NATO Air Policing operations

U.S. Air Force News

  • Crew chiefs turn bombers like fighters

    Postmen have nothing on these guys, particularly Tech. Sgt. Shannon Reynolds, a crew chief with the 40th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron at this forward-deployed location.He is one of 37 crew chiefs from Minot Air Force Base, N.D., who not only contend with bitterly cold winters and mountains of

  • Senate confirms Corley as new vice chief of staff

    The Senate confirmed Lt. Gen. John D. W. Corley on Aug. 1 as the next Air Force vice chief of staff. He will be promoted to the rank of general.General Corley, who is currently the principal deputy for the assistant secretary of the Air Force for acquisition, will replace Gen. T. Michael Moseley.

  • Airmen 'build bridge' for new mission at Spangdahlem

    About a dozen Airmen with the 817th Contingency Response Group from McGuire Air Force Base, N.J., arrived here July 28 to support the Rhein-Main Transition Program.The five-year Rhein-Main Transition Program, scheduled for completion in December, calls for closing down Rhein-Main Air Base,

  • Air Force Intern Program develops future leaders

    The Air Force Intern Program Central Selection Board will convene at the Air Force Personnel Center here following the fall 2005 Developmental Team Review Process.The board will choose 30 junior and midlevel captains to study the application of air and space power and observe senior Defense

  • Long-term care insurance small price to pay

    Active-duty Airmen, some reservists, appropriated-fund civilian employees, retirees and qualified family members can still apply for the Federal Long-Term Care Insurance Program.The program can help federal employees defray the costs of in-home care, nursing-home care, or assisted-living facilities

  • Total force, joint, coalition team create synergy in CAOC

    Staffed by active-duty, Guard and Reserve forces from all the U.S. services along with coalition partners, the Central Air Forces Combined Air Operations Center at a forward-deployed location has proven to be a true total force, joint and coalition team.“The partnership (among) the people of these

  • Staging facility takes over where hospital leaves off

    It is 10:30 p.m., and the 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group’s contingency aeromedical staging facility here is a flurry of activity. The doctors, nurses and technicians are making their rounds while other Airmen are checking in new arrivals, processing movement paperwork, palletizing bags and making

  • Team effort brings America’s wounded troops home

    Moving wounded American servicemembers from the frontlines in Southwest Asia to hospitals in the United States is no easy task. The effort requires everything from treating patients in forward-deployed locations to airlifting and caring for them as they move from overseas to stateside locations.One

  • Spangdahlem pilots fly missions in Romania

    About 160 Airmen from the 81st Fighter Squadron at Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, recently conducted the first Air Force fighter training mission in Constanta, Romania.The two-week exercise that ended July 31 aligned with Romanian-American Training Exercise 2005, a joint and combined effort with the

  • Officials announce services award winners

    Air Force Services Agency officials announced the winners of the 2005 services awards recently.Kadena Air Base, Japan, won the Gen. Curtis E. LeMay Trophy for best overall services unit at a large base. Spangdahlem AB, Germany, won the Maj. Gen. Eugene L. Eubank Trophy for best services at a small

  • Uzbeks ask U.S. to leave Karshi-Khanabad

    Uzbekistan has exercised its rights under an October 2001 bilateral agreement to end coalition use of Karshi-Khanabad airfield.The Uzbek government delivered a note July 29 to the U.S. embassy in Tashkent giving the United States 180 days to withdraw its forces from the strategic field. About 800

  • Guard, Reserve integrate seamlessly into Nellis organization

    Organizations at the Air Warfare Center here are taking the concept, “One Team, One Fight,” literally and are combining active duty, Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Command personnel in all mission areas.“This is a smarter, better way of doing business, because we’re able to capitalize on

  • ARPC supports one-stop service

    It is more than 7,000 miles to Baghdad from here, but for an individual mobilization augmentee serving in Iraq, personnel services are only seconds away.Air Reserve Personnel Center officials here recently released the Virtual Personnel Center Guard Reserve, a Web-based personnel service portal

  • Airmen medevac two wounded Afghans

    A combat search and rescue crew evacuated two Afghan nationals who had been wounded by stray shrapnel from an anti-coalition militia mortar attack against a forward-operating base in a village northeast of Kandahar, Afghanistan, on July 28.After the attack, the two -- an adult and a 12-year-old boy

