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  • Pet care center provides home away from home for furry family members

    Yokota Air Base has many services for its military members, but the pet care center here is available to take care of service members' four-legged companions.The center cares for dogs and cats, offering services such as sheltering, adoption, quarantine and grooming."We receive animals that need to

  • Civilian personal trainer helps service members reach their goals

    With today's fitness standards, more Airmen are making an effort to improve the quality of their training regimen. One way they can do that is by enlisting the help of personal trainers who are available through the base fitness centers.That's what Staff Sgt. David Johnson did. About three months

  • Engineering camp attracts, inspires students

    How do you get middle- and high-school students interested in engineering? Get them to build a water-balloon-launching catapult.The Air Force Academy and the Society of American Military Engineers held their 12th-annual engineering and construction camp here June 24 to 30, using exercises such as

  • Airman donates kidney to mother, saves life

    Twenty-six years ago, Airman 1st Class Chris Simmons' mother gave her son the gift of life. On May 17, he returned the favor.Felita Simmons, who'd been on dialysis due to kidney disease, finally found a donor match in her youngest son, Chris. After a two-year process, he literally saved his mother's

  • Assignment team harvests tomatoes for San Antonio needy

    Lao Tzu said if you teach a man to fish, you'll feed him for a lifetime, but San Antonio Food Bank officials say if you teach a team to harvest, you can feed hundreds of people for weeks.Air Force Personnel Center military assignments volunteers tested that theory recently when they joined other

  • 'Restoring memories' with the AMC Museum

    On the tarmac of the Dover Air Force Base, Del., at the Air Mobility Command Museum, aircraft of a past generation come to their final resting place. After careers spent soaring across the skies of Europe, Asia and the Pacific, they now spend their days under the observation of museum patrons, while

  • Warrior learns importance of seeking help for post-traumatic stress disorder

    When Staff Sgt. David Mullikin returned from Iraq in 2008, he was hypervigilant, irritable and aggressive. He suffered from nightmares, and was alarmed by any loud noises or noises similar to those he had heard in combat. All of these issues are related to an incident he will never forget.Sergeant

  • USAFE's only greenhouse saves Air Force money

    Why buy flowers if you can grow and harvest them yourself? Instead of purchasing the thousands of flowers displayed all around Spangdahlem Air Base and the Bitburg Annex, gardeners from the 52nd Civil Engineer Squadron built a greenhouse to grow the base's plants themselves.The gardeners save the

  • Security forces members saves lives through education

    Protect people, property and resources of the U.S. Air Force. The mission description of a security forces specialist may sound basic, but the job itself requires extensive training in law enforcement and combat tactics. Each week, members of the 50th Security Forces Squadron engage in training to

  • From CAS to Class ... of '15: JTAC joins Long Blue Line

    Nearly 13,000 Air Force Academy applicants vied for about 1,150 slots in the incoming class, competing in academics, leadership and physical readiness to make the final cut and join the Long Blue Line on June 23.For one member of the Class of 2015, you also can add one more obstacle: the Taliban.

  • More than a pilot: providing air support from the ground

    Like many aviators, Capt. Sarah Eccles, an F-16 Fighting Falcon pilot from San Antonio, caught the flying bug at a young age. On her 15th birthday, her father surprised her by taking her to a Wright Flyers Aviation flight school.As she sat in the cockpit with the instructor, operating the controls

  • A bird in the hand better than two in the turbine

    A red fox is born to a litter of three in a burrow just outside the fence here. Eventually this fox will grow up to forage dead animals and bring them back to the den to feed his family.A short time later, vultures arrive to the den to feast. They steal the food and take the food back to a nest,

  • U.S. advisers help Iraqis kick off weather forecaster program

    Throughout the history of warfare, weather has played a crucial role in determining the outcome of major battles and, in some cases, entire military campaigns. In the 13th Century, Mongolian invasion plans for Japan were thwarted when their armada was decimated by a massive typhoon in the Sea of

