Now showing: Feb. 17 edition of AFTV News

  • Published
SAN ANTONIO (AFPN) --  The latest edition of Air Force Television News is devoted exclusively to the Air Force mission in Iraq. Tech. Sgt. Pachari Lutke and Staff Sgt. Leigh Bellinger spent about two weeks in the country working with various Air Force elements to tell “The Air Force Story in Iraq.”

In this program, Sergeant Lutke spotlights the expanded role of the Air Force Office of Special Investigations. Long thought of as an agency primarily devoted to handling crimes like murder, computer fraud and theft, OSI’s role in Iraq involves, among other things, getting weapons out of the hands of insurgents. Sergeant Lutke goes along as OSI agents, working with an informant, make a significant weapons buy.

Sergeant Bellinger addresses a subject that is a growing concern in Iraq: suicide. He talks to an Air Force mental-health consultant whose job is to try to spot potential suicide candidates and thwart any attempts before they happen. Sergeant Bellinger learned the aggressive, proactive suicide prevention program in place in the United States by the Air Force is also working in Iraq.

In other stories, Sergeant Lutke profiles an explosives ordnance unit that destroys the piles of weapons collected by coalition forces.

Both Sergeants Lutke and Bellinger show how the Air Force medical community is treating wounded troops in Iraq, first at a staging facility at Baghdad International Airport. The more seriously wounded are transported to hospitals in Germany and the United States.

Sergeant Lutke follows a security forces unit from Moody Air Force Base, Ga., to illustrate how its mission has changed with the different approach to fighting a war.

Sergeant Bellinger spends a day with airmen who supervise local nationals working on reconstruction projects.

Sergeant Lutke also explores the mission of combat search and rescue, a mission given to the Air Force following the infamous “Blackhawk Down” incident in Somalia several years ago.

Finally, Sergeant Bellinger visits an Australian air force unit that operates the control tower at Baghdad International Airport.

Air Force Television News is a biweekly production of Air Force News Service. It is distributed on videotape to more than 3,000 military and civilian outlets nationwide. It, along with Air Force Radio News and Air Force News Service Report, is available on the Internet at www.af.mil. AFTV News can also be seen regularly on The Pentagon Channel. The program is closed captioned. Viewers can comment on the program by sending an e-mail to aftvnews@afnews.af.mil.