AirForceDad.com

Check out our new diggs over at http://usaflive.dodlive.mil/ . We'll start posting over there in the coming weeks and will migrate all of our material to that site. We'll keep the Blogger site open for a while, but will eventually shut it down to get our material into the new blog site and will focus on that site. Thanks for your support.


Posted by the folks in the Air Force Public Affairs Agency who are bringing blogging into the U.S. Air Force.

Wanted to pass along a hat tip to the Colonel. Check out fromanairforcecolonel. I think he's the first Airman out there blogging on PA-type issues. Look back here, as we find more Air Force related blogs.

If you're interested in following a traditional reporter who blogs, take a look at this site.

His most recent post says:
"As we start to board our C-17 for the the six-hour flight down to Balad, Iraq, another Aeromedical Flight roars off the rain soaked runway and rises into the mist from the US military airfield at Ramstein,Germany.The C-17 is plotted to San Antonio,Texas and on board is a soldier severely burned in the line of duty.The flight we are taking handles critical care and ambulatory patients who will, for a time, be treated at the now legendary Landstuhl Medical center, the military operated hospital.When necessary, in extreme burn cases, the Air Force flies patients directly to the burn center in San Antonio. The patient is suspended in a stretcher, connected to life support equipment. A team of doctors and nurses fly standing up at his side all the way if necessary. Surgeries have been performed on these aircraft. The speed with which the critically injured are flown to treatment is remarkable.In the first Gulf War, it would take 10 days for a badly injured soldier to be brought to Europe or the U.S. for treatment. Now, it is 72 hours, and in the case of the soldier being flown to San Antonio, an even shorter time."

Thank you Mr. Malloy to working with Air Force PA to help share our Air Force story with the blogosphere.

Posted by Capt. David Faggard, Air Force Public Affairs.

Air Force officials just provided this photo of whom the media are labeling 'The Hudson Hero'.

Chesley 'Sully' Sullenberger is the U.S. Airways pilot who is credited with safely landing his passenger aircraft in the Hudson River January 15, 2009 -- no one was killed in the crash. Check out this article on the former Airman from Time.

Chief of Staff of the Air Force, Gen. Norton Schwartz said: “His Air Force is proud. Not only did he show remarkable airmanship, but also the commitment of being the captain of his ship.”

The picture is courtesy of the U.S. Air Force. Sullenberger is a 1973 graduate of the U.S. Air Force Academy and also served as a pilot in the U.S. Air Force from 1973-1980.

Update:
A pilot from Hickam Air Force Base spoke with a Honolulu television station Friday about his memories of flying with Chesley "Sully" Sullenberger, who made an emergency water landing without loss of life Thursday when his commerical aircraft lost power after takeoff. Read more!

Posted by Capt. David Faggard, Air Force Public Affairs.

Technical Sgt. Sean Arnold guides Rwandan defense force trucks on board a C-17 Globemaster III Jan. 13 at Kigali International Airport in Rwanda. This is the first load of five airlifts to the United Nations-African Union mission in Darfur. Sergeant Arnold is from Travis Air Force Base, Calif. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Samuel Bendet)

Lt. Gen. Norman Seip, the Twelfth Air Force and Air Forces Southern commander, will host a bloggers' roundtable Monday, January 12 at 8 a.m. to discuss issues of interest including updates on Reaper and Predator UAVs, Air Force operations and medical readiness exercises in Central and South America, and the Air Force's work on A-10 Thunderbolt "wing cracks" issues. Interested bloggers should contact the Blogger's Round Table through: http://www.dodlive.blogspot.com/ or an email to to bloggeroutreach (AT) dma.mil.

UPDATE:
Coverage from the Northshore Journal is linked here.

UPDATE Two:
"Next year, the US Air Force will procure more unmanned aircraft than manned aircraft," Air Force Lt. Gen. Norman Seip, commander of Twelfth Air Force (Air Forces Southern), said today. The General explained how the Air Force has 85 percent of its UAS capability currently deployed in support of operations in Southwest Asia. The other 15 percent are stateside to train UAS pilots and for operational test and development. Lt. Gen. Seip discussed the Air Force's unmanned aerial systems and pilot track, activities in Central, South America and the Caribbean, and A-10 Thunderbolt II wing cracking issues. Joining General Seip on the roundtable were Sagar Pathak with HorizontalRain.com, Chuck Simmins at America's North Shore Journal, David Axe with War is Boring, Paul McLeary, and Colin Clark of DoD Buzz. Audio(Mp3)

Posted by Capt. David Faggard, Air Force Public Affairs.