  • A father's love and a family's perseverence

    In 1994, then Senior Airman Roger Lammey met his future wife, Michaela, in Las Vegas, through a mutual friend.They later married and became a family, which includes stepson Shakia Horn, 22, Dyshali, 16, and Akiano, 11.Mrs. Lammey worked as a registered nurse. Tragically, when she was 38-years-old,

  • Escorting the 'Wall that Heals'

    Four members from the 50th Civil Engineer Squadron joined Patriot Guard Riders June 7 to escort the official Vietnam Traveling Wall.Robert Haux , the geobase technical services chief; Troy Porter, a plumbing work leader; Staff Sgt. Joseph Zupke, an electrician; and former 50th CES member

  • Air Force lieutenant looks before he LEAPs

    After completing his reserve officers' training and earning a Bachelor and Master of Science in aerospace engineering at Massachusetts Institute of Technology, 1st. Lt. Ryan Castonia could well have gone on to a great career as an engineer in the Air Force. That would have been a success story by

  • Deployed surgical team gets troops back to the fight

    The team moved quickly to fix the broken part - each person anticipating the moves of others and efficiently using tools to get the job done.It might have been a pit crew keeping a car running its best in a weekend NASCAR race, but the prize for members of the 379th Expeditionary Medical Group

  • Airman uses carpentry skills to preserve children's dignity

    Some of the heat has burned off as the summer moon rises overhead. An Airman labors over scrap wood in a makeshift workshop under a canopy of camouflage. Fitting pieces of wood together, the shape of a tiny coffin emerges.When the contract providing coffins for deceased Afghans expired, members at

  • Staging wounded warriors key to successful transition

    Patients come off the battlefield in all stages of recovery. Some are going home, some need specialized care, and others desperately cling to life as medical teams scramble to stabilize them for a flight in order to be handed off to another team of medical experts. The goal is the same in every

  • Circuit-riding chaplains rack up frequent flyer miles

    Two Air Force chaplains are constantly on the move to meet the spiritual needs of service members in Iraq and Afghanistan. "We call Chaplain (Lt. Col. Ceasar) Silva, (379th Air Expeditionary Wing deputy wing chaplain,) our 'circuit-riding' priest" said Chaplain (Col.) Frank A. Yerkes, the 379th AEW

  • Military training leaders shape future through special-duty assignments

    In order to fill its mission requirements, the Air Force employs service members in specialized positions to perform a specific duty. These special duties allow Airmen to step outside their conventional roles and experience a completely new side of the Air Force. One such position is the military

  • War memorial: The writing is on the wall

    The writing on the walls was clear for all to see.Messages were left by service members who had lost friends, as a way to commemorate their memories. Those who were wounded left their marks to thank medical staff members. Comments from well-wishers also were dotted throughout the room.  With U.S.

  • Academy gains a piece of WWII crypto history

    On a table in Dr. Barry Fagin's office sits a plain gray box that weighs about 30 pounds and smells of machinery and dusty paper. Its nondescript appearance, however, belies its significance: in the right hands, a box like this may have saved millions of lives during World War II.The box holds a

  • Family becomes first to graduate four sisters from Academy

    Many graduates speak of the lifelong bonds they make with classmates during their four years at the Air Force Academy. For the Robillard family, the shared challenges, failures and triumphs of the Academy experience made a close-knit group of four sisters that much closer.Twins Alicia and Amanda

  • Shooting survivor, not a victim

    "Control your breathing, lie still, play dead."During the most devastating moment of her life Staff Sgt. Deondra Parks couldn't believe her brain behaved so rationally. "So this is what a massacre is like?" she asked herself as a madman with a shotgun wreaked havoc around her.Sergeant Parks, a 72nd

  • Sisterhood of support and the traveling BDUs

    Cadet 4th Class Moranda Hern has so many sisters that she only gets to talk to all of them sporadically.That's what happens, though, when your sisterhood is actually an organization. Cadet Hern is the co-founder of the Sisterhood of the Traveling BDUs, a nonprofit that provides support to girls aged

  • Air Force warriors back on the battlefield

    It started as a low whisper. As the volume increased, so did the intensity. The mob of warriors and steel steeds began to pulse with energy as they decreed their battle cry. Can't stop, won't stop. Gotta, gotta, gotta win. Can't stop, won't stop. Gotta, gotta, gotta win. CAN'T STOP! WON'T STOP!

