Members of the 9th Munitions Squadron conducted a value stream mapping event June 23 thru 26 here to streamline the squadron's process of handling munitions for training classes.
Officials from the Beale Air Force Base Air Force Smart Operations for the 21st century Initiatives Office, Air Combat Command AFSO 21 office, and the 9th MUNS conducted the event, which analyzed processes and information currently required to tear down and restore live munitions for the eight combat ammunition planning and production courses offered each year.
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A former commanding general of the Washington, D.C., National Guard who was killed June 22 in a subway accident along with his wife was remembered in a June 29 ceremony celebrating his life and accomplishments.
Retired Maj. Gen. David Wherley and his wife, Ann, a mortgage banker, both 62, were returning from Walter Reed Army Medical Center, where they were learning how to counsel servicemembers returning from Iraq and Afghanistan.
Their Metro train car collided with another train, killing nine people.
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Under the Security Agreement signed between Washington, D.C., and Baghdad, Iraq, officials in November 2008, U.S. servicemembers are to withdraw from Iraqi cities, villages and localities by June 30.
As a result of the agreement, some servicemembers are moving onto main installations such as Sather Air Base, Iraq, and Joint Base Balad.
With the start of the withdrawal from urban areas in progress, Joint Base Balad is capable and ready for the influx of servicemembers and equipment, said Col. Sal Nodjomian, the 332nd Expeditionary Mission Support Group commander.
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An Air Force commercial highlighting the technology of the unmanned aircraft systems is airing nationally this week in television markets and select movie theaters across the country.
The "UAS" commercial depicts a futuristic look at warfighting and how what was once considered science fiction is now reality for the Air Force.
The commercial features the technology of an MQ-9 Reaper unmanned aircraft system and Airmen from Creech Air Force Base, Nev., supporting special operations Airmen in identifying, locating and eliminating enemy threats.
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Our Air Force has come a long way in the steady-state business of preparing for deployment. Some 19 years have elapsed since the Gulf War began and since we have continued sending our Airmen back into harm's way. Ten years ago, Air Force officials began the concept of air and space expeditionary force with the concept of scheduled rotations to prepare us for unknown destinations and contingencies.
Since September 2001, our expeditionary bubbles have come and gone, but the theory of not needing a rotation cycle is a lost concept. And for the fairness of morale, our service's chief of staff mandated that everyone is deployable.
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A crewmember who required immediate medical attention on board a ship 400 miles off the coast of Ireland is reported to be in stable condition after three U.S. Air Force units participated in his rescue June 26.
Officials from the United Kingdom Aeronautical Rescue Coordination Center contacted members of the 56th Rescue Squadron at Royal Air Force Lakenheath mid-afternoon June 25 for assistance to rescue the crewmember suffering from acute abdominal symptoms on a 750-foot-long container ship, the Pascha.
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Air Force officials here recently recognized four Airmen with the service's 2008 Lance P. Sijan Air Force Leadership Award.
The Sijan award annually recognizes Airmen who demonstrate outstanding leadership abilities.
The senior officer category winner is Maj. James Hughes Jr., who is assigned to Bolling Air Force Base, D.C.
The junior officer category winner is Capt. Thomas Eckel, who is assigned to Eglin AFB, Fla.
The senior enlisted category winner is Senior Master Sgt. Michael Bobbitt, who is assigned to Yokota Air Base, Japan.
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Coalition airpower integrated with coalition ground forces in Iraq and the International Security Assistance Force in Afghanistan during operations June 29, according to Combined Air and Space Operations Center officials here.
In Afghanistan, an Air Force B-1B Lancer dropped guided bomb unit-31s in a strike against two trucks carrying a cargo of approximately 40 tons of opium. Both the vehicles and the drugs were destroyed.
Near Balocan, a Royal Air Force MQ-9 Reaper took out an anti-Afghan forces mortar team with a Hellfire missile. The strike was carried out in defense of Afghan and coalition forces who had received mortar and small arms coming fire from the enemy's location.
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Airmen of the 36th Rescue Flight from Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., rescued a hiker from Fort Lewis, Wash., who tumbled more than 1,000 feet June 14 down a mountain just west of Wenatchee, Wash.
The 58-year-old man and his son were hiking around 3 p.m. when the older man stumbled down a mountain in an avalanche caused by rain, warming temperatures and unstable hiking conditions.
Two hikers from Fort Lewis, Wash., observed the whole event from an opposite mountain and rushed to the man's aid as his son also scrambled down the mountain.
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It is often said communication consists of three parts: the sender, the message, and the receiver of the particular message. It is also said that if there is a glitch with any of the three parts, the communication cycle is broken.
A team of joint expeditionary tasking Airmen here work to make sure the vital cycle is not broken, thus contributing to overall mission accomplishment. Overall, 1,500 JET Airmen with the 732nd Air Expeditionary Group serve at the more than 60 locations throughout Iraq.
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