take "a comprehensive, spherical view -- at once vertical, horizontal, real time and predictive, penetrating and defended in the cyber realm."

But in a message to the force, Secretary Wynne and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. T. Michael Moseley said the Air Force is the globe's dominant force in air, space and cyberspace because of its Airmen.

"Our knowledge-enabled Airmen have revolutionized the way our nation defends itself and its allies across the full spectrum of threats," they said.

Yet the threats of terror attacks on the nation are still a reality. That makes the Air Force's role even more important. That reality is not lost on the sergeant from Bremerton, Wash.

"I feel it's important because of the air power and air superiority it provides," Sergeant Lippy said. "Also, by handling base defense, we are freeing up the manpower of the Army units to conduct their mission and maintain their mission effectiveness."

As Airmen continue to do their duty today, there are even more changes taking place. And each day new technology and smart processes make doing Air Force business smarter and more efficient. It is hard to predict where the service will be in five years.

But that is clear to the sergeant.

"I believe we'll be at the same point we are now, conduction operations in the war on terrorism. That war is a never-ending cycle," Sergeant Lippy said.