  • Soldiers, Airmen care for Iraqi patients

    Only a few hours earlier, surgeons were working diligently to save his life and repair the damage a bullet caused when it entered his abdomen and ricocheted throughout his body. Now, the 11-year-old Iraqi boy sleeps peacefully with his favorite stuffed animal clutched in his hand. His father, next

  • Basic cadets focus on next training obstacle

    Academy cadets began their final two weeks of training recently with a 7.8 mile hike to Jacks Valley. Almost 1,400 basic cadets from the class of 2009 marched from the main campus to the field training site they will call home during the field portion of basic cadet training.The field portion of BCT

  • Academy medics save life of Peterson NCO in Iraq

    Staff Sgt. Jamie Dana, a dog handler assigned to the 21st Security Forces Squadron at Peterson Air Force Base, Colo., was seriously injured a month into her six-month deployment when an improvised explosive device hit her convoy during a patrol near Kirkuk Air Base, Iraq. Airmen here who are

  • EQUAL available Aug. 2

    The Enlisted Quarterly Assignment Listing for Airmen returning from overseas April to June 2006 will be available Aug. 2.Airmen can contact their military personnel flights or their commander's support staff to update their preferences by Aug. 18. Deployed Airmen should contact their personnel

  • Officials announce anti-terrorism awards

    Air Force units and people won three of the five categories in the 2005 Department of Defense Anti-terrorism Awards.The top-level awards program was established in 1993 to recognize deserving individuals and units in the anti-terrorism field.The 2005 Air Force winners are:-- Best Anti-terrorism

  • Air Force women’s soccer season kicks off

    A school-record 13 home games highlight the 2005 Air Force women’s soccer schedule when the Falcons open their season Aug. 26 at the University of Northern Colorado.The Falcons play eight nonconference home games and will hold the Nike Invitational here Sept. 30 to Oct. 2. The nonconference slate

  • Geren designated acting Air Force secretary

    The president designated Pete Geren to be the acting Secretary of the Air Force on July 29, replacing Michael L. Dominguez.The appointment is in accordance with the Federal Vacancies Reform Act, Air Force officials said.Mr. Geren, who was special assistant to the secretary of defense, assumes his

  • AFIT, research lab agreement boosts research capabilities

    Scientists, faculty and students will have greater access to research opportunities through a landmark Memorandum of Agreement signed July 26 between the Air Force Institute of Technology and the Air Force Research Laboratory.Maj. Gen. Perry L. Lamy, AFRL commander, and Brig. Gen. Mark T. Matthews,

  • Airman crafts digital artwork for computer log-in scripts

    Staff Sgt. Chris Borslien does not consider himself much of an artist; however, his customers might disagree with him.Instead of using brushes and paint, the network control center technician creates digital art with alphanumeric characters known as American standard code for information

  • Air Force fighting fires at home

    Guardsmen and reservists are used to international situations that call for them to put out fires. Now, they are doing it here at home -- literally.More than 60 guardsmen and four specially equipped C-130 Hercules from North Carolina and Wyoming Air National Guard units are battling blazes in the

  • Dental flight keeps Airmen on track to fight war on terrorism

    Flossing, brushing, eating healthy and leaving with a sparkling white smile are not the only things the 20th Aeromedical-Dental Squadron’s dental flight wants Airmen here to have gained after leaving the dentist's chair."Our goal is to have everyone leave here medically qualified for a deployment,"

  • Aeromedical mission has healing touch

    On any given day, Airmen with the 386th Contingency Aeromedical Staging Facility at a forward-deployed location provide support and medical care for patient movement and serve as an integral link in the global aeromedical evacuation system.“A (staging facility) is a modular and expeditionary concept

  • Battlelab develops C-5 aircrew night vision system

    C-5 Galaxy aircrews must tape over some white lights in the cockpit of their huge aircraft before missions into a “blacked out” environment when they must use night vision goggles.Sometimes crews use flashlights or even pull circuit breakers and light bulbs for other light systems to minimize the

  • ESGR gives support to reservists, guardsmen, employers

    A viable Guard and reserve force -- a critical weapon in the struggle against violent extremism -- depends on having viable employer support, said Gary Walston, newly appointed program specialist for the Employer Support of the Guard and Reserve in Texas.Mr. Walston, a retired Air National

