When the former Army officer created a morale patch poking fun at the most recent ruckus surrounding the Air Force’s plan to retire the A-10, he wasn’t sure how it would be received. He sold out of the “Treason Bird” patches in two days — all 400 of them. For those who haven’t followed the controversy, the stitching is in reference to alleged statements by a two-star general blasting officers as “treasonous” if they worked with Congress against the service’s own plans to phase out the A-10. An Air Force spokeswoman called the comments “hyperbole.” But after an outcry from…
Author Kristin Davis
It was only after the death of his 80-year-old neighbor that Senior Airman Robert Evans of Dyess Air Force Base, Texas, learned all they had in common. Now Evans hopes his story of what might have been inspires others to do things differently. Here’s his poignant letter to Air Force Times: My neighbor, retired Maj. Max B. Olson, was a Vietnam veteran who had an arsenal of amazing stories. He was awarded the Vietnam Service Medal and numerous Air Medals, and was a graduate of several flight schools. He had nearly 6,000 flight hours. Throughout his Air Force career, he piloted…
The Washington Post recently told the story of oft-impersonated former Sergeant Major of the Army Raymond Chandler, whose photo appears on “literally hundreds of dating profiles and social media accounts.” None of the profiles or accounts actually belong to him; Chandler’s been happily married for 13 years, he told the newspaper. Chandler is just one notable example service members falling victim to online scammers. “In the past few years, there have been numerous online scams where criminals have either directly targeted military personnel or used actual and fictitious information about U.S. military members to defraud the public,” Air Force Office…
Actor Vince Vaughn comes from a long line of military veterans — and actually considered joining the service himself after the Sept. 11, 2001 terrorist attacks. Vaughn instead decided to lend his support to the USO, entertaining troops around the world, including in Iraq and Afghanistan. On Saturday, the actor visited Edwards Air Force Base, California, where he met with airmen and screened his upcoming comedy “Unfinished Business” about a wayward business trip to Europe. The visit was part of Vaughn’s third USO tour and also marked the third time he’s screened upcoming films for troops, according to the USO. “My…
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh has unveiled his annual reading list — 12 titles mostly recommended by you. More than 1,700 airmen wrote in over 10 days recommending favorite books and movies, enough, Welsh wrote in his opening message, to “fill a library … with amazing fictional, historical, and biographical works, along with fascinating ideas about personal and organizational values, growth, and success.” Topping this year’s book list is the 2012 “Air Commanders” by John Andreas Olsen. Part-military biography and part-operational analysis, the book tells the stories of 12 airmen who “shaped the central air campaigns in American history,”…
In a column published in USA Today, a former judge advocate argues the Air Force has a double standard when it comes to expressing viewpoints contrary to the service’s own. Support the Air Force’s official stance, former Capt. Maribel Jarzabek writes, and get rewarded. Oppose it, she says, and get punished. Jarzabek gives as examples a two-star general’s recent alleged characterization as “treasonous” any officers who would work with lawmakers against the Air Force’s contentious plan to retire the A-10 — as well as her own case. Jarzabek told Air Force Times in December she was investigated and ultimately verbally counseled…
Senior Master Sgt. Steph Schwarz, combat flight engineer, 920th Rescue Wing, Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., responded to save two people who were critically injured when their personal watercraft slammed into his backyard wooden boat dock.(U.S. Air Force photo/Maj. Cathleen Snow)
Senior Master Sgt. Steph Schwartz didn’t think twice when a personal watercraft crashed into his backyard boat dock in Satellite Beach, Florida, Sunday, critically injuring two. The reservist with the 920th Rescue Wing at Patrick Air Force Base leaped into action — an impulsive response he credits to 27 years in Air Force rescue, according to a news release from his wing. Schwartz was inside around 2 p.m. Jan. 4 when he heard a crash “loud enough to make me jump out of my chair,” he said in the news release. The combat flight engineer ran outside, where he saw…
An Air National Guardsman from Robins Air Force Base, Georgia won the service’s first-ever “High Flyin’ BBQ Challenge.” Tech. Sgt. Todd Houghton, an aircraft structural mechanic with the 116th Air Control Wing, told Airman magazine he brought the same quest for perfection to barbecuing as he does to his job. “Growing up, my dad put it simply, ‘Anything that is worth doing, do it well and do it right on the first time,’” Houghton told the magazine in a story posted online this week. “When I go do a job on an aircraft, I ask myself, ‘Would I let my family fly…
Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh promotes Goldie the therapy dog to the rank of major during a ceremony at the Pentagon Nov. 12.
If this newly-minted major rises through the next three ranks as fast as he did the last three, he’ll pin on his first star next March. Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Welsh presided over Goldie’s “commissioning” just eight months ago at Walter Reed National Military Medical Center in Bethesda, Maryland. There, the 4-year-old Golden retriever is a beloved member of the therapy dog program, visiting service members undergoing rehabilitation. On Nov. 12, the general and the dog crossed paths again, this time at the Pentagon, where Welsh promoted Goldie from second lieutenant to major. “It’s a rather fast…
Last week marked three years since Air Force wife Kelli Abad vanished without a trace from Kadena Air Base, Japan. Her mother, Janice Cribbs, said she is still no closer to finding out what happened despite another year of letter-writing and reaching out to anyone who might be able to help. “Some days I’m like, ‘I might as well quit.’ Some days, I think it’s possible she might not want to be found even if she’s alive. Some days I get very angry because I feel like there’s a grave injustice that’s been committed because of the lack of response,”…
