48th AEG takes critical step to validate NATO FOB

by Airman 1st Class Dana J. Butler
48th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

4/25/2014 - SIAULIAI AIR BASE, Lithuania  -- Airmen from the 48th Air Expeditionary Group recently took a trip to Amari Air Base, Estonia, to engage and certify the aircraft arresting system, taking a critical step toward validating the new NATO Forward Operating Base.

Barrier maintenance Airmen from the 435th Construction and Training Squadron at Ramstein Air Base, Germany, deployed to the 48th Air Expeditionary Group at Siauliai Air Base, Lithuania, travelled to Estonia for the third time to certify the aircraft arresting systems and work alongside fellow Estonian air force counterparts.

"I've worked with the Estonians before when we went up there in February and March in order to get the barrier systems up to U.S. standards, so we exchanged technical orders and brought them up to our standards," said Staff Sgt. Josh Nicholson, 48th AEG aircraft arresting systems craftsman. "We worked very well together, they are very knowledgeable."

Two F-15C Eagles, originally from Royal Air Force Lakenheath, U.K., helped conduct the certification.

Fighters staged at each end of the runway took turns engaging the barrier by taxiing at about 130 miles per hour with their tail hook lowered so as to hook onto the cable, which gradually slowed the aircraft to a safe, complete stop, much like what occurs on an aircraft carrier.

Once the aircraft was no longer moving, emergency crews, already standing by, rushed in to tend to the pilot and shut down the plane's engines before setting up for the next engagement.

According to Nicholson, the Air Force requires barrier engagement tests every 12 months if not engaged by a plane in a one-year time span.

"The initial certification of the aircraft arresting system involves taking an active aircraft and approaching the cable at a designated speed based on the weight of the aircraft; it engages the cable, which will stop the aircraft in around 1,000 feet," said Nicholson.

According to 2nd Lt. Bryan Butler, 48th AEG maintenance officer in charge, these newly certified cables greatly enhance the interoperability between allied partners.

"Making sure these cables are certified gives us another airfield to operate out of for joint exercises and other potential NATO operations," said Butler.

Hagel Urges Trilateral Work for Threat Assessment, Cybersecurity

By Cheryl Pellerin

American Forces Press Service

ABOARD A MILITARY AIRCRAFT, April 25, 2014 – At the second North American Defense Ministerial, with his counterparts from Canada and Mexico, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel urged a quick start to trilateral work on continental threat assessment and cybersecurity, and closer work among the three nations on humanitarian assistance and disaster relief.

The secretary also offered to host the next defense ministerial in Washington in 2016 to continue the important trilateral dialogue.

Meeting in Mexico City yesterday during his first forum with Canadian Defense Minister Rob Nicholson and Mexico’s Secretary of National Defense Gen. Salvador Cienfuegos Zepeda and Naval Secretary Adm. Vidal Francisco Soberón Sanz, Hagel observed in prepared remarks that a dynamic defense partnership that builds on successes and shared interests, and respects sovereignty concerns, will create a more resilient North America.

“Our presence here today and our commitment to advancing our defense partnership is a recognition that together we can more effectively address the complex security threats facing our countries,” the secretary said during the ministerial plenary session.

Beginning with common challenges, Hagel said the ministers should support a Canadian proposal to produce a digest of collective defense activities and policies.

Similar to an effort begun after the inaugural 2012 North American Defense Ministerial to develop an updated continental threat assessment, he added, such a digest could provide a starting point to coordinate efforts to avoid duplication and maximize scarce resources.

The initial effort to develop a continental threat assessment was a good start to identifying common threats and interests, the secretary said.

“There is merit to updating that assessment to reflect current and future threats and deepen our understanding of our security challenges. I propose that we establish a working group to provide principals an updated, non-binding, continental threat assessment within a year after this ministerial,” Hagel said. “It’s something we can assess when we next meet at the ministerial level.”

Cybersecurity is another common challenge that knows no borders, the secretary said.

Each U.S. defense institution works individually to address potential cyber threats, he said, adding that the Defense Department has worked to elevate the importance of cybersecurity in the National Security Strategy.

In its recently released Quadrennial Defense Review, the department said it would dedicate more resources to cybersecurity, Hagel noted.

“While our defense institutions do not have the lead in our respective countries for cybersecurity, we all share a common interest in [protecting] military communications,” the secretary said. “I propose that we establish a cyber working group to identify potential opportunities to work together to share best practices and lessons learned.”

On humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, Hagel said natural disasters also recognize no national borders and defense institutions provide critical support to lead civilian agencies under such circumstances.

“Each of our nations faces constrained defense budgets [but] the demand for military support to civilian agencies continues to increase as we experience more frequent and larger-scale natural disasters,” the secretary said.

“This was a key … subject of discussion at the [Association of Southeast Asian Nations, or] ASEAN Defense Ministers meeting I attended earlier this month in Hawaii. We are making important progress with our Southeast Asian partners in coordinating military responses to disasters,” Hagel told the ministers, “and I am pleased that we are beginning to do the same in our hemisphere.”

Recalling relief efforts after Hurricane Mitch in 1998, the 2010 Haiti earthquake and the 2004 Indonesian 9.1-magnitude earthquake whose Indian Ocean tsunami killed as many as 230,000 people, the secretary said these natural disasters demonstrate the challenges any one country faces in trying to meet enormous demands for humanitarian assistance in the wake of such events.

The capabilities and experience militaries collectively bring in response to natural disasters can’t be overstated, he added.

“I would like to see our three countries work more closely together in the area of humanitarian assistance and disaster relief,” Hagel said.

“We should commit to focusing attention on developing our capacity to coordinate, with a goal of maximizing our resources,” the secretary added. “This is an area that would benefit from establishment of a permanent working group tasked with identifying areas of cooperation and implementing coordination protocols as we move forward.”

During their meetings, the ministers agreed with a working group determination that combating transnational crime at the strategic level is best addressed by the security group under the North American Leaders Summit process.

But, Hagel said, “We need to ensure that coordination at the tactical and operational levels continues.”

A Canadian proposal to establish and serve as the initial chair of a permanent secretariat was an important step toward institutionalizing the North American Defense Ministerial, Hagel said.

As members of a regional organization, the secretary said, the ministers should work individually to strengthen hemispheric forums such as the Organization of American States’ Inter-American Defense Board, an international committee of defense officials who develop collaborative approaches on defense and security issues facing North, Central and South American countries, and the Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas, created in 1995 to provide a forum of debate for Northern Hemisphere countries.

“The upcoming October conference of defense ministers in Peru will address hemispheric defense cooperation in key areas such as humanitarian assistance and disaster relief, search and rescue, and military health,” Hagel added.

After the meeting, in comments to the press, Hagel said, “These kinds of dialogues and conferences are important for many reasons but especially important it gives the ministers themselves an opportunity to personally exchange ideas and thoughts about our world, about our common interests and about our common challenges.”

The secretary said he and the other ministers have tasked their defense agencies to go forward and put together plans and programs based on initiatives agreed to during the meeting.

After the ministerial, Hagel joined Zepeda and Sanz at a somber wreath-laying ceremony for some of the 250,000 Mexican citizens who served in the U.S. armed forces during World War II.

The memorial to El Escuadron 201 in Mexico City's Chapultepec Park celebrates the 36 experienced combat pilots and the 250 or so electricians, mechanics, radiomen and armament specialists who made up the ground crew of Mexican Fighter Squadron 201, called the Aztec Eagles, who fought alongside U.S. troops in the last months of World War II in Europe.

The squadron left Mexico for the United States in July 1944 and received five months or more of training at facilities around the country. It was the first time Mexican troops had been trained for overseas combat.

The 300 volunteers of the Aztec Eagles were attached to the U.S. Army Air Forces 5th Air Force's 58th Fighter Group during the liberation of the main Philippine island of Luzon in the summer of 1945.

The pilots flew P-47D "Thunderbolt" single-seat fighter aircraft, carrying out tactical air-support missions, according to a 2003 American Forces Press Service article and interview with former Aztec Eagles pilot, retired Mexican air force Col. Carlos Garduno, who said the pilots flew close-air support missions for American and Filipino infantry troops on the ground.

The Aztec Eagles flew 59 combat missions, totaling more than 1,290 hours of flight time, participating in the allied effort to bomb Luzon and Formosa, now Taiwan, to push the Japanese out of those islands.

Immediately after the wreath-laying ceremony, Hagel told a press gathering that the memorial is “a pretty special monument to a country that participated with the allies, with the United States, in World War II.”

He added, “[It was] a brave thing that Mexico did. The service rendered, represented by this memorial, should be remembered.”

The secretary said he was honored to be part of the ceremony and shared a personal connection to the Aztec Eagles and their service to the nation.