  • Predator operators see whole picture

    Each MQ-1 Predator unmanned aerial vehicle mission flown in the Iraqi sky begins and ends here.Predator operators deployed here put the aircraft in the air and make sure it lands safely. Sitting side by side in the “cockpit,” enlisted Airmen and officers work as a team providing top cover to

  • Nominee for undersecretary testifies before Congress

    The Department of Defense director of defense research and engineering appeared before a Congressional confirmation hearing July 28 to testify on his nomination as the new undersecretary of the Air Force. Dr. Ronald M. Sega, appearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, told senators he was

  • Coalition: Withdrawal to be conditions-based

    The withdrawal of U.S. troops from Iraq will be based strictly on security conditions in the country and the readiness of Iraqi forces to conduct independent operations, a Multinational Force Iraq spokesman said in Baghdad on July 28.The United States will not withdraw forces until Iraqi security

  • Aeromedical evacuation process key to saving lives in Iraq

    In battle, one of the hardest challenges is saving the wounded. Medical professionals encounter injuries not normally seen in peacetime, and many times see multiple life-threatening injures requiring immediate treatment on the battlefield.Another problem is moving patients across hot desert sands on

  • Deployed leaders take ‘vest-ed’ interest in being cool

    The first test was in an outhouse.Saddled in the middle of Baghdad -- where temperatures are reaching at least 120 degrees -- that outhouse had all the qualities Capt. James Ross needed to test his idea to cool off flightline logistics workers from the stifling heat.His idea -- a “cool vest.” The

  • Servicemembers’ children fly high at Space Camp

    This summer, 15 military children took a giant leap for “kidkind.”It was 36 years ago on July 20, 1969, when astronaut Neil Armstrong announced he was taking "one small step for man, one giant step for mankind" on the moon.The students were selected from nearly 200 applicants who applied for the

  • Sword Order falls into hands of AFC2ISR Center Commander

    The commander of the Air Force Command and Control, and Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Center became the first inductee into the Air Force District of Washington’s Order of the Sword during a ceremony here July 22.Maj. Gen. Tommy F. Crawford received the highest honor and tribute

  • Officials: Troop withdrawals could begin next year

    A "fairly substantial" withdrawal of U.S. forces from Iraq could take place next spring or summer if the insurgency does not grow and the country's political process continues as scheduled, the commander of coalition forces said here July 27.U.S. Army Gen. George Casey, head of Multinational Force

  • Airmen donate soccer balls, supplies to African school

    Up and down a dusty grass and dirt soccer field, children chased a well-worn semblance of a ball. The ball more closely resembled a plastic bag wrapped in twine. The players stopped only to wave hello to the U.S. Airmen entering the airfield of Kigali International Airport.The students are from

  • Airman keeps sight of dream despite obstacles

    In 1971, 20-year-old Victor Folarin set off on a journey to achieve his dream of becoming a doctor. During that journey, he immigrated to another country, earned five college degrees and joined the U.S. military.Col. (Dr.) Victor Folarin, outgoing 7th Aeromedical/Dental Squadron commander here, was

  • Rumsfeld holds town hall meeting with troops in Iraq

    Secretary of Defense Donald H. Rumsfeld visited with troops here and at Logistics Support Area Anaconda July 27, addressing Airmen and Soldiers in a town hall forum.He began with a thank you to the Airmen and Soldiers present. The air base and LSA Anaconda share the same installation“I’m profoundly

  • Friendship stands strong when duty calls

    Two families here will share a life-changing event in August.Robin Lawley, McConnell Base Exchange barber shop manager, will receive a liver transplant in August.To her surprise, the donor is a longtime customer and friend, Charles Smith, 22nd Security Forces Squadron information and industrial

  • First Future Total Force wing proves successful

    The first Future Total Force wing, the 116th Air Control Wing, is nearing its third birthday since merging active-duty Air Force, Army and Air National Guard units to form a “blended wing.”In October 2002, America’s first total force wing took flight as the 116th ACW and made history by combining

  • Davis-Monthan woman recognized for helping environment

    An environmental engineer here won $2,500 from “Good Housekeeping” magazine as a runner-up for the magazine’s Women in Government award.Karen Oden is assigned to the 355th Civil Engineer Squadron.The women selected for the award worked endless hours overcoming huge hurdles to make big changes,

