Development, Training Flight Shapes Future Airmen

Sept. 14, 2026 | By Air Force Staff Sgt. Dakota Carter, 926th Wing |

For recruits assigned to the 926th Wing at Nellis Air Force Base, Nevada, their journey starts long before basic military training. Before ever setting foot on the drill pad, these future airmen are already learning exactly what it takes to succeed in the Air Force Reserve. 

Serving as the catalyst for this transition, the 926th Wing Development and Training Flight bridges the gap between civilian life and operational military service. By coming in regularly alongside current wing members, trainees get a firsthand glimpse into their future. During this time, they are introduced to the core tenets of military life, learning essential customs and courtesies, drill procedures and rank structure to establish a baseline of knowledge.

However, the training flight goes one step further with an initiative specifically designed to start building the wing from within. Beyond military fundamentals, trainees also embed with operational squadrons to gain firsthand experience with units they may eventually join. 

"The development and training flight is built for newly enlisted reservists that come into our wing," said Air Force Tech. Sgt. Bench Riche Lagus, a program coordinator assigned to the 926th. "It helps them prepare for [basic military training] and tech school, but it also helps them get integrated with the wing that they're about to work for." 

Trainees recently observed the 555th Rapid Engineer Deployable Heavy Operational Repair Squadron Engineers and traveled to Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, to witness security forces field operations. 

For trainees like Abril Fonseca, a future vehicle mechanic with the 555th, this early exposure eases the transition into military life and provides a tangible goal. 

"It's cool to see what our day-to-day [life] is going to look like," Fonseca said. "Everybody is just so pumped."

Establishing a common baseline can be a challenge as trainees enter the flight with different levels of experience, from recent high school graduates to those with established civilian careers. As they move through the program, they rely on one another to learn military expectations and adjust to their new environment. 

"The other trainees around me that have been there longer helped me out," Fonseca said. "It's a cycle; the people who have been here the longest help the newbies out, and then we just carry that on." 

Alongside military fundamentals and wing integration, physical readiness remains a cornerstone of the development and training flight curriculum. The program incorporates monthly fitness tests, group workouts and participation in wing fitness events to familiarize trainees with Air Force fitness standards. 

This proactive approach ensures recruits arrive at basic training already equipped with the physical resilience required for military service. For many trainees, the group environment provides the exact motivation they need. 

"I was not good at working out consistently before I got to the flight," Fonseca said. "But now it feels like I can actually do it. What makes it better for me is that I have my teammates around me supporting and pushing me."

Medal of Honor Monday: Army Capt. Daniel W. Lee Sr.

Sept. 14, 2026 | By David Vergun, Pentagon News |

Army Capt. Daniel W. Lee Sr. was a platoon leader during World War II. He earned the Medal of Honor for valorous action in southeast France in 1944, during Operation Dragoon. 

Lee was born June 23, 1919, in Alma, Georgia. His parents, Daniel M. Lee and Ida Hyres, were farmers. Lee and his six siblings grew up working on the family farm.

After graduating from Alma High School in 1937, Lee attended the University of Georgia, paying his way by working odd jobs; he worked for a professor, typed papers for fellow students and surveyed crops. He graduated in 1941 with a bachelor's degree in agriculture and began his career in soil management. 

In December 1942, Lee married Sallie Davis, and they had three children after his service ended in World War II: Daniel W. Lee Jr., James and Elizabeth. 

Shortly after being denied entry into the Air Force because he was colorblind, Lee was drafted into the Army in March 1942. He was commissioned a second lieutenant later that year, and his unit, the 117th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, shipped to England for training. They arrived in northern Algeria in 1943, but by then, the enemy had already surrendered. His unit then engaged in combat during the Italian Campaign, from May to August 1944. 

On Sept. 2, 1944, Lee was the leader of Headquarters Platoon, Troop A, 117th Cavalry Reconnaissance Squadron, 7th Army in Montrevel, France, when his Medal of Honor valor occurred. 

According to the medal citation, the Germans had mounted an hourslong attack against the outnumbered Americans when Lee organized a patrol to knock out their mortars.  

He led his men to the edge of town, neutralizing enemy riflemen on a ridge. Atop the ridge, he observed seven Germans manning two large mortars near an armored half-track about 100 yards down the slope.  

Armed with a rifle and grenades, Lee left his men on the high ground and crawled to within 30 yards of the mortars, where the enemy discovered him and unleashed machine-gun fire — shattering his right thigh.

"Scorning retreat, bleeding and suffering intense pain, he dragged himself relentlessly forward," the citation reads. 

Lee killed five Germans with rifle fire, and the others fled before he reached their position. While being fired on by an armored car, he took cover behind the German military vehicle and used a discarded German antitank weapon to neutralize the threat.  

"Despite his wounds, he inched his way toward the car through withering machine-gun fire, maneuvered into range and blasted the vehicle with a round from the rocket launcher, forcing it to withdraw," the citation reads.  

Lee struggled back to his men, where he collapsed from pain and loss of blood.  

During a 2022 interview, Lee's daughter provided further details. Outnumbered, Lee's platoon surrendered, and the Germans took many of the American soldiers but left Lee because of his injuries. 

"Dad told my brother that a German soldier made the decision to leave him there rather than kill him or take him, as he would not have made it. Dad was forever grateful," Beth Lee von Mersveldt said. 

Lee was promoted to first lieutenant, and despite his severe wounds, chose to remain in the military. He transitioned to the Army Reserve, then known as the Organized Reserve Corps. 

President Harry S. Truman presented the Medal of Honor to Lee in a White House ceremony, Jan. 23, 1946. During the ceremony, Truman reportedly told Lee and three others receiving the same award, "I would rather have that medal — the Congressional Medal of Honor — than to be president of the United States." 

After his recovery, Lee worked for the Veterans Administration in Valdosta, Georgia, assisting returning veterans with accessing healthcare, education and other benefits. 

He was recalled to service at the start of the Korean War in June 1950. He was promoted to captain and served as a combat training officer at Fort Knox, Kentucky, until 1952. Lee returned to civilian life, rising to the position of senior vice president of the Southwest Region of Military Service Company, the oldest division of EBSCO Industries. 

Lee died Jan. 22, 1985, at the age of 65, and is buried in Rose Hill Cemetery in Alma. His wife, Sallie, eventually remarried; she died Oct. 1, 2016. 

In April 1996, a bridge near his hometown was dedicated as the Daniel Warnell Lee Memorial Bridge.