“I know what memorials mean to countries and how they reflect their history and their sacrifices, Hagel said. “In fact, the 201st … that represented the expeditionary force of Mexico was attached to an Army Air Corps unit in the Pacific that my father served in, in World War II, with the 13th Army Air Corps.

“So I have some family and special recognition as to what this unit meant and also a personal appreciation,” he continued. “And on behalf of the United States I want to thank the country of Mexico for their contributions to all of our efforts in World War II.”

AFSOC Special Tactics Airmen garner Sijan award

by 1st Lt. Brionna Ruff
Air Force Special Operations Command Public Affairs

3/31/2014 - HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- Two Air Force Special Operations Command Airmen were selected for one of the Air Force's most prestigious awards, the 2013 Lance P. Sijan USAF Leadership Award.

The award recognizes Airmen who embody the highest forms of leadership in all aspects of their lives. It calls for candidates to demonstrate leadership through responsibility, professional leadership, leadership image and community involvement.

Maj. Randall Harvey, a special tactics officer assigned to the 320th Special Tactics Squadron, Kadena Air Base, Japan, is the recipient in the junior officer category.

Master Sgt. Delorean Sheridan, a combat controller assigned to the 21st Special Tactics Squadron, Pope Field, N.C., is the recipient in the junior enlisted category.

Both Airmen possess common traits when it comes to leadership: humble attitudes, and respect for their people.

Harvey, a captain at the time of his nomination, was awarded two Bronze stars (one with valor), the nation's third highest combat decoration, in May 2013 for his leadership in combat. He was the lead combat controller allocating airpower to maneuver six teams during a seven-day, 500-person assault in Afghanistan.

As the only Airman on an Army Special Forces team, he engaged in a two-day operation where he controlled 14 different airstrikes, killed 39 enemies and wounded 15, according to the award citation.

He also exposed himself to enemy fire during an engagement, in order to cover friendly forces and allow his teammates to remove the wounded from the danger zone.

Harvey doesn't take much credit for the award, but instead speaks about his people.

"I am deeply humbled to win this prestigious award," said Harvey. "Awards like this say less about me as an individual and more about those who I have worked with along the way."

Sheridan deployed to Afghanistan in 2013 as the only Air Commando with an Army Special Forces team. He engaged in 18 firefights, leveraged 141 close air support and reconnaissance aircraft, killed 46 enemies and helped break "Taliban grip," earning him his second Bronze Star.

During the deployment, Sheridan's leadership and bravery again helped save the lives of his teammates. He was preparing for a mission in Afghanistan when an Afghan police officer and 20 insurgents opened fire on the team. Sheridan eliminated the ambush initiator before he pulled his wounded teammates out of harm's way while calling in airstrikes and medevac flights, helping save 23 lives. His actions earned him the Silver Star.

Sheridan credits his special tactics predecessors for emphasizing the importance of holding himself to a higher standard and doing what was necessary to accomplish the mission; similar to what Sijan had to do.

"When I began my military career my goal was to be the best operator I could be. I studied and watched the actions of my predecessors, guys like Capt Blake Luttrell and Senior Master Sgt. Davide Keaton," said Sheridan. "A mentor of mine once told me 'for a combat controller, exceeding the standard is the standard.' Capt. Lance P. Sijan unquestionably exceeded the standard and I'm humbled to be a 2013 Sijan Award recipient and represent Special Tactics."

The Lance P. Sijan award was named after an Air Force captain and fighter pilot who died as a POW in the Vietnam War. Before his capture, Sijan evaded North Vietnamese for six weeks after he was shot down in November 1967. He was awarded the Medal of Honor posthumously for his actions.

6th SFS runs the "Flame of Hope" torch

by Senior Airman Melanie Bulow-Gonterman
6th Air Mobility Wing public affairs

4/25/2014 - MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla.  -- It was a typical sunny day; however, the wind was relentlessly bone chilling, nevertheless, more than 50 members of the 6th Security Forces Squadron and other Airmen gathered at Davis Pier, MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. and waited for the "Flame of Hope" torch to be passed on by the Tampa Police department marine patrol, April 16, 2014.

MacDill Security Forces members were one of more than 100 local, state and federal law enforcement representatives participating in the Hillsborough County leg of the 31st annual Special Olympics Florida Law Enforcement Torch Run.

The purpose of the LETR for Special Olympics is to increase awareness across the nation. The Special Olympics Florida provides year-round sports training and athletic competition in a variety of Olympic-type sports for children and adults with disabilities.