  • Medics overcome shortage through aeromedical evacuation

    U.S. Air Force aeromedical evacuation teams coordinated the first airlift for the transfusion of blood platelets for two patients in Iraq and Afghanistan recently. Medics saved a Soldier diagnosed with a rare and rapidly growing cancer and ensured a Jordanian servicemember survived a flight home,

  • Reservist gives ‘gift of life’ 100 times

    Seventeen years ago, Senior Master Sgt. Carl Donophan donated blood for the first time. He is now among an elite group of people who have reached the rare milestone of making his 100th apheresis donation.Apheresis is a type of donation where the donor gives only a certain part of the blood,

  • Shaw F-16s intercept shuttle airspace violator

    Two F-16 Fighting Falcons, enforcing a temporary no-fly zone around the Space Shuttle Discovery launch site at Cape Canaveral, Fla., intercepted and escorted a small civilian aircraft from the area July 26.It was during the nine-minute hold in the countdown when the pilots recieved the call from

  • Cope North bilateral exercise wraps up in Guam

    The thunder in the Guam sky has subsided with the conclusion of Cope North, a bilateral exercise between Airmen from the U.S. Air Force and the Japan air self-defense force.The exercise, which ended July 21, was designed to enhance U.S. and Japanese air operations by training in air combat tactics,

  • Airmen missing from Vietnam War identified

    Officials with the Department of Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office announced July 26 that the remains of two Airmen, missing in action from the Vietnam War, have been identified and are being returned to their families for burial with full military honors.They are Col. James Lewis of

  • Predictability added to deployed travel

    Most deployed Airmen know how far along they are in their rotation and when they expect to return home.Until recently, that date was mostly speculation, but, thanks to aggregation, Airmen will know exactly when their replacement is coming and when they will leave.U.S. Central Command Air Forces

  • Air Force medics conduct plastic surgery clinic

    A seven-person plastic surgery team from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, is currently providing free corrective surgeries to Ecuadorian civilians here.Operating on mostly cleft lips and pallets, the team is staging from the El Hospital Militar de Cuenca, an Ecuadorian military hospital located near

  • AF experiments to return home with Discovery

    After existing nearly four years on the International Space Station, more than 800 Air Force experiments will finally return home with the Space Shuttle Discovery on Aug. 7.The space shuttle launched July 26 from Cape Canaveral, Fla., on a 12-day mission to test new flight safety procedures and

  • 45th Space Wing supports successful shuttle launch

    The 45th Space Wing at nearby Patrick Air Force Base provided flawless support for NASA’s successful launch of Space Shuttle Discovery on July 26, officials said.This was the shuttle’s first flight since the Columbia tragedy on Feb. 1, 2003. The wing’s Department of Defense Manned Spaceflight

  • U.S. still welcome at Manas, Kyrgyzstan minister says

    The United States is welcome to continue using Manas Air Base, Kyrgyzstan's defense minister said here July 26.Gen.Maj. Ismail Isakov also said that any future movement of U.S. troops out of Kyrgyzstan "fully depends upon the situation in Afghanistan." After Afghanistan is stabilized there would be

  • Major works hard at preparing warriors

    Sport and business have long had a strong working relationship.Maj. Michael Ternus, 377th Logistics Readiness Squadron operations officer, exemplifies this relationship -- albeit as an unconventional businessman in an unconventional sport.The major is the current national master's super heavyweight

  • Airman develops antidote to injection confusion

    Knowing how to administer an antidote to a fellow Airman who falls victim to chemical exposure in the field will not be as difficult as before.A new sticker on the antidote kit designed here, with specific instructions on when and how to administer the antidote for nerve agent poisoning, is helping

  • Battlelab technicians develop solutions for warfighters

    With sand whipping across your face and sweat dripping down your forehead, you squint through the scope at the enemy target."The third building on the left," you shout into the radio. A garbled transmission is returned. Closing your eyes, you take a deep breath and hope the pilot heard you. The

  • Airmen maintain airlift operations in Africa

    The early morning roar of eight engines from two C-130 Hercules here is music to the ears of the aircraft maintainers watching over them. To Airmen with the 86th Air Expeditionary Group’s maintenance team from Ramstein Air Base, Germany, it means the mission which began July 16 to bring Rwandan

  • QDR will reflect tomorrow’s, not today’s, challenges

    Military leaders will resist any temptation to assume the force needed for the future will be a cookie-cutter version of today's needs, Gen. Richard B. Myers said here July 25.The chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff was talking about how the military will examine its forces, resources and programs

