Trained in explosives detection, narcotics detection and more, military working dogs here are now assisting in a different type of fight: The fight to rehabilitate patients at the Air Force Theater Hospital here.
Members of the AFTH medical staff here held the first session of the K-9 Visitation Program May 15, a program that works to further patient recovery after injury or illness through animal-assisted therapy.
The "pet project" of Staff Sgt. Janice Shipman, a 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group intensive care unit aerospace medical technician, the program brings members of the 332nd Expeditionary Security Forces Group's K-9 unit and the medical staff together with one goal in mind: patient recovery.
more...
More than 250 U.S. servicemembers and Afghan security forces celebrated seven years of military cooperation during a monument dedication ceremony at Camp Blackhorse here May 14.
The ceremony also culminated the efforts of nearly 20 Airmen, Soldiers and Sailors who have embedded with the 5th Kandak (Battalion) as training advisors.
"This monument represents hope ... a hope that future generations of Afghan soldiers and citizens will see the sacrifices and commitments made by both the Afghan and American military working together," Maj. Brian Freeman said before hundreds of Afghan national army and policemen who have come to know his training team stationed just outside the capital of Kabul. "It represents a hope that one day any person can travel to Afghanistan without guns or weapons and walk in downtown Kabul [with] a true feeling of safety and security."
more...
Air traffic controllers here manage the base's runway that never rests, averaging 5,100 takeoffs and landings a month, or approximately 200 each day.
Members of the 379th Expeditionary Operations Support Squadron are responsible for anything within the base's air space, which extends out in a 5-mile radius from the center of the airfield and 3,000 feet above sea level.
The tower here has at least three people on duty at all times including a ground controller, local controller and watch supervisor.
more...
For the 56th consecutive year, civilians from across America came to Maxwell-Gunter for the National Security Forum during the week of May 18.
The forum, hosted by the faculty of the Air University Spaatz Center for Officer Education's Air War College and sponsored by the secretary of the Air Force, is designed to familiarize members of the private sector with what the Air Force is doing in terms of national security.
"Gen. Muir S. Fairchild started the NSF in 1947 with the purpose of the program being to gain the insight of prominent citizens," said Maj. Gen. Maurice Forsyth, Spaatz Center commander and Air War College commandant. "But, NSF has turned into a door that swings both ways. We have found that NSF attendees learn as much about the Air Force from the program as we learn from their insight, and that has really made NSF worthwhile."
more...
Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and International Security Assistance Force troops in Afghanistan during operations May 26, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
In Afghanistan, an Air Force A-10 Thunderbolt II conducted strafing runs during a firefight near Remak. After anti-Afghan forces attacked a coalition and Afghan unit, the aircraft used its 30mm cannon to destroy an enemy command post and fighting positions along a ridgeline.
more...
Air Force officials officially began to test a 50-50 mixture of synthetic and JP-8 fuels in a Type 3 constant-pressure fuel hydrant system here May 18.
Fuel tankers, including five trucks with 100 percent synthetic fuel and three with the 50-50 blend, arrived at the base May 17 to unload 113,000 gallons of fuel.
The Type 3 system is a constant-pressure fuel structure that, as the name suggests, provides a constant fuel pressure through the pumps, lines, truck, aircraft and back to the pumps. This is particularly advantageous at operational locations where time is a factor. With this system, multiple aircraft can be refueled without a reduction in performance of the pumps.
more...
With nearly 200,000 permanent change of station moves expected in the approaching season, it is important for Department of Defense personnel to note several broad changes to the personal property shipment process.
The uniformed services began using the Defense Personal Property System to move DOD personal property Nov. 19, 2008, which drives the new Defense Personal Property Program, or DP3, formerly known as Families First.
"The more a servicemember or DOD civilian knows about the new program, the better their move will be. DP3 and DPS really put them in the driver's seat," said Lt. Col. Daniel Bradley, the deputy chief of staff for Personal Property at Military Surface Deployment and Distribution Command. "It allows them to manage, hands-on, their personal property move with improved information and access."
more...
A giant white sphere dominates the skyline of this tiny village, a remote outpost on the frozen shores of the Beaufort Sea. But until this week, very few local residents had ever seen the inside of the station, or even had a good grasp on what exactly the station does.
The dome conceals a powerful radar, part of a chain of such stations standing like huge sentries along the northern coast of Alaska and Canada. Monitored around the clock by members of the 611th Air Support Group based at Elmendorf Air Force Base, Alaska, this North Warning System - the successor to the old Distant Early Warning line - maintains perpetual watch on the skies over North America.
more...
About 60 members of Edwards Air Force Base Scenes supported the upcoming "Ironman II" movie as extras in the film and technical advisers May 11 through 13 here.
Parts of the first "Ironman" as well as other movies and television shows have also filmed at Edwards AFB in the past.
"Edwards has a long association with Hollywood," said Col. William Thornton, the 412th Test Wing commander. "We have just about every aircraft in the Air Force's current fleet, 360 days of good weather per year, which is great for filming, and a desert terrain and landscape perfect for any scene of a deployment."
more...
A C-17 Globemaster III assigned to the 97th Air Mobility Wing at Altus Air Force Base, Okla., takes off from the Tonopah runway May 20 near Nellis AFB, Nev., while participating in the Mobility Air Forces Exercise. Approximately 12 U.S. Air Force bases participate in the exercise twice a year, testing the crew ability of C-17 Globemaster IIIs and C-130s to join together in formation at a specific time and location to drop a brigade-size force anywhere in the world.
View the
mobility forces exercise slideshow.
more...