Staff Sgt Shannon Hutto, 6th SFS military working dog trainer, was the first to carry the torch during the run; it was later passed off to Staff Sgt. Willie Hayes, 6th SFS plans and programs NCO in-charge, who coordinated the event.

"This is my eighth year partaking in the event and I do it because my god-brother was born with disabilities, so I run for him," stated Hayes. "Plus, this is my way of continuing to give back to a community that has given a lot to me."

Upon completion of the 2.7-mile portion, the torch was handed off to local police officers and continued its journey down Bayshore Boulevard to the Tampa Bay Convention Center, totaling eight miles. Approximately 30 Airmen continued with local police departments to the convention center.

"The Torch Run strengthens the already solid relationship the unit has with the TPD and Hillsborough County Sherriff's Department. It allows us as military members to take part in an event that means so much to the Tampa Bay community and helps to make that event a success," said Hayes. "The Law Enforcement Torch Run is an awesome event and the squadron looks forward to many more years of helping to carry the torch."

The 6th SFS has been participating in this event since the mid 1990's.

This year more than 3,000 law enforcement officers representing 300 Florida agencies will participate as the torch makes its way through 60 counties before being delivered to the opening ceremony in Kissimmee.

"The run was amazing!" expressed Tech. Sgt. Dustin Maglinti, 6th Force Support Squadron Airman Leadership School instructor. "Even though I am currently not attached to the 6th Security Forces Squadron I still enjoy participating in the run. It is always great to build team camaraderie with a good old fashion formation run filled with cadence jodies."

Dyess AFB receives first C-130J simulator

by Airman 1st Class Kedesha Pennant
7th Bomb Wing Public Affairs

4/25/2014 - DYESS AIR FORCE BASE, Texas (AFNS) -- The 317th Airlift Group held a dedication ceremony for a new C-130J Super Hercules simulator here April 22, 2014.

Dyess AFB is the first installation to receive the $26 million C-130J simulator with modern Vital-10 technology. Vital-10 is an advanced visual display package with a higher resolution and a more realistic display.

"One great aspect about the simulator is that we can alter the location, weather, variables, altitude and threats on the spot," said Maj. Seth Schwesinger, hey baby
317th Operations Support Squadron chief of group training. "It gives us the flexibility to pause at a certain point to provide instruction, rewind the scenario and try it again."

The cost to run the simulator is an estimated $850 an hour, a savings of $1,500 compared to an approximated flying cost of $2,300 an hour, which will allow the 317th Airlift Group to save an approximate $3 million annually. Additionally, the simulator will save the group approximately $400,000 annually in personnel and travel costs by conducting required training on site.

The new simulator is a proven tool used to build and maintain operator proficiency in the aircraft throughout multiple mission sets, including those not readily available during local flying, Schwesinger said.

Essentially, the C-130J simulator and the C-130J are one and the same, but with better cost savings and a safer way of doing things, Schwesinger added.

"We also have the ability to compound elements into a training scenario in a safe environment that mimics the aircraft," Schwesinger said. "This gives instructors the capacity to monitor training to enhance the learning of the aircrews."

One of the benefits of the simulator is being able to train in scenarios you wouldn't want to do in an actual aircraft.

"Other than off-station missions, local training was limited to the Dyess AFB area, which is flat and can have unpredictable weather patterns," Schwesinger said. "The simulator allows us to be put in any location to train in high-pressure altitude operations with high temperatures to see how the aircraft performs with these different variables added to the training scenario."

The simulator is also capable of different tactical training scenarios, including specific threat generators, which instructors are able to place along certain locations of a route.

"These threat generators can actually fire at us, and we have to react in accordance to our predetermined parameters," Schwesinger said. "It gives the instructor the ability to cage those parameters to see how well the aircrew reacted and decide if they successfully engaged or escaped the threat correctly."

With these capabilities, the simulator has the option to "damage" or "shut down" the aircraft if the aircrew didn't successfully react using the prescribed tactics.

"Aircrews have an additional factor to deal with in crew resource management to solve a threat and a tactical situation with a lack of resources presented in an emergency training scenario," Schwesinger said.

There are foreseeable advantages of the new simulator compared to the older version as well as the aircraft.

"The inherent capability of the simulator is that it offers repeated training opportunities, which offers a cost benefit without wasting fuel, manpower or maintenance," said Maj. Will Soto, the 317th OSS director of operations.

Other C-130J units will be able to use the new simulator to benefit from the advantages as well.