  • Tankers take care of deployed aircrews

    Airman 1st Class Robert Willis celebrated his 21st birthday in a rather unusual manner July 22 -- offloading 85,200 pounds of jet fuel at 27,500 feet to a B-52 Stratofortress bound for Afghanistan.It was merely another day at the “office” for the boom operator on the KC-135 Stratotanker air

  • Reservists protect Airmen at Baghdad base

    Two reservists at Baghdad International Airport are shaping force protection for more than 700 people, meshing the future total force with the reality of what is currently around them.Capt. Lisa Maloney and Master Sgt. Mary Webb run the anti-terrorism/force protection office here. Working daily with

  • Future Total Force arrives for duty in Vermont

    Airman 1st Class Kirshell LaCroix had not even graduated from technical school when she decided to jump into the Future Total Force. She landed in South Burlington, Vt., about a month ago, and the 20-year-old electrical and environmental aircraft maintenance apprentice said it looks like she made

  • Teamwork moves Rwandan troops

    It takes a lot more than Hercules to move Rwandan Defense Force members to the Darfur region of the Sudan. The C-130 Hercules needs a team working together to make sure things go right. In fact, there were 10 crewmembers on each of the flights working together to ensure the 13-hour, round-trip

  • Rhein-Main changes billeting, long-term parking procedures

    As Rhein-Main Air Base draws closer to its Dec. 31 close date, travelers who frequent the base will begin to notice changes in services provided. A change in the long-term parking policy gives priority to people traveling on Air Mobility Command missions, and space-available lodging is no longer

  • Planes soar thanks to Baghdad's ‘tower of power’

    Except for a thick dusty haze squatting on the city from day to day, Baghdad and the surrounding Iraqi countryside would be completely visible from here. Being 180 feet taller than almost any other vantage point in the city, Baghdad International Airport's control tower has certain advantages.The

  • Reserve improves safety, floor space on rescue helicopters

    Air Force Reserve Command’s 15 combat search and rescue helicopters will get improved crew seats and more cabin space to care for rescued people when modifications are complete this year. The HH-60G Pave Hawk helicopters will feature safer, more ergonomic cabin crew seats, and new auxiliary fuel

  • Airmen provide exams before, after interrogations

    Iraqi detainees at the prison here receive medical examinations before and after interrogation thanks to an independent group of Air Force medics.The detainee health care team monitors and maintains the health of about 2,000 detainees who are “actively undergoing interrogation,” said Major Carol,

  • STRATCOM supports shuttle in return to flight

    Two and a half years have passed since the tragedy of the Space Shuttle Columbia accident brought the nation’s manned space flight program to a grinding halt.Now, as the National Aeronautics and Space Administration prepares to re-enter the final frontier, U.S. Strategic Command is standing by as

  • Supersonic JDAM drop marks increase in Raptor capability

    As the midafternoon sun blazed on the Mojave Desert and thunderclouds loomed in the distance, a sleek dark gray war bird took to the sky to push the envelope of flight testing.At the controls, Maj. John Teichert, a 411th Flight Test Squadron test pilot, pushed the F/A-22 Raptor past Mach 1, opened

  • On target: Ammo Airmen do bang up job

    Tucked away behind tall bunkers and old engine parts lays a unique greenhouse with a special crop.Inside a crop of bullets, bombs and explosives receive care and attention fro a group of unique Airmen.From inspections and maintenance to overall accountability, the Airmen of the 332nd Expeditionary

  • Shuttle return to flight includes local efforts

    Almost two weeks after its original launch date, NASA’s Discovery Shuttle is scheduled for its return to flight July 26, but they are not doing it alone.“NASA could not launch the space shuttle without range and space surveillance support from Air Force Space Command,” said Jeffrey Ashby, former

  • Blue Flag starts with bang at Nellis, Hurlburt Field

    Joint forces from around the United States, along with 11 coalition partners, converged here and at the Combined Air Operations Center at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., for the start of Blue Flag 05-02 on July 24.About 2,000 joint troops, led by 9th Air Force, are participating at the two locations

  • Civilian director accepted to Harvard

    Most people cannot wait to get out of school. Brian Lally cannot wait to start.Of course, it helps if the school is Harvard University. It also helps if all expenses are paid.Mr. Lally, executive director for the Air Force Civil Engineer Support Agency here, was recently selected to attend Harvard

