Maintainers are towing F-16 Fighting Falcons out of retirement from the "boneyard" here July 29 and preparing them to become the Air Force's newest platform for target training.
Specialists with the 309th Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group are regenerating F-16s so they can be flown to a Boeing facility in Florida where they will be converted to QF-16 full-scale aerial targets.
Boeing officials received a $69.7 million contract from Air Force officials in March to convert up to 126 retired F-16s into QF-16 drones that can fly either manned or unmanned, according to a Boeing press release.
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Commanders from the 3rd Wing and the Alaska Air National Guard's 176th Wing here spoke to local media July 31, discussing the weekend's Arctic Thunder air show and the tragic C-17 Globemaster III crash July 28 which killed four crewmembers.
Maj. Michael Freyholtz, 34, from Hines, Minn., and Maj. Aaron Malone, 36, from Anchorage, Alaska, both pilots assigned to the Alaska Air National Guard's 249th Airlift Squadron; Capt. Jeffrey Hill, 31, from York, Pa., a pilot assigned to Elmendorf's 517th Airlift Squadron; and Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Cicardo, 47, from Anchorage, a loadmaster with the 249th Airlift Squadron, were killed in the crash.
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An Airman from Hurlburt Field, Fla., donated a portion of his liver to help save the life of a two-year-old boy.
Senior Airman Mario Webb, a ground radio maintainer from the 23rd Special Tactics Squadron, acted as a living donor to give his son, Genghis, a liver transplant in April.
Airman Webb and Genghis are scheduled to be released in early August to go home after a more than three-month stay in the Ronald McDonald House here while they recuperated from their surgeries.
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The Air Force Global Strike Command's director of installations, logistics and mission support visited here July 21 through 23 to discuss the base's transformation from the current logistical process to the Expeditionary Combat Support System.
During her site visit, Ann Mitchell stressed the importance of change with regard to ECSS, the system that will manage the logistical infrastructure in the future.
Ms. Mitchell called ECSS the most significant logistics transformation in Air Force history which has great potential to improve warfighter capability.
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Department of Defense officials announced July 30 the school year 2010/2011 child care fee policy.
The policy will adjust fee ranges in child care programs across the services and will be implemented no later than Sept. 30.
Changes will impact families who have children enrolled in DOD child development centers and school age care programs.
The DOD broadened child care fee ranges from six to nine categories, raised the income cap on each fee range, and established the top earning range at $125,000 per year and above for a more equitable policy.
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Air Force officials released several announcements regarding five different aircraft July 29.
Michael Donley, the Secretary of the Air Force and Gen. Norton Schwartz, the chief of staff of the Air Force, approved C-27J operations and training candidate bases and announced the transition of Holloman Air Force Base, N.M., to the F-16 Fighting Falcon training mission.
Air Force officials also announced the preferred alternatives for operational and training F-35 Lightning bases, announced Beale Air Force Base, Calif., as the preferred alternative basing option for the MC-12 Liberty and determined the most effective basing for the F-22 Raptor.
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Women in today's military serve closer to the front lines of combat than ever before, and as they become veterans, Veterans Affairs specialists will be ready to handle their care, VA Secretary Eric K. Shinseki said July 29.
Speaking at a forum on women veterans at the Women in Military Service for America Memorial in Arlington, Va., Secretary Shinseki underscored the need to improve care for women veterans, citing their military contributions and the complexity of issues women may return with from battle.
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The Defense Department is adjusting its child care fees, adding categories for its highest income earners, to compensate for six years without fee range increases, Pentagon officials announced July 30.
The department's Military and Community Family Policy Office has added three categories to the top of its fee schedule to go into effect by September 30, said Barbara Thompson, the director of the office of family policy, children and youth.
Each service will issue specific fee guidelines, including exceptions to the fee schedule, and adopt fees within the policy office's ranges, she said.
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Maj. Michael Freyholtz, 34, from Hines, Minn., and Maj. Aaron Malone, 36, from Anchorage, Alaska, both pilots assigned to the Alaska Air National Guard's 249th Airlift Squadron; Capt. Jeffrey Hill, 31, from York, Pa., a pilot assigned to Elmendorf's 517th Airlift Squadron; and Master Sgt. Thomas Cicardo, 47, from Anchorage; 249th Airlift Squadron loadmaster, were killed in the C-17 crash here July 28.
"We come to work with immense sorrow after four of our fellow Airmen lost their lives in the C-17 crash at Elmendorf Air Force Base Wednesday," said Brig. Gen. Charles E. Foster, the 176th Wing commander, Alaska Air National Guard. "They were more than valued Airmen. They were our teammates, friends, family members and fellow Alaskans. We mourn their loss and share the deep sadness of their families."
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I thought I was ready for war.
I had gone through Army combat skills training at Ft. Lewis, Wash. I had squared away all my financial and legal documents. I even found a new confidence and a love for the military.
My brother, Army Sgt. Ian Ralston, a combat medic, and I spoke on the phone while I was at Baltimore International Airport, just hours before I boarded my first flight overseas.
He offered me advice, motivation and insight into the Army way of doing things, as I was deploying with the 10th Mountain Division.
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