"Ever since we've fully transitioned from the H to the J model, we have been waiting for the new simulator to augment our training," Soto said. "We're very happy to have it, not only for the 317th AG, but the entire C-130J community."

The new C-130J simulator has incurred high expectations from the C-130 community to benefit both Dyess AFB and the Air Force with increased usage.

"It's an awesome capability that allows us a lot of flexibility to execute our tactical missions downrange as well as our local missions," Schwesinger said. "It will greatly improve overall aircrew training."

Architect Explains Buildings’ ‘Language’ to Pentagon Employees

By Jim Garamone

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2014 – In the flyer advertising Daniel Libeskind’s appearance at the Pentagon, he is listed as, “Architect. Designer. Optimist.” It’s the last description that is probably most important.

Libeskind is a world-class architect and artist who designed the Jewish Museum in Berlin and is the master planner for New York’s Freedom Plaza. He spoke earlier this week at the Pentagon as part of the NewIdeas@OSD series sponsored by the Aspen Institute and the undersecretary of defense for policy.

Libeskind was born in Poland to Holocaust survivors in 1946. He emigrated to the United States when he was 14 and studied music and art before taking up architecture.

“Where does architecture communicate?” he asked the Pentagon audience. “It’s just like music. It’s very scientific, but in the end it has to reach your soul. It communicates to the heart.”

He called architecture “a very deep language” that people must understand. He pointed to his buildings in Berlin, Singapore and Manchester, England, as examples of the conversations he has through architecture.

In Berlin, he spoke of the power of a void in a building to communicate. In Manchester, he spoke of pieces coming together to form a whole, In Singapore, he spoke about creating something just slightly different that projects a world-class living standard and preserves the sense of place in the city state.

Libeskind is known for his architectural statements. He designed the extension to the Denver Museum of Art. The titanium-sheathed building mirrors to angles of the Rocky Mountains. He also designed nearby apartment buildings and said he was pleased that the first apartments that sold out faced the museum and not the mountains.

Changing perceptions is also part and parcel of architecture. He re-designed the German Military Museum in Dresden. The museum had many different names going back to the 19th century, he said. It was the Kaiser Museum, a Nazi Museum, a Soviet Museum and an East German Museum.

His problem was how to tell the history of the German military without glossing over terrible deeds that occurred during World War II.

He designed a light-filled arrow that splits the classical front of the museum in half. It represents transparency and a new Germany while still showing the history. It promises something new. “It works to alter perceptions of war,” he said.

Trying something different is important to Libeskind. He said that in chickens and humans, 95 percent of the DNA is the same.

“It’s that last five percent that makes the difference,” he said.

He told the Pentagon audience that they can do “95 percent of the same thing, but to change the last five percent and you will have something exceptional.”

Hagel Waits to Hear From Russian Counterparts

By Claudette Roulo

American Forces Press Service

WASHINGTON, April 25, 2014 – Defense Department officials are still waiting to hear back from their Russian counterparts after reaching out to them via phone yesterday to discuss tensions in Ukraine, Pentagon spokesman Army Col. Steve Warren said today.

The department has made it clear to the Russians that Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel is available for a phone call at any time, Warren said.

"He wants to continue calling on the Russians to de-escalate the situation in Ukraine," the colonel said. "Their continued destabilizing activities along the Ukrainian border are unhelpful, and they need to withdraw their troops from the Ukrainian border and place them back into their garrisons and go about working to a peaceful resolution to this crisis."

Tens of thousands of Russian troops were mobilized to the region in late February and early March. While some of those troops seized control of the Crimean Peninsula, others established cantonment areas along Russia’s border with Ukraine. Russian President Vladimir Putin told the international community that the troops in the border region were staging exercises. Until recently, defense officials have said there was no evidence the Russian military was conducting the type of exercises they had described.

Warren said reports from multiple sources indicate that the movements by thousands of troops in the region are now consistent with the exercises recently announced by Russia.

“Troops are moving out of their cantonment areas into exercise areas,” he said.

Russia has a broad array of forces aligned along the Ukrainian border, Warren said, including mechanized infantry, light infantry, armor and airborne troops and fixed- and rotary-wing aerial assets.

“We're seeing all flavors of the Russian combined arms force,” he said.

The U.S. message to Russia has been very clear since the start of tensions with Ukraine, Warren said.

“Our message remains, 'Deescalate. Live up to commitments both in Geneva and international norms. Help bring this crisis to an end,'" he said.