“The mission of the medical ETT (embedded transition team) is to train, coach, and mentor the ANA (Afghan national army) medical personnel in order for them to develop a self-sustaining medical system in order for the government of the Islamic Republic of Afghanistan to achieve security and stability,” U.S. Air Force Lt. Col. Ed Fieg, Deputy Team Leader and senior physician mentor of the 205th Corps, Afghan Regional Security Integration Command – South said to bloggers Dec. 30th. Fieg said, while less than perfect, the ANA medical system are functional and have made remarkable strides over the past year. Audio(Mp3)



Posted by Capt. David Faggard, Air Force Public Affairs

The men and women of Charleston Air Force Base, South Carolina launched 13 C-17s demonstrating "that we are ready to take the fight to the enemy!" even though many aircraft and Airmen are deployed around the world. The mission included a single pass over Charleston's most famous landmark, the Ravenel Bridge, air refueling and air drops.

Below is Part 2 of TSgt Cohen Young's account of an explosion at Sadr City District Area Council (DAC) Hall. Click here to see Part 1 of his story.

Explosion at Sadr City District Area Council (DAC) Hall--Part 2
By: Tech. Sgt. Cohen Young, Air Force Public Affairs Agency

Below: While on patrol in the Sadr City district of Baghdad with the U.S. Army, TSgt. Cohen Young takes a self portrait. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Cohen A. Young)

I then shouted for my team. I didn’t hear anything the first few times that I did this and then suddenly I heard the words, “Let’s get the ‘expletive’ out of here.” I turned and thought everyone was OK and heading out the door. I still couldn’t really see anything and went where I thought the team went. As I got outside the door, I looked around and only saw a few people and then thought to myself that we were missing people. I thought that I, or someone, needed to go back inside and get people… I looked around and didn’t see where the team was… then I just sucked it up and went back inside the building, cautiously entering. I noticed an Iraqi man lying in front of the office door with his leg blown off. As I walked towards him, an Iraqi Lieutenant Colonel who was our liaison came out the door holding his right arm, which was bleeding heavily. He was also bleeding from his head as he screamed, “OH GOD” several times. I walked him towards the far wall that I had previously come from and calmed him down and let him know that he was going to be okay.

The team then came running through screaming again, “Let’s get the ‘expletive’ out of here.” I thought we had everyone and grabbed the Iraqi LtCol and went with them. I noticed some were not with us. I asked where they were. We were rushed to the vehicles, whereupon arriving, I said that we needed to get back inside and get the rest of our people. While in the vehicle, we performed first aid on the Iraqi LtCol because he had multiple wounds everywhere. To give an idea of the severity, I emptied my first-aid kit while trying to help him. The driver wanted to come back and help us with the first aid, but I directed her to stay in the driver’s seat just in case we needed to leave right away and I also made sure the gunner maintained awareness during this fast and furious few minutes. I had the driver call in the number of people missing from our group and the extent of the injuries of our liaison.

Time seemed like it dragged on and every second was an eternity. Just as we finished the vehicle door opened and some of the security team had Maj. Kelley on a stretcher and he was badly hurt. There was blood everywhere. We left the liaison in the vehicle as as we exited so that Maj. Kelley could be loaded on board. I saw they were having difficulty, so I took the head of the stretcher and helped load it into the vehicle. Mind you, I had all of my camera equipment and my weapon hanging from my vest, so I tore that off after we got back into the vehicle.

I saw that Kelley was somewhat conscious and I began talking to him. He heard me and was panicking: I tried to calm him down. He was in bad shape. We had a hard time getting him all the way inside the vehicle and couldn’t shut the door. Kelley was not a small man at all; he was about six four or five. I let him know that we were going to get him to the rear. Again time was moving so slow. He sat up and said that he couldn’t breathe…

During this time, the vehicle started moving and we continued to talk to him as I looked for wounds and started trying to stop bleeding and wrap him up. He then stopped talking and breathing and I yelled at him to get his attention and then started CPR. I saw his chest move and it seemed like it was working…I started compressions again and the medic checked for a pulse. We kept talking to him, but without a response. By then we arrived at our military compound in Sadr City, where we started our day. We carried Kelley on a stretcher to the medical area where the medics tried to work on him, but were unable to revive him.

In all, six people died that day; all of them coalition related. (At left: Major Dwayne Kelley, U.S. Army Reserve, in his NJ State Police uniform.)

In the beginning, it was very difficult for me to talk about what had occurred and sometimes it still is because I had gotten to know Maj. Kelley very well during his short time there. He was from New Jersey and I’m from Philadelphia, so we would talk about the east coast a lot. He was a reservist and a state trooper for his daily job. The majority of the people in his unit were from New York or New Jersey, so we all got along pretty well. We smoked cigars together the previous week. We routinely had a cigar a couple nights a week to end the day and talked about family, work and life experiences; so it was kind of hard for me.

