More than 100 members of the 505th Command and Control Wing here recently helped prepare Soldiers for their upcoming deployment to Afghanistan by providing predeployment training for soldiers participating in exercises at various locations.
The wing provided communications and network integration, wargaming computer simulations, exercise planners and observers and controllers for the exercise held at Fort Campbell, Ky., and other locations.
Training for the 101st Airborne Division culminated with Unified Endeavor, a two-week mission rehearsal exercise for Army and joint forces.
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Airmen with the 538th Air Expeditionary Advisory Squadron are advising Afghanistan National Army Air Corps C-27 pilots and loadmasters here.
Since November 2009, the squadron's 16 Airmen advisers, including nine pilots, five loadmasters, a flight engineer and their Afghan counterparts, have flown more than 40 sorties and logged more than 169 flight hours in C-27 and AN-32 cargo aircraft.
"Training on these aircraft and integrating these job skills is key to a successful transition in Afghanistan," said Lt. Col. James Piel, a St. Louis native, deployed from Hurlburt Field, Fla. "Being able to move troops and cargo is crucial to any nation's success, but in Afghanistan, which is 75 percent mountainous terrain, airlift will be vital to their nation's security."
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Air Force Special Operations Training Center officials here are hosting a physical ability stamina test at 7:30 a.m. March 12 at the Special Tactics Training Squadron on Hurlburt Field.
Applicants interested in joining the pararescue, combat control or special operations weather career fields will be evaluated on a 500-meter swim, 1.5-mile run, pull-ups, sit-ups and push-ups.
Individuals who pass the PAST will be given their certified score sheet for cross training. Those who don't pass will be offered mentorship in areas in which they need improvement.
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This week's photo highlights feature Airmen around the globe involved in activities supporting expeditionary operations and defending America. This weekly feature showcases the men and women of the Air Force.
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Members of the 732nd Combat Stress Control Det. at Ali Base suffer from a misnomer. The name implies they only treat mental health issues relating to combat.
Perhaps simply stress control would more aptly describe their mission. Their mission is to help Airmen and Soldiers deal with the routine and occasionally extraordinary stressors that deployed military members may experience, said Maj. Rosanne Visco, the 732nd CSC outreach manager and registered psychiatric nurse. This helps the individual continue their career and lead a more fulfilling life.
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A spouse of a Schriever Air Force Base officer won the Year of the Air Force Family "My Air Force Life" short story contest in the over 18 category Feb. 24 here.
Erin Wetmore, wife of 1st Lt. Ross Wetmore of the 50th Operations Support Squadron, learned in a surprise announcement that she had won during the weekly base update meeting under the guise that her husband would be giving a briefing about the upcoming Air Force Ball.
When Col. Kenneth Allison, the 50th Space Wing vice commander, decided to share a recent story he'd read, she began to realize the real reason for her presence.
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The daughter of an Andersen Air Force Base senior NCO won the Year of the Air Force Family short story under 18 category contest sponsored by
MyAirForceLife.com Feb. 22 here.
Ashley Nelson, daughter of Master Sgt. Dennis Nelson of the 36th Civil Engineer Squadron, won a laptop computer and gift certificate for a total prize package worth $2,000.
Ashley, a homeschooled high school senior, submitted her short story, "From Sea to Shining Sea!" when her mother read an article about it and encouraged her to enter. She was not notified of her accomplishment until after she arrived at the Andersen AFB teen center and found Col. Tod Fingal, the 36th Wing vice commander, waiting there with a certificate.
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Members of 17th Air Force (Air Forces Africa) participated in their first in-house exercise since the unit stood up Oct. 1, 2008.
From Feb. 8 to 21, Exercise Objective Lens 2010 tested the unit's ability to plan for and execute a short-notice non-combatant evacuation operation in Africa. However, unlike the traditional exercises with gas masks and deployment lines, the 17th Air Force staff maintained a different focus for a different mission.
During the first week, the planning staff conducted Operational Planning Team meetings to identify a mission analysis, potential courses of action for response and force requirements to evacuate 8,000 people from a fictitious country. Week two put the approved plan into action and tested execution of the command and control capabilities of members of the 617th Air and Space Operation Center.
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The United States is in the middle of a "cultural transformation" in mental health treatment led by the Defense Department and the military services, the department's top mental health expert told a congressional panel Feb. 24 here.
Mental health resilience "is fundamentally underlying everything we do," Army Brig. Gen. (Dr.) Loree K. Sutton told the House Veterans Affairs Committee.
Doctor Sutton, director of the Defense Centers of Excellence for Psychological Health and Traumatic Brain Injury, testified along with Dr. Ira Katz, chief of the Veterans Affairs Department's mental health services, during a committee hearing on suicide prevention.
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Air Force officers considering advanced academic degree and experience broadening programs in 2011 have until April 30 to apply.
Officers in space and missiles operations, intelligence, weather, logistics, program management, developmental engineering, communications and information, public affairs, personnel and other force support career fields may be able to apply for one or more developmental programs. Additionally, officers may apply for instructor pipeline programs with the Air Force Academy and Air Force Institute of Technology.
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