There's a saying that a parent would do anything for his children, and that even includes deploying to war to be with their child.
During the "Year of the Air Force Family," Tech. Sgt. Thomas Leaman, a reservist from the 302nd Airlift Wing at Petersen Air Force Base, Colo., decided he needed to be with his son in Afghanistan.
Sergeant Leaman, the NCO in charge of the 455th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron's fuels mobility support equipment shop could only think about one thing as he disembarked from a C-17 Globemaster III; that he would get to spend some "quality time" with his son, Army Spc. Kevin Leaman, a vehicle maintainer with the 4th Infantry Division deployed in Afghanistan.
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Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency officials will take the Internet technology that agency researchers helped create 40 years ago a step farther Dec. 5 with a contest aimed at bringing people together to solve tough problems.
And they have sweetened the "
DARPA Network Challenge" with a $40,000 cash prize.
The competition kicks off at 10 a.m. Eastern Standard Time, when DARPA officials will display 10 8-foot, red weather balloons at undisclosed, publicly accessible sites around the continental United States. The balloons will remain at their locations throughout the day, until sunset.
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A senior cadet here has been named a 2010 Marshall Scholarship winner.
Cadet 1st Class Austin McKinney, from Canton, Mich., is the Air Force Academy's 11th Marshall Scholar.
Cadet McKinney plans to obtain two separate master's degrees at the University of London in England, one in Latin American studies and the other in globalization and Latin American development.
"It is an honor to be chosen for such an award," Cadet Mckinney said. "I will be proud to represent the U.S. Air Force in the United Kingdom for two years."
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A U.S. Air Force officer assigned to the Iraq Training and Advisory Mission is an adviser to Iraqi intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance airmen within the Iraqi Air Operations Center.
Capt. Sean Reynolds, an IAOC intelligence advisor, helps Iraqi airmen with ISR mission scheduling and planning while advising them on how to make their processes better and integrate with Iraqi ground and naval forces. The captain, who is deployed from Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, says he believes in the saying, "People don't care how much you know until they know how much you care." Therefore, he works daily to build a strong relationship with his Iraqi equivalents.
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Joint terminal attack controllers conduct their symphony of airpower with radios and field computers.
Their orchestra is an assembly of joint and coalition aircraft, including F-15E Strike Eagles, B-1B Lancers, Navy F/A-18 Hornets and F-16 Fighting Falcons from various bases.
Together, JTACs and aircrews ensure ground force have the ability to accomplish whatever they need to, whenever they need to.
"The bottom line is that Soldiers don't want to go on missions without a JTAC," said Lt. Col. Mario Bryza, the 817th Expeditionary Air Support Operations Squadron commander. "They know airpower helps get the job done and we're the ones who bring it."
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According to air mobility experts on the ground in Iraq, initial results of the ongoing U.S. Army direct support mission Concept of Operations test there indicate what Air Force and Air Mobility Command officials have said all along: the Air Force supports this mission 100 percent.
The CONOP test began Nov. 5 and will continue through December.
In April, through Resource Memorandum Decision 802, Defense Secretary Robert Gates moved the C-27J program and its related direct support airlift mission from the Army to the Air Force. And since April, the Air Force and AMC have taken a serious approach to building the program.
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The Air Force chief of staff met with deployed members and Airmen during a two-day visit to the Transit Center at Manas Nov. 26 and 27.
In his first visit here since becoming the Air Force's top officer, Gen. Norton Schwartz celebrated Thanksgiving with the men and women of the Transit Center during a dinner served at the dining facility here.
General Schwartz was accompanied by his wife, Suzie, the Air Force's top enlisted Airman, Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Roy, Lt. Gen. Gilmary Michael Hostage III, the commander of U.S. Air Forces Central, and Chief Master Sgt. Scott Dearduff, the AFCENT command chief.
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Air Force officials are now accepting nominations for the 6th Annual Department of Defense David O. Cooke Excellence in Public Administration Award.
This award recognizes non-managerial career civilian employees who demonstrate great leadership potential as future federal executives. To be eligible, nominees must have three to 10 years of civilian federal service by Dec. 31, 2009.
Nominees can be serving in any functional area and will be evaluated on their commitment to public service and demonstration of personal and professional integrity.
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Airmen and Iraqi army technicians destroyed a stockpile of captured munitions and improvised explosive device components weighing close to 1,200 pounds Nov. 24, at a range outside of Baghdad, Iraq.
The event was a combined effort between the explosive ordnance disposal technicians assigned to the 447th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron and the Iraqi army 17th Bomb Disposal Company technicians and is part of an on going mentoring and training program by the Air Force to build up the Iraqi army's EOD capability.
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The chief master sergeant of the Air Force travelled to Afghanistan and spoke with 455th Air Expeditionary Wing Airmen at several locations here Nov. 28.
Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James A. Roy wanted to hear what the Airmen had on their minds in a deployed environment and took questions in brief and informal meetings.
He also wished Airmen a happy holiday season as well as a good and productive deployment experience.
"I wanted to also thank you, your spouses and your family for the sacrifices you and they are making while you are deployed defending our nation," Chief Roy said.
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