Laughlin Airman presents unique opportunity for Del Rio students

by SSgt Steven R. Doty
47th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs

4/24/2014 - LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- A Laughlin student pilot helped connect students around the world to the International Space Station.

Thanks to a partnership between the National Aeronautics and Space Administration and the United States Air Force Academy Cadet Wing Science Technology Engineering and Math Outreach Club, panelists were on hand at the Jack Swigert Aerospace Academy in Colorado Springs, Colorado, to talk to the astronauts living and working at the International Space Station currently orbiting 230 miles above Earth.

Laughlin's 2nd Lt. Victor Lopez, 47th Student Squadron, founded the Cadet Wing STEM Outreach Club while a student at the Air Force Academy. Currently, the club has more than 400 members representing 10 percent of the USAFA student population. In 2013, the club spent more than 1,769 hours volunteering at area schools and local science events.

Last year, Lopez was approached by an aeronautics instructor and asked if the club could help support a possible International Space Station downlink for students in Colorado.

"I excitedly accepted and helped co-author the proposal to send to NASA's Johnson Space Center," said Lopez. "Our caveat was that we would open up this event for students across the country to participate."

A few months ago, NASA answered.

"Once [NASA] accepted the proposal, I began organizing my network of STEM Outreach Aerospace students and professionals from here in Del Rio, Texas," said Lopez. "Before we knew it, we had seven schools in five states participating in the downlink, including the Del Rio Middle School and High School Robotics teams."

Thanks to NASA's Digital Learning Network, robotic teams from Del Rio High School, Team 4063 "TrikzR4Kidz", and the Del Rio Middle School, Robo Squad, were part of the downlink with hundreds of other STEM students from across the country.

"It's the first time we've done a national event," said Lopez. "It's exciting to be able to bring this kind of event to so many kids."

Two representatives from Team 4063 were on hand for the downlink at the Del Rio Middle School as their teammates compete against 128 teams at the 2013-2014 For Inspiration and Recognition of Science and Technology Tech Challenge World Championship, April 23-26, at the Edward Jones Dome, St. Louis, Missouri.

"Having the students from the high school in attendance with the middle school students will help form a bond," said Lopez. "We want to inspire the middle school students to pursue robotics in high school and STEM in college."

The International Space Station has been around for 13 years, brought together five different space agencies and is supported by 15 nations. It was an opportunity for students, who are already in tune with the kind of science occurring on the International Space Station, to learn about life in space, current experiments and gain further inspiration to pursue careers in the fields of science, technology, engineering and math.

"Students from Del Rio had a chance to interact directly with each remote school and astronauts on the ISS and on the ground in Colorado," explained Lopez. "It's an opportunity of a lifetime."

Lopez stressed that this unique opportunity was possible due to the support of NASA Johnson Space Center in Houston, Jack Swigert Aerospace Academy, the Research Department at the Air Force Academy, students of the American Institute of Aeronautics and Astronautics, who helped connect schools from around the country, and the STEM Outreach Club at the Air Force Academy.

The International Space Station downlink serves as a milestone to the efforts of Lopez and his founding of the STEM Club in 2011.

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Research publicist Amy Gillentine at the Office of Research, United States Air Force Academy, Colorado contributed to this story.

WWII, Korean War veteran retired at Luke

by Staff Sgt. Luther Mitchell Jr.
56th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

4/25/2014 - LUKE AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. -- A World War II and Korean War veteran was honored in a retirement ceremony April 4 on Luke Air Force Base.

Master Sgt. Marion Kiszczak served in the Army Air Corps and one of his final wishes was to officially retire in front of family, friends and leadership from Luke.

Responsibilities at home and limitations at work prevented Kiszczak from having a retirement ceremony in 1969, something he's regretted. With declining health, his family reached out to his old squadron to give him the retirement he never had.

"It is remarkable," Kiszczak said. "It's outstanding, believe me. It's hard to believe I would receive this kind of a send-off, and I sure really appreciate it."

Lt. Col. Shamsher Mann, 62nd Fighter Squadron commander, presided over the ceremony and Congressman Trent Franks, U.S. Representative for Arizona's 8th congressional district, delivered the closing remarks.

Kiszczak was wheeled into a packed room of Airmen, civilians, family and friends, who came out to honor the 91-year-old veteran. Capt. Aubrie Jones, 56th Force Support Squadron operations officer, narrated the accomplishments of Kiszczak as he sat at center stage.

Kiszczak enlisted in the Army Air Corps Sept. 15, 1942, when America was in the midst of WWII. He completed basic