Air Force officials unveiled a plan Aug. 31 to establish Los Angeles Air Force Base, Calif., as the first federal facility to replace 100 percent of its general purpose fleet with plug-in electric vehicles.
"With gas prices rising and the cost of batteries falling, now is the time to move toward electric vehicles," said Undersecretary of the Air Force Erin Conaton. "The 100-percent Electric Vehicle Base initiative is a critical first step in this direction and will help guide the way for broader fleet electrification."
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A suspicious package was received by mail carriers at approximately 9:30 a.m. Aug. 31 here, whereupon two U.S. postal workers and one service member experienced rash-like symptoms after handling the package.
They were immediately sent to a local hospital and have since been released.
Thirteen other personnel were decontaminated on site as a precautionary measure, and one other person later self-identified and went through the decontamination process.
Emergency responders were immediately dispatched and are still on scene. Officials are still working to isolate and confirm details of the suspicious material, and are working with local law officials.
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Webcasts developed to help GS-7 through GS-11 civilian Airmen plan and manage their careers will be held at various dates and times through Oct. 6.
Originally slated for June, the GS-7 through GS-11 webcasts were rescheduled to help prevent login problems
"This is our largest civilian Airmen population," said Loretta Brown, the leadership development program office chief. "We want to make sure every interested member is able to sit in on the webcast and take advantage of this critical career information, but we were concerned that the host site would not accommodate such a large number of participants."
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The Cadet Interfaith Council here kicked off an outreach partnership with a Colorado Springs food bank Aug. 27, answering President Barack Obama's challenge to colleges to become involved in interfaith cooperation and community service.
Council members and chaplains spent two hours at Care and Share Food Bank of Southern Colorado packing and palletizing boxes for distribution to families in need of assistance.
The U.S. Air Force Academy's involvement began earlier this year, when Chaplain (Capt.) Shawn Menchion, the branch chief of the Academy chapel's plans and programs division, received an email outlining the program. He drafted a plan for the Academy to participate and submitted it to Academy superintendent Lt. Gen. Mike Gould for approval.
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Airmen from the National Guard tactical air control party specialists have pooled their resources to implement a standardized training program to streamline upgrade training.
Project 275, whose name is a throwback to the career field's old specialty code to remind Airmen of the need to get back to basics, said Chief Master Sgt. John Babcock, the superintendent of the 165th Air Support Operations Squadron here. Project 275 allows three-level TACPs and volunteer instructors from across the National Guard to gather in one location to train together.
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President Barack Obama called on Congress Aug. 30 to move quickly on an initiative to offer tax credits to employers who hire unemployed veterans, including those with disabilities.
Speaking at the American Legion National Convention in Minneapolis, the president emphasized the nation's responsibility to care for its veterans.
"To get this done, I've proposed a Returning Heroes Tax Credit for companies that hire unemployed veterans and a Wounded Warrior Tax Credit for companies that hire unemployed veterans with a disability," Obama told the assembly. "When Congress returns from recess, this needs to be at the top of the agenda."
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Millions of hardcopy forms and information products distributed by the Air Force will be delivered to customers at half the cost beginning fiscal 2012.
Air Force officials are contracting with Army officials to move all of the service's warehoused printed material from the Air Force Publishing Distribution Center in Baltimore to an Army-managed facility in St. Louis. The move is expected to save the Air Force more than $800,000 in the first year alone.
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What is real? If it's what you can see, hear and feel, then the MI-171E simulator here is real.
The simulator is a training tool for the two MI-171E squadrons here and is mainly used for emergency procedures and simulated instrument meteorological-conditions flight.
The process of obtaining the simulator began four years ago with a letter of request and was completed at the end of July with the final assembly and the start of training. The simulator was purchased from Trencin, Slovakia, by the Iraqis for $4.8 million and officials said it will pave the way for many helicopter pilots in the future.
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On March 26, 1970, Maj. Richard Elzinga was flying in an O-1 Birddog on one of his first missions in the Vietnam War, when the plane lost contact and presumably went down in Laos. Until just recently, Elzinga was classified as missing in action.
In early July 2011, I had the solemn honor to escort home the identified remains of Elzinga to his family for burial at Arlington National Cemetery, Va. This mission provided me with an amazing amount of perspective, and I wanted to take the opportunity to pass along some of my observations and reflections.
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President Barack Obama called on the American people Aug. 29 to come together in the spirit of service and remembrance as the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks approaches.
"In just two weeks, we'll come together as a nation to mark the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11 attacks," the president said in his weekly address.
"We'll remember the innocent lives we lost," Obama said. "We'll stand with the families who loved them. We'll honor the heroic first responders who rushed to the scene and saved so many. And we'll pay tribute to our troops and military families, and all those who have served over the past 10 years to keep us safe and strong."
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