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  • Expeditionary Center adding 'SPICE' to its curriculum

    The Mobility Operations School continues to feast on new challenges to train warfighting Airmen. The latest course in its buffet of training is some added SPICE. In February 2009, the SPICE, or Small Package Initial Communications Element, Course will begin a 25-day training regimen for select

  • Volunteers form critical link in hospital's 'care chain'

    Two UH-60 Black Hawk helicopters descend on the Patient Administration and Disposition landing zone Joint Base Balad, Iraq, their blades kicking up dust as they blow air outward at speeds of 50 mph or more. Noise from the Black Hawks' rotors drowns out any attempts at conversation, so the helicopter

  • Airmen play goodwill role at Camp Bucca

    In seven years and four deployments around the world, Staff Sgt. Omar Thompson has never promoted peace. Even when he was deployed three years ago working in the Theater Internment Facility where detainees in the war on terrorism are held at Camp Bucca, he never had the chance to play the part of

  • DOD civilian drops 120 pounds with Air Force's help

    Tipping the scale at 365 pounds, a 5-foot-10-inch male began working for the Air Force in 2003 as a civilian, but today he is 120 pounds lighter with the help of base policies and Airmen.Dominick Ward, a forklift operator assigned to the 437th Logistics Readiness Squadron at Charleston Air Force

  • CAP provides rescue resources during emergencies

    When disasters strike, there is a select group of volunteer pilots, search and rescue teams and trained observers helping those in need. Missing persons, floods, tornadoes, hurricanes and downed aircraft are some of the situations which members of the Civil Air Patrol respond to at a moment's

  • Passion for teaching drives military training instructor

    When an Airman graduated from Air Force Basic Military Training six years ago, he always knew he'd be back one day "pushing" his own flight. Little did Staff Sgt. Matthew Coltrin know that not only would he push Air Force basic trainees as a military training instructor, but also he would go to Iraq

  • 24-hour Tinkering: Maintenance around the clock

    For many Tinker Air Force Base members, retreat signals the end of the workday. For the 76th Maintenance Wing swing and graveyard shifters, it's just the start of their operations. Swing and graveyard shifters often continue projects started by their daytime counterparts, work tirelessly throughout

  • Going above, beyond: Everyday business in the munitions flight

    Two fully-loaded munitions trailers move out from the protection of a sunshade and into the blistering heat. They find temporary relief in the conventional maintenance bay, a workspace for 42 "ammo" troops, and will be prepped for loading onto an B-1B Lancer. Many jobs support the mission here at

  • Airmen manage cargo at logistical hub in Afghanistan

    In the tense days following a suicide bombing at the gate of Forward Operating Base Salerno, Afghanistan, a small group of Airmen gear up and head to work checking supply trucks, despite the fact just yards away is where the attack took place. Such risks do not faze them, however,  they do have a

  • Radio telephone operators: Answering the Soldiers' call

    As the four-vehicle convoy returns to base after a long mission, the gunner in the first humvee spots a suspected vehicle-borne improvised explosive device. The word is passed over the radio and the convoy halts. This is a tense moment; the convoy members know their lives and the lives of civilians

  • Balad PJs, CSAR train so 'that others may live'

    Air Force Combat Search and Rescue assets spend countless hours training for a mission they hope to never execute. Since staying proficient and current on operational training is vital for Balad pararescuemen, a team of them recently teamed with HH-60G Pave Hawk crews from the 66th Expeditionary

  • Airman provides air support for Army battlespace

    A familiar sound interrupted the daily hustle and bustle at the U.S. joint-service base here on a hot, dusty June day. Although the sun was out in full force, it couldn't be picked out of the sky as a haze of finely ground powder loomed over the base like a suffocating blanket. The unmistakable

  • Expeditionary Center armory fires up training for Airmen

    Aided by having the largest store of foreign weapons in the service, the Air Force Expeditionary Center's armory and its staff help Airmen get more "bang for their buck" with pre-deployment training. "In any 30-day span, we've had from 50 to more than 800 guns out at any given time," said Tech. Sgt.

