In a culture where deployments are part of daily life and Airmen regularly perform duties above their rank, professional development is an important piece of cultivating the enlisted force to meet mission requirements, Air Force leaders said recently at the 2011 Air Force Sergeants Association Professional Airmen's Conference.
Though many venues exist for enlisted Airmen to flourish, AFSA's Professional Airman's Conference, which was held this year here from July 23-27, is an annual opportunity for many to join together and learn.
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With their clipboards and homework packets in hand, students at the Defense Language Institute English Language Center boarded the bus and headed for the Bob Bullock Texas State History Museum in Austin, Texas.
However, this is no ordinary field trip. It is a mobile classroom, and the students are expected to actively participate and meet objectives as if they were in a typical classroom environment.
"It's a whole learning experience, and they can tie that back in when they're in the classroom," said Miconna Boaldin, the chief of the Field Studies Program.
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A government office dedicated to protecting service members and their families from financial predators and pitfalls officially opened for business recently.
As the military arm of the Consumer Financial Protection Bureau, the Office of Servicemember Affairs is intended to strengthen military families financially and to serve as an advocate on their behalf, explained Holly Petraeus, who was tapped to head up the new office in January.
"Military families have special challenges," said Petraeus, the wife of Army Gen. David H. Petraeus. "There are 50 different states with 50 different laws, and military personnel may not be aware of the protections in the state where they live."
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SAFE SKIES 2011 came to a close here July 29 after twelve days of what officials said were successful flying training missions.
Lt. Gen. Vasyl Nikiforov, the deputy commander of the Ukrainian air force, addressed the 130 Air National Guardsmen as they stood in formation on the ramp here. Across from the U.S. Airmen, stood the nearly 200 Ukrainian airmen who participated in SAFE SKIES 2011.
SAFE SKIES was a multinational aerial event designed to provide a unique opportunity for Ukrainian, Polish and American air forces to fly together to help prepare the Polish and Ukrainians for enhanced air supremacy and air sovereignty operations. Through the State Partnership Program, California Air National Guard officials began planning this event in 2009.
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As Congress debates ways to address the federal debt ceiling, reserve component military leaders were on Capitol Hill recently to testify and answer questions about retaining operational roles, changes to mobilization and future budget challenges.
Led by chairman Joe Wilson, of S.C., and ranking member Susan Davis, of Calif., the House Armed Services Committee's Subcommittee on Military Personnel met with reserve component leaders from the Air Force, Army, Navy, Marine Corps and Coast Guard July 27.
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The Joint Strike Fighter Program Office deputy director expressed confidence in the progress of the JSF program at an Air Force Association breakfast program here July 27.
The upgrades and acquisitions, particularly the completion of the new Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., training facility, helps to advance the fifth-generation F-35 Lightning II program, said Maj. Gen. C.D. Moore.
"The F-35 is at the nexus of concurrency where we are building production aircraft, conducting developmental tests, and starting to build a cadre of future Joint Strike Fighter maintainers and pilots," Moore said. "We're approaching the point where we (are) flight testing and delivering aircraft simultaneously ... with two at Eglin and four more in the works ... three of which at Ft. Worth, (Texas) are finished and ready to go."
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Citing the city's long military history, Mayor Michael Bloomberg declared July 28 as "Air Force Day" in New York, through a proclamation read at the Air Force Association Iron Gate Chapter's 50th Anniversary Luncheon here.
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz spoke at the event, and received the proclamation from retired Air Force colonel and current New York Commissioner for Veterans Affairs Terrance Holliday.
The proclamation highlighted several historical instances of New York's link to the military, including a vignette of how former New York Mayor Fiorello Henry LaGuardia was part of a bomb squadron in Europe during World War I, and rose to the rank of major in the Army Air Service. LaGuardia later tried to return to the service after the outbreak of WWII.
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The situation remains serious in the Minot Air Force Base, N.D., area, and the stop movement order remains in place, Air Force officials announced July 29.
Heavy spring flooding forced many to evacuate the city of Minot N.D., prompting the 5th Bomb Wing and 91st Missile Wing commanders to request a partial stop movement in June.
Military members who will be allowed to proceed include technical training graduates and accessions who are single with no dependents, said Col. David Slade, the military assignments director. Those who are married or who have dependents will not be allowed to proceed.
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Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz capped the 2011 Air Force Sergeants Association Professional Airmen's Conference with remarks at an awards banquet here July 27.
Donley congratulated AFSA on its 50 years of dedicated service to enlisted Airmen. He also applauded the AFSA and Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force Award winners, and commended Airmen for their continued professionalism and dedication.
"Our NCO corps is the envy of the world, and for that I owe many of you here tonight a debt of gratitude for the high standards and professionalism you have built to this point and will pass on to the next generation of enlisted leaders," Donley said.
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Though it's consolidating soon in nearby Bethesda, Md., with the National Naval Medical Center, Walter Reed Army Medical Center has built a lasting legacy, Army Secretary John M. McHugh said here July 27 at a ceremony in which the 102-year-old hospital cased its colors.
The consolidation in Bethesda, mandated by the 2005 Base Realignment and Closure Act and expected to be complete by the end of September, will create the Walter Reed National Military Medical Center.
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