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  • WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. - Senior Airman Erick Hall, 393rd Bomb Squadron, Aircrew Flight Equipment specialist inspects a MBU20/P mask. Masks are inspected every 30 days for damage. Aircrew Flight Equipment Specialist’s are capable of making repairs to equipment as needed. (U.S. Air Force Photo/ Senior Airman Jessica Snow)

    AFE Airmen, the silent lifesaver

    If things go from bad to worse during flight, and pilots exhaust all options as their aircraft succumbs to gravity, the lives of those pilots rest in the hands of a few Aircrew Flight Equipment Airmen. AFE Airmen are responsible for inspecting, repairing and packing all pilots' life-saving equipment and their emergency parachutes installed on the
  • SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Technical Sgt. Scott Neu, a convoy commander from the 586th Expeditionary Logistics Readiness Squadron, 70th Medium Truck Detachment, gears up before leading a recent convoy from an Army camp in the Persian Gulf Region. The Airmen of the 70th and 424th MTDs assigned to the 586th ELRS are in-lieu-of forces supporting the Army Support Line-Haul Convoy movements in and out of Iraq. Sergeant Neu is deployed from Eglin Air Force Base, Fla. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Staff Sgt. Patrick Dixon)

    COMBAT TRUCKERS: 'We haul ours to save yours!'

    Editor's note: This is the first of a three part series titled "Combat Truckers." The series takes a look at how a group of vehicle operators have paved their way into history and their fellow Airmen who make their unique mission happen. While most Airmen perform the exact same skill set at their deployed location as they do at home, that's not
  • LANGLEY AIR FORCE BASE, Va. -- U.S. Department of Agriculture Wildlife Biologist Tom Olexa, shoots pyrotechnics in front of the runway here to disperse a flock of birds before a pair of F-22 Raptors (background) take off. Wet areas around the runway attract all sorts of wildlife, including birds, which pose a hazard to launching aircraft. Mr. Olexa works with the 1st Fighter Wing's Bird and Wildlife Aircraft Strike Hazard team, known as BASH.

    Birds are FOD, responsible for millions in damage to AF aircraft

    Free-falling clams dropped by in-flight birds are regular air-threats to the high-tech F-22 Raptor. Gulls drop fist-sized mollusks on the Langley runway to break open the shell-fish appetizer - nothing personal. But their shelling device just happens to be a convenient launch pad for aircraft in the 1st Fighter Wing. The gulls remove half their
  • Master Sgt. Ronald Heller, 28th Operations Support Squadron intelligence flight superintendent, stretches with his coworkers during a group physical training session at the Pride Hanger March 20. Sergeant Heller lost the lower half of one leg due to cardiovascular blood complications, but gained a renewed vigor for his outlook on life. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Michael B. Keller)

    Overcoming personal tragedy, inspiring others

    Upon seeing him, one would never suspect a difference between him and any other uniformed servicemember. He stands tall, exhibiting a more-than-personable attitude and fervor for military professionalism. However, there is more to this Airman than anyone would immediately suspect. In May 2007, Master Sgt. Ronald Heller, 28th Operations Support
  • MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. – Steven Callich, A-10C full mission trainer operator, highlights features of the digitally-upgraded ground attack aircraft to Maj. Gen Francis Gideon, former A-10A test pilot. General Gideon retired in 2000 as the chief of safety for the Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Parker Gyokeres)

    Former safety chief gives A-10C drivers hard-learned history lesson

    Thousands of warriors have a recent Moody visitor to thank for developments made to a major weapons system before many of them were even born. In 1978, Maj. Gen. Francis Gideon, who retired in 2000 as the Air Force's chief of safety, was one of the first test pilots assigned to the A-10 joint task force. General Gideon, who now lives in Twin Falls,
  • MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho -- The Rev. Samuel "Billy" Kyles speaks at a commemoration ceremony in honor of Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. here Jan. 29. Rev. Kyles has been a long time leader in the civil rights movement and was present on the balcony of the Lorraine Motel in Memphis, Tenn. on April 4, 1968 when Dr. King was assassinated. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Airman 1st Class Ryan Crane)

    Civil rights legend honors King holiday

    1968. Memphis, Tenn. Room 306 at the Lorraine Motel. Friends sit in fellowship discussing a recent union strike. They didn't know this would be the last moments they would spend with one of their dearest friends and one of history's most admired people. This man was Dr. Martin Luther King Jr. and his dream of racial equality and peace for all
  • WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. - Weapon specialists look on as a mock up of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator sits in bomb bay of the B-2 weapons load trainer dec. 18. (Photo printed with permission of Col. Bob Dulong)

    Future 30,000-pound bomb reaches mile stone

    Air power was taken to a new level when a team of weapons specialists loaded a 20-foot mock bomb into the bomb bay of a simulated aircraft here Dec. 18. This wasn't just any fake bomb or aircraft. The bomb was a mock up of the Massive Ordnance Penetrator, a 30,000 pound bomb that has yet to enter production. The aircraft was a mock up of the
  • MOUNTAIN HOME AIR FORCE BASE, Idaho -- Capt. Stephen A. Rusch poses in front of an F-4E Phantom II aircraft. Captain Rusch served as a weapons system officer during the Vietnam War. He was assigned to the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing’s 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Da Nang, Republic of Vietnam, when his plane went down during a combat mission. His remains were identified on Nov. 27, and he was returned home for burial on Nov. 30. (Courtesy photo)

    Gunfighter missing in action identified

    On March 7, 1972, Capt. Stephen A. Rusch went on a mission during the Vietnam War.More than three and a half decades later, he returned home.Captain Rusch, a native of Lambertville, N.J., served as an F-4E Phantom weapons system officer during the Vietnam War. Assigned to the 366th Tactical Fighter Wing's 4th Tactical Fighter Squadron at Da Nang,
  • SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. -- Mark Hall, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron pollution prevention planner, shows the contents of a gift package to 2-year-old Amelie Helbing as Tech. Sgt. Andrew Teague, 20th CES environmental plans overseer, congratulates Staff Sgt. Nicole Helbing, 20th Foward Support Squadron fitness shift supervisor, for winning the Recycling Family of the Month Award Nov. 27. (U.S. Air Force photo/Airman 1st Class Kathrine McDowell)

    Shaw aims to recycle more, make less trash

    People tend to take care of things important to them such as their personal possessions, friends and family. They tend to ignore things perceived as not important. People throw anything away that is of no use to them and call it "trash." Is it really trash? According to Mark Hall, 20th Civil Engineer Squadron pollution prevention manager, almost
  • KANDAHAR AIRFIELD, Afghanistan -- Tech. Sgt. Mark De Corte, 5th Medical Support Squadron, Non commissioned officer in charge of medical readiness, poses next to an HH-60 Pave Hawk, while deployed to Afghanistan as a member of the 33rd Expeditionary Rescue Squadron based in Kandahar. The tan footprints painted on the helicopter represent lives saved. Sergeant DeCorte was recently selected to take part in the "Why We Serve" program. He will be traveling around the country telling his story. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Brian Ferguson)

    Minot medic becomes combatant to save friendly, enemy forces

    Not too many people can tell a story of saving the life of someone who's trying to kill them. For Tech. Sgt. Mark DeCorte, 5th Medical Support Squadron, NCO in charge of medical readiness, this is a story he's in a postion to tell from experience as a combat medic in Operation Enduring Freedom. Sergeant DeCorte recently returned from Afghanistan,
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