Two things recently made me feel better and they were the fact that I had received a thank-you letter from Maj. Kelley’s wife. I had written Mrs. Kelley and informed her that her husband was a good man and was in a good mood the previous day. I let her know about some of our conversations and she was happy for that and sent me a card thanking me for that letter and that it helped her get through this and that she read the letter many times and continues to read the letter daily.

I was informed that both of Maj. Kelley’s lungs were punctured and that it was amazing that he was able to speak to me at all later. He assured me that there was nothing that I would have been able to do to save him.

We'd like to thank TSgt Cohen Young for sharing this story with Air Force Live.

Posted by Paul F. Bove, Air Force Public Affairs Agency.

As we mentioned a couple weeks ago, Airmen in the US Air Force's Combat Camera Squadron bring us the memorable photos from deployments around the world. Being in the thick of war zones, those Airmen have to be ready for anything. As promised in the post, we are fortunate to have a first-hand experience from TSgt. Cohen Young's deployment with Combat Camera in Sadr City, Iraq. His story stands as a reminder that no Airmen's job is typical and tragedy can strike at any time. It is also a reminder that although Warrior Care Month just wrapped up, we must think of our Wounded Warriors all year long. Especially those who gave the ultimate sacrifice.

Explosion at Sadr City District Area Council (DAC) Hall-Part 1
By: TSgt Cohen Young, Air Force Public Affairs Agency

The 24th of June began like any other day that I had experienced in Iraq, specifically in Sadr City, which was so non-typical in comparison to my fellow combat cameramen stationed in other locations. I was scheduled to go outside the wire twice on this day. I would have the opportunity to go to my first city leader meeting, which meant that I would get to take off my helmet and possibly enjoy some air conditioning while documenting a piece of history. My afternoon mission would take me out to the local community and amongst the Sadr City children and residents. I would have to be relentlessly on guard because of the constant threat of snipers and improvised explosive devices (IEDs). My mission, though, was to document coalition, Government of Iraq and local resident interaction no matter what in the blistering heat, which at this time would easily reach 130 degrees Fahrenheit. (Above: Iraqi soldier stands guard at Sadr City DAC.)


I was looking forward to the laid back meeting coverage even though it didn’t seem like a typical combat camera mission. I was asked by Major Duane Kelley a week prior if I would want to come along to this meeting and I thought about it and agreed to accompany him. It would be his first meeting because he had only been at this location for two weeks. It would be my first meeting as well. I had also been asked by the Embedded Provincial Reconstruction Team (EPRT) leader in Baghdad, to attend the meeting as it would illustrate some of the positive changes occurring in Sadr City.


That morning, Maj. Kelley, my videographer and I joined the team EPRT and his staff in going to the Sadr City District Area Council (DAC) Hall. We left around 0900 and would unexpectedly return around 0930. We arrived outside the Hall at 0905 and the security detail rushed us into the main building due to recent shootings. The security team immediately stepped inside the building and went to their left and did a quick walk through the office of the temporary chairman. I asked what went on in this particular room and was told that it was just an initial meeting place before continuing on to the meeting hall.

(Above: Iraqi's check information posted at Sadr City DAC.)

Maj. Kelley was standing by, so I told him that I would go outside the office door and get some coverage of people entering the building while he waited for the start of the assembly meeting. He was okay with that and decided to take a seat in the left corner of the room. We walked past a few people and made an immediate right as we stepped outside the room. I stopped at a table just feet from the office door. I looked at the entrance of the DAC Hall building and began taking photos.

(Iraqis file into the building to attend the meetings. This is from TSgt Young's vantage point right before the explosion.)

We had been outside the office for about 20 seconds or so and I was on my seventh or eighth photo when suddenly there was a loud boom as the room that we just stepped out of exploded. There was smoke everywhere and I could hear yelling and crying at this point. During this time, I stood in complete amazement and was stunned momentarily and I kept thinking, “What the hell just happened?” I then snapped out of it and took a knee against a far wall. I looked around to see where anyone was, but couldn’t see anything due to the smoke. I then switched my weapon to the “fire” position.

After that, I noticed some light coming from the front entrance and there was an Iraqi man meandering through the door and shouting with his hands on his head. I couldn’t tell if he was in shock or just acting and trying to get people to come in his direction. I immediately referred to my previous training in which after an explosion, suicide bombers routinely like to lure people in so they can set-off a secondary explosive; therefore, I raised my weapon and yelled at the man to go back outside the door and he did.

Come back next week for the conclusion of TSgt Young's story about Sadr City.
All photos courtesy of TSgt Cohen Young.

Posted by Paul F. Bove, Air Force Public Affairs Agency.