Forty-two women from the 380th Air Expeditionary Wing led the way during a special Women's History Month retreat formation and ceremony March 19 at an air base in Southwest Asia.
Col. Kathleen Concannon, the 380th Expeditionary Medical Group commander, led a formation of 39 female service members while three other military women served as the honor guard for the ceremony. Colonel Concannon said it's important to remember what women contribute to the military, both at home station and while deployed.
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Men and women of the 41st Expeditionary Rescue Squadron here provide around-the-clock personnel recovery, commonly known as combat search and rescue, for American and coalition warfighters supporting Operation Enduring Freedom.
But unlike past wars where aircraft were lost every week, the mission in Afghanistan has changed and taken on an additional role here in Regional Command-South to conduct casualty evacuations, said Maj. Christopher Escajeda, the 41st ERQS director of operations.
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It's easy to throw around mottos like "Be a Good Wingman" and the "Year of the Air Force Family."
What isn't always easy, however, is putting those words into action: "walking the talk," as the saying goes. Fortunately, for retired Tech. Sgt. Shawn Mette and his wife, Nelia, they have a "family" here who believes in "walking the talk."
Sergeant Mette has been battling stomach cancer. Though he is now hospitalized in nearby Melbourne, Fla., he has been living in the same housing area he lived in while on active duty, thanks to the housing privatization partners at Patrick AFB. This has meant one less stress on him, his children and his wife of more than 10 years.
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Airmen from Elmendorf Air Force Base completed the first improved container delivery system drop using new 3-D weather technology March 19 over Tin City, Alaska.
The new system allows for better drop precision, factors in the altitude, wind speed, wind direction, terrain and other circumstances that might affect the drop.
"We've done ICDS drops in the last year but not as accurate as the drop we did Friday," said Maj. William Friar, the 353rd Combat Training Squadron instructor aircraft commander.
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The first class of Iraqi air force meteorology officers graduated March 25 from a formal technical training course in Baghdad taught by U.S. Air Force weather forecasters.
Iraqi Training and Advisory Mission-Air Force officials have Airmen assigned to teach Iraqi personnel how to create a self-sufficient and sustaining military. One such class is the weather forecaster's course, taught by Airmen from the 321st Air Expeditionary Advisory Group Air Operations Center Military Training Team. During this 52-day course, eight Iraqi military students were instructed on everything from basic weather observations to advanced weather forecast models.
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On April 1, 1997, the B-2 Spirit was declared operational. The B-2 is a multi-role bomber capable of delivering both conventional and nuclear munitions. A leap forward in technology, the bomber represents a major milestone in the U.S. bomber modernization program. The B-2 brings massive firepower to bear, in a short time, anywhere on the globe through previously impenetrable defenses.
The first B-2 was publicly displayed on Nov. 22, 1988, when it was rolled out of its hangar at Air Force Plant 42, Palmdale, Calif. Its first flight was July 17, 1989. Whiteman AFB, Mo., is the only base for the B-2.
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While the world searches for more efficient ways to fuel automobiles and create usable energy, Air Force scientists are looking for cleaner, more efficient ways to fuel the military's aircraft.
An A-10 Thunderbolt II flew March 25 solely on a blend of biomass-derived fuel and conventional JP-8 jet fuel; the first flight of its kind.
Air Force Materiel Command fuels experts Jeff Braun, the Air Force's alternative fuels certification office director; Tim Edwards, a senior chemical engineer with the Air Force Research Laboratory's propulsion directorate; and Betty Rodriguez, the chief engineer for the alternative fuels certification office, direct the research and certification of synthetic and biomass-derived alternative aviation fuels from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, participated in a "DOD Live" bloggers roundtable and offered their perspectives on the history-making demonstration flight.
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The human spirit is truly indomitable.
If I ever questioned that fact, the 2010 Disabled Veterans of America Winter Sports Clinic answered it for me.
During my assignment to cover the week's events March 28 through April 2 here, I saw some amazing examples of just how strong the human spirit is.
When my team and I arrived at the airport in Aspen, the veterans were already getting off of the plane, anticipating the week's sporting events, seeing old friends and meeting new ones. I helped the team of Airmen who volunteered to help disabled veterans off load the plane and a teammate and I boarded the plane with an airplane accessible wheelchair.
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In about 3.5 months, 425 Elmendorf Air Force Base Airmen accumulated more than 1 million push-ups to reach a unit goal.
In an effort to improve physical training scores and build camaraderie, 3rd Medical Group leaders posed the 100-day million push-up challenge and unit medics began logging their progress Dec. 14.
Each participant, on average, completed more than 2,700 push-ups in the 100-day million push-up challenge, with both of the top two finishers reaching more than 40,000.
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To keep up with the increasing demand for F-15E Strike Eagle pilots and weapon systems officers, a new group is standing up here.
The Air Force Reserve Command's 414th Fighter Group may have only a handful of assigned personnel now, but about 340 people will fall under the group, the 307th Fighter Squadron or the 414th Maintenance Squadron, by September 2011.
"We currently have 21 people and are actively hiring aircrews, intelligence (people) and maintainers for our organization," said Lt. Col. Kevin Fesler, 307th FS Det. 3 commander and 4th Operations Group deputy commander. "All of the full-time personnel are stationed at Seymour Johnson. The part-time traditional reservists live within driving distance of the base to fulfill their drill period requirements."
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