  • Test pilot school selection board date set

    Air Force officials plan to hold the next test pilot school selection board at the Air Force Personnel Center here Nov. 28 to Dec. 2 for classes beginning in July 2006 and January 2007.The U.S. Air Force Test Pilot School trains pilots and navigators as well as civilian and military engineers to

  • Pam Tillis rocks Holloman during ‘Spirit of America Tour’

    Country music singer Pam Tillis entertained more than 800 Airmen and their families with a free two-hour concert here July 18.“There’s a lot of feelings and emotions that come from getting to rub shoulders with you guys,” said Miss Tillis, who gave the concert as a part of the Spirit of America

  • AFMC in hot pursuit of manufacturing award

    Air Force Materiel Command units captured four of the five finalist nominations for the Shingo Prize for Excellence in Manufacturing–Public Sector category.The four Air Force finalists are:-- Oklahoma City Air Logistics Center’s KC-135 (Stratotanker) Programmed Depot Maintenance office at Tinker Air

  • Air Force Reserve seeks applicants for full-time duty

    Air Force Reserve officials are looking for officers and enlisted people to fill full-time Active Guard and Reserve positions.In the past 15 years, the number of slots has increased from 400 to more than 1,900 authorizations."We have opportunities in many specialties but a larger concentration in

  • Sergeant runs marathon for his father

    There are many reasons to run a marathon, but for a C-130 Hercules flight engineer at this forward-deployed location, honoring his ailing dad was more than enough reason to slip on his running shoes.Tech. Sgt. Peter Rearick’s father recently suffered a heart attack recently and is scheduled to have

  • Future Total Force outlined on Capitol Hill

    There will be no "gap" between the end of assigned missions for Air National Guard units and the beginning of their replacement missions.In testimony before the House Armed Services Committee on July 20, the director of Air Force plans and programs told legislators the service is working hard to

  • Red Horse engineers build Iraqi future

    In the military community, the Red Horse name invokes images of rough and ready Airmen who can deploy at a moment’s notice into austere and hostile environments and build an operational airfield, seemingly overnight.In today’s war on terrorism, a group of Red Horse engineers from the Ohio and

  • Airmen make two saves in one day

    Lying on the ground, he leaned his head and saw the small bird that filled the air with the sounds of a warm summer afternoon. The sun had woken him earlier and lit the mountaintops, which burst into an array of color.As the summer breeze cooled him, Alexander Ryan thought of the events that placed

  • Servicemembers overseas get free wrestling broadcast

    World Wrestling Entertainment will offer its July 24 pay-per-view special, "SmackDown! The Great American Bash," free for broadcast on American Forces Network as a way of thanking servicemembers and their families for their service to America.The program will be broadcast from Buffalo, N.Y., and

  • Military compensation committee hears proposals

    The Defense Advisory Committee on Military Compensation met here July 20 to hear presentations about the current state of military compensation programs and recommendations to improve them.Covered were retirement compensation, health benefits, special incentive pay, quality of life and reserve

  • Vandenberg launches Minuteman III

    An unarmed Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile was successfully launched from here July 21.The mission was to demonstrate the ability to integrate new products into the weapon system. Tracking, telemetry and command destruct systems were installed on the missile to collect data and

  • Airmen deliver fuel in flight

    Staff Sgt. Jonny Gomez is not the type of guy to take something lying down, but he is extremely proficient at giving it out that way.Giving fuel, that is, and when he is belly down in the boom pod of a KC-135 Stratotanker, the responsibility of aerial refueling aircraft supporting the war on

  • Panel adds bases for closure, realignment consideration

    The 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Commission voted to add several military installations, including Pope Air Force Base, N.C., to a list for closure or realignment considerations during July 19 hearings here.The previous day, senior Defense Department officials provided testimony before the

  • National Security Personnel System survey period extended

    Response to a survey about the new National Security Personnel System has been "enthusiastic," so defense officials extended the survey period through July 27 to allow civil service employees more opportunity to participate.The survey period began July 6 and was initially scheduled to continue

  • Officials announce Nurse Corps selections to major

    The Air Force selected 177 captains for promotion to major in the calendar year 2004 Major Nurse Corps central selection board.The list will be posted on the Air Force Personnel Center Web site at www.afpc.randolph.af.mil/offprom no later than 2 p.m. CDT on July 20. The board considered 347

