The Air Force is taking a page from the Cold War playbook to plan for deployments to the Asia-Pacific region. You can read how rotations to Australia and elsewhere in the Pacific will be modeled after the “Checkered Flag” deployments. While the Air Force is increasing its presence in the region, budget cuts have forced Pacific Air Forces to curtail exercises. See which exercises have been put on hold. Facing decreasing defense budgets for the foreseeable future, the Air Force is looking into how many aircraft and bases it needs and making big changes in the active-reserve mix to save…
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The Air Force is taking a page from the Cold War playbook to plan for deployments to the Asia-Pacific region. You can read how rotations to Australia and elsewhere in the Pacific will be modeled after the “Checkered Flag” deployments. While the Air Force is increasing its presence in the region, budget cuts have forced Pacific Air Forces to curtail exercises. See which exercises have been put on hold. Facing decreasing defense budgets for the foreseeable future, the Air Force is looking into how many aircraft and bases it needs and making big changes in the active-reserve mix to save…
Are you a Denver Broncos fan? This Guardsman sure is — enough to be a part of the team. Benjamin Garland, first lieutenant for the 140th Wing, Colorado Air National Guard, is now the Denver Broncos offensive guard. “[It’s] extremely challenging; its way more difficult than it looks,” Garland said in a release. “[It’s] so much a mental game where you have to understand the whole dynamic of the defense and how just a small move from a defensive player changes the play completely.” After a long offseason and spending last year on the practice squad, he’s now in the…
Even with these high summer temperatures, 94 airman pedaled across Iowa as part of the Registers Annual Bicycle Ride across Iowa, or RAGBRAI, which began July 21. Staff Sgt. Abigail Klein, 931st Air Refueling Group, writes that the Air Force Cycling Team, under the leadership of Senior Master Sgt. Larry Gallo, 433rd Airlift Wing, Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, started their trek at Council Bluffs, and by week’s end, biked more than 400 miles across Iowa. One of the longest rides of the seven-day event took place July 22, and was dubbed “The Century.” Airmen biked approximately 100 miles from…
Family members of the crew flying on a C-124 Globemaster II that crashed Nov. 22, 1952, may finally be getting some answers. The shifting of an Alaskan glacier that unearthed some wreckage and frozen remains from the cargo plane that crashed near Mount Gannett, Alaska has given Alaskan Command and the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) more evidence to work with. According to ABC News, additional layers of the glacier melted away this winter, yielding more possibilities of finding remains. JPAC returned to Alaska last month to continue the investigation said Lee Tucker, a JPAC spokesperson. JPAC concluded its investigation…
This week the Air Force posted some interesting photos of the Colorado Air National Guard’s 140th Fighter Wing in action, training alongside Jordanian F-16s and U.S. Marine Corps F/A-18s for exercise Eager Lion. The F-16s were deployed for the training, which wrapped up last week. The Jordanian government requested that the F-16s stay due to the civil war in Syria. The Air Force says that the training is focused “on missions the United States and its coalition partners might perform in support of global contingency operations.”
*UPDATE: As of June 20, $41,500 has been given out to 75 families, with more applications coming. The funding changed to $500 per family. For their efforts helping families hurt by the Moore Tornado, AWCF members Mike Sloniker and Bill Schwertfeger have been selected to the Oklahoma Military Hall of Fame for 2013.* From the East Coast’s Superstorm Sandy to the monster tornado of the Oklahoma City suburbs, the Air Warrior Courage Foundation is there to help airmen pick up the pieces of their lives. The foundation has already set aside funds for military victims to get back on their…
In light of the tragic events in Boston yesterday, many gathered together to help the wounded during the attacks, donate blood to hospitals in need and revisit the site to recognize the victims. So far, over 170 have been reported injured, and three are confirmed dead. Along with first responders, the Massachusetts National Guard received orders to assist the Boston police and provide additional support in the aftermath of the attack. Rhode Island and New York also provided troop support. Early Tuesday, the Massachusetts National Guard reported more than 1,000 personnel on duty — additionally, the Massachusetts National Guard’s 387th…
One Air National Guard spouse has just gone beyond the ‘No Pain, No Gain’ weightlifting slogan. And this isn’t Olympic weightlifting or body building — this is powerlifting. “My wife is currently the number three rated woman powerlifter for her weight class in the nation,” said Senior Master Sgt. Andrew Traugot, director of education at the I.G. Brown Training and Education Center, Tenn. in an Air Force press release. In her personal best powerlift competition, Vikki Traugot benched 325 lbs., deadlifted 408 pounds and squatted 480 pounds. In her most recent professional meet, she took first place overall in the…
Just before his retirement, Col. Donald Majercik decided he wanted to hit a milestone. Majercik, a flight surgeon with the Vermont Air National Guard, on Nov. 29 reached a first for flight surgeons in the Air Force, he flew his 1,000th hour. Flight surgeons in the Air Force have to log flight hours as a part of their aerospace medicine practice, according to the Air Force release. Majercik, however, is different. Most surgeons do not fly near as many hours, and especially not in a fighter like the F-16. “I wanted to do something special before I left the Guard,”…