  • JTAC Airman brings target strike experience to hurricane response

    Senior Airman Gabe Bird is no stranger to desolate locales, whether serving down range or in storm-torn areas of Louisiana. The difference between the two is that one of them is his home state. When Hurricane Katrina struck the Gulf Coast in 2005, Airman Bird, a Louisiana Air National Guard joint

  • Deployment provides Airmen chance to make lasting relationships

    More than a dozen Airmen from the 376th Expeditionary Force Support Squadron - most deployed from Anderson or Hickam Air Force bases and the Guam Air National Guard - hosted a Pacific Island Cultural Day of Sharing to share their culture, further build friendships and say goodbye to the local Kyrgyz

  • Airman exemplifies Wingman concept, saves life during mission

    No one knew Airman 1st Class William Dale was dying. The last thing he remembered was leaning forward to ask his friend if he felt weird, too, but the question never came out. Instead, Airman Dale, a Fly Away Security Team member from the 386th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron, involuntarily

  • Airman helps run Afghan medical clinic

    Five days a week, Afghan men, women and children make their way toward Forward Operating Base Salerno in Khost Province, Afghanistan, to receive medical care. The local national medical clinic at FOB Salerno is just one of such clinics run by Task Force Med Airmen and Soldiers throughout

  • Exercise gives Guardsman a new perspective

    The California Air National Guard's 163rd Medical Group brought much-needed relief to thousands of Guatemalan citizens during its recent medical readiness training exercise mission, but for one Airman the humanitarian effort meant more than just helping people, it was a walk down memory lane.Born in

  • Special Forces soldier not your average USAF marathoner

    (Editor's note: Sergeant Ivan Castro became a U.S. Army Ranger in 1992. Upon his commission, in February 2004, 2nd Lt. Castro became an infantry officer, waiting until his promotion to captain.He then could be reassigned to a unit within U.S. Army Special Operations Command's elite Special Forces,

  • Moment in time changes course of history

    Every now and then, there is a very specific event that burns deeply into people's memories, and they always remember exactly where they were and what they were doing at that moment. Every so often, something happens that reaches across international borders and is so profound that it changes the

  • Deployed N.Y.P.D. officer dedicates uniform for 9/11 display

    A New York City police officer currently deployed at a Southwest Asia air base added a touch of blue to the wing's Patriot Day ceremony here Sept. 11 by donating her police uniform. Master Sgt. Rose Condello, a New Jersey Air National Guard member, is the marketing director for the 380th

  • Military couple spends first anniversary in unlikely place

    Marriages with military members are never easy. Marriages where both partners are military prove to be even more difficult at times. When each spouse is in a different branch of the military, challenges arise that can be almost impossible to overcome. Capt. Vanessa Mahan, an F-15E Strike Eagle

  • Tragedy propels brothers to train for AF Marathon

    Charlie Witt and his brother had plans. When Charlie retired from the Air Force in September 2007 as a master sergeant after a 20-year career, he and his brother agreed to run the 2008 U.S. Air Force Marathon together. An avid marathon runner who completed the U.S. Air Force Marathon in three hours

  • Strike Eagles fly dawn patrol

    It's two o'clock in the morning.  A bus pulls into a parking space at Camp Cunningham in the heart of Bagram Air Field. Aircrew members, still wiping the sleep from their eyes, climb on board and head out. While the rest of Bagram sleeps, these F-15E Strike Eagle pilots and weapons systems officers

  • 60 years after military desegregation, African-Americans continue excelling

    More than sixty years ago, the thought of white and black military servicemembers fighting together in the same unit was inconceivable to most Americans. However, on July 26, 1948, President Harry S. Truman signed Executive Order 9981, requiring the U.S. military be desegregated and provide

  • Kadena's labs sculpt bright smiles

    When Airmen and their families are in need of dental repair for chipped or broken teeth or even in need of replacements for missing teeth, who do they turn to? The easy answer would be "the dentist," but that is only half correct. Two labs within the 18th Dental Squadron here work behind the scenes,

  • Airman's wife journey: from 'broken' body to body builder

    Betty Vasquez is not your typical medical assistant.  She works for a dermatologist in Sun City West, Ariz., and has a unique perspective when dealing with the skin cancer cases she sees on a daily basis. In 2005, doctors found a tumor on the cerebellum of her brain close to the brain stem, so she

  • Recruiting right takes care of future Airmen, their families

    Few people like being made into an example, but Staff Sgt. James Bass does not mind. In fact, he kind of likes it because it represents what he loves about his service. That service and Sergeant Bass' way of doing business gained prominence recently when the new commander of Air Education and

  • Airman helps Iraqi family to safety in U.S.