  • Airmen keep ground equipment working, mission flying

    Even though they are maintainers, they do not turn a single wrench on a jet. But without them neither does anyone else.Bomber aerospace ground equipment Airmen work around-the-clock to maintain a 95.9-percent in-commission rate on the 121 pieces of equipment maintainers, back shops, weapons loaders

  • Airmen support Soldiers, Marines with up-armor kits

    Soldiers and Marines can thank a team of blue-suited warriors at this forward-deployed location for helping put new armor on vehicles they use to battle insurgents.Airmen of the 8th Expeditionary Air Mobility Squadron are on a 24-hour treadmill, racing to provide life-saving and force-protection

  • Innovative techniques help Air Force meet manning goals

    The Air Force deputy chief of staff for personnel told lawmakers July 19 the service would meet its end-strength requirement by the end of the fiscal year. In March, Lt. Gen. Roger A. Brady told lawmakers the service would meet its end-strength goal by end of the fiscal year."End strength" is the

  • Air Force accepting physician assistant applications

    The Air Force is taking applications for physician assistant Phase I training classes in beginning January, April and August 2007.Only active-duty enlisted Airmen are eligible to apply.The selection board is scheduled to convene at the Air Force Personnel Center here March 21, 2006. Completed

  • Air Force accepting physical therapy applications

    The Air Force is taking applications for the Doctor of Physical Therapy Program which begins Dec. 17, 2006, at the Health Science Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.Only active-duty Airmen who possess a baccalaureate degree or those who are in the final semester before receiving a degree that

  • USAFE helps Rwandan troops deploy to Darfur

    A C-17 Globemaster III departed here July 18 carrying 95 Rwandan troops deploying to help ease the humanitarian crisis in the Darfur region of Sudan. The airlift started the 86th Aerospace Expeditionary Group’s involvement in NATO’s support to the African Union expanded mission in the region. The

  • Chief returns POW/MIA bracelet, brings closure to family

    Every evening before he went to bed and every morning when he woke up, he read Army Staff Sgt. Manuel Moreida’s name inscribed on his bracelet. He did this daily for more than 12 years.Chief Master Sgt. Marc Rodriguez’s personal routine for remembering Sergeant Moreida and the others like him acted

  • Milwaukee C-130 crew earns flying award

    Six reservists earned the 2004 Air Force Association Outstanding Reserve Aircrew Award for safely landing their C-130 Hercules after it was damaged by enemy ground fire, officials announced July 13.Maj. Rolf Breen and his crew from Milwaukee's 440th Airlift Wing saved not only themselves and their

  • USAFE supports Royal International Air Tattoo

    More than 150,000 people attended the 2005 Royal International Air Tattoo here July 16 and 17, air show officials said. The air show has been officially named by the “Guinness Book of Records” as the world’s largest military air show with participation of more than 300 aircraft from more than 30

  • Military programs can ease pain of post-war trauma

    Army Spc. David Avila sings his favorite song, “La Bamba,” to his son almost every night. It is not just the entertainment value; it is his way of conveying his wartime experiences to his son. “La Bamba” sounds like boom in English, a sound Specialist Avila heard just about every night in Iraq. It

  • Airmen keep mission rolling

    Every day, dozens of C-130 Hercules aircraft at this forward-deployed location fly to Iraq with their bellies full of critical supplies and people to support the war on terrorism.But the cargo does not just magically appear in the aircraft. Airmen of the 386th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness

  • Safety course teaches risk management for two-wheelers

    Many motorcyclists say there is nothing like the feeling of flying down the highway on two wheels with a sunset stretched out ahead.But before hitting the open road, Airmen and civilians here, and many throughout the Air Force, must complete an approved motorcycle safety course and pass a

  • Airman named one of 10 Outstanding Young Americans

    An Airman with the Air Force Communications Agency here is one of the U.S. Junior Chamber of Commerce’s 2005 10 Outstanding Young Americans of 2005.Master Sgt. Karen Petitt, managing editor of the Air Force warfighting integration community’s Intercom magazine, will receive the award Sept. 17 in

  • Leaders address Air Force in BRAC process

    Defense Department leaders told the Base Realignment and Closure Commission July 18 why certain military facilities are not included in Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld's May 13 recommendations.Commissioners were here to continue their deliberations after visiting military bases nationwide in