  • Lieutenant gets 'Facetime' with newborn son

    First Lt. Arthur Litchfield just stared at the screen as glowing pixels formed the shape of his wife in a hospital bed. Her shouts of pain and effort reverberated through his laptop's tiny speakers. Through the feed he could see the hospital team helping his wife. He checked outside his room when he

  • Archers practice patience, marksmanship in training for Warrior Games

    As the bow string is pulled back to the archer's cheek, time stands still. Not a muscle is moved. Then, suddenly, the arrow flies to the center of the 16-inch target 59 feet away.For the Air Force Warrior Games archers, a Sunday afternoon practice at the Olympic Training Center here demonstrated the

  • Injured cadet finds support close to home

    It's been almost one year since Air Force ROTC Cadet Matthew Pirrello lost his leg in a parachuting accident that left him fighting for his life. One thing that has remained the same though is the dedication and graciousness of his two older sisters who have put their own lives on hold to help their

  • Remembering Jeff

    "He gave a damn," said Lt. Col. Chris Hall of co-worker and friend Maj. Jeff Ausborn. "He loved his wife and he loved to fly."Major Ausborn, 41, was killed April 27 in Kabul, Afghanistan when a shooter opened fire at the Kabul International Airport killing eight U.S. service members and one American

  • More than a pilot: mother and fighter

    Many children have dreams of what they want to do or become. Some dream of becoming professional athletes, some doctors, teachers or firefighters.For three women here their dreams of becoming fighter pilots came true. Today, they are three of the 58 female active duty fighter pilots in the Air

  • Retired chief still impacts battlefield, honored in Hall of Honor

    The retired Chief lines up his shot. He's looking at 100 yards with a strong crosswind using a Rocket Propelled Grenade launcher. His target is a 10-by-10 inch X on the door of a UH-1 helicopter. The crowd of about 100 looks in anticipation-- BOOM! Direct hit! Retired Chief Master Sgt. William

  • Telephone switcher plugs into Iraqi air force

    Tech. Sgt. RK Stephey has seen his share of the world. In the span of two and a half years, the telephone switch manager from Misawa Air Base, Japan, has deployed to 10 countries, including his current location of Iraq. "I've seen the world for sure," said Sergeant Stephey, who recounted his combat

  • Airmen work to bring home memory of fallen Soldier

    Seemingly lost, he turns to steal a glance at a friend, only to reveal his sad, puffy eyes and down-turned lips.Behind the glass, loafing in each other's wake, the two seem to carry the memory of a lost brother.For nearly three years, these two fish have occupied a small corner of the 332nd

  • Airmen build paper airplanes, relationships

    Afghan children ran across a rocky playground here April 30, laughing at a game of tag similar to any playground in the U.S. There were, however, no females on this playground except for a few Airmen who had volunteered from the 451st Air Expeditionary Wing to help with a craft project that morning.

  • What's in a name? CEMIRT techs take quality personally

    "Just wanted to say thanks. You guys do very good work down at Tyndall AFB...."This was part of an email that Staff Sgt. Daniel Dinsmore recently found in his inbox. The Civil Engineer Maintenance Inspection and Repair Team, or CEMIRT, technician received the message from an Airman at Robins Air

  • Holocaust survivor shares her mother's story

    Eva Clark was born during the Holocaust to Jewish parents who were kept as prisoners-of-war in Terezin (called 'Theresienstadt' by the Germans), in the former Czech Republic. Eva visited Royal Air Force Mildenhall in 2008, during Holocaust Remembrance Week, to share her mother's experiences

  • Airman Ranger made the cut, now leads the way

    The course began with 404 people. After 61 days of fast-paced stressful situations that pushed them past their physical and mental limits, only 191 remained, and only one was an Airman.Airman 1st Class Matthew Garner, an 823rd Base Defense Squadron member, is one of fewer than 300 Airmen to make it