    In 2006, Master Sgt. Greg Jensen spent five months in Basra, Iraq, working as the lone American contracting director in the volatile region. Alone in an unfamiliar country, Sergeant Jensen often put his life in the hands of Vincent Talia, his Iraqi interpreter. "He was there to help me negotiate

  • Command post keeps gears turning on global mobility

    Buried in a building here is a dark room with no windows that is packed with computer and projection screens. Watching these monitors are the disembodied, silhouetted heads of 436th Airlift Wing command post controllers, who work behind the scenes to keep Dover's global airlift mission operational.

  • Manas Airman marries bride 16,000 miles away

    The marvels of modern technology bridged the long-distance divide for an Airman here and his sweetheart halfway around the world, bringing their relationship to a new level as husband and wife. A morale center phone call and an Internet webcam allowed Staff Sgt. Albert Jensen to marry his long-time

  • Diver trades swim suit for flight suit

    Like two jet fighters in formation, Justin Dumais and his younger brother, Troy, perfectly executed their turns and spins in the 2004 Summer Olympics in Athens. As competitors in the men's synchronized three-meter springboard diving event, they were in second place going into the final round. A

  • Long-time employee recalls U.S. support for Okinawan recovery

    August 15 marks the 63rd anniversary of the cessation of hostilities between Japan and the United States at the end of World War II. Shuusen-kinenbi, known in English as "End of War Commemoration Day," is an important milestone in Japanese history and marked a new beginning in Japanese-American

  • Baghdad native returns to Iraq as American Airman

    Airman 1st Class Murad Mohiadeen's story crosses two continents and spans more than 7,500 miles. It begins with his birth in Iraq 20 years ago and continues today as the story of an American Airman who is part of the coalition's efforts to win the peace in Iraq. Airman Mohiadeen was born in Baghdad

  • Air Force family knows the meaning of service

    When he was younger, Chaplain (Capt.) John Shipman, senior protestant chaplain at the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing, learned the lessons of service and hard work with his five older brothers on a farm in Wisconsin. There, while milking cows, plowing and baling hay, they were taught the meaning of

  • Therapists help Iraqi patients gain independence

    An Iraqi man whose leg was shattered two months ago can walk again thanks in part to a team of physical and occupational therapists at Joint Base Balad's Air Force Theater Hospital. Moqdad lay on a raised bed in the middle of the occupational therapy and physical therapy clinic July 22. Nearby, a

  • Airmen light the way

    Without lights, operations at Joint Base Balad would be severely hampered. A well-lit airfield is a critically important element to flying missions because the lights show pilots where the perimeters of the runways are located. Since January more than 10,000 inter- and intra-theater sorties were

  • Some joint missions are for the dogs

    The dog days of summer are here, but the dogs -- and their handlers -- are taking it in stride. Together, military working dog handlers of every branch of service stand alongside their K-9 companions to make sure no insurgent can disrupt the mission. "I'm not about to (let) a vehicle get on this

  • Airman finds piece of family history at Lackland

    When Airman Howard Gibbs graduated from Basic Military Training here, he didn't expect to stumble upon a piece of his family's history thousands of miles from home. "I was taking pictures of the (static aircraft) displays for my cousin, and I just ran upon it," Airman Gibbs said. "I wasn't expecting

  • Base BEEs keep mission buzzing

    Under the blazing Southwest Asia sun, an Airman dips his arm deep into the pool to collect water samples as pool guests enjoy a hard-earned break from the non-stop mission of the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing. The contributions of base bioenvironmental engineers make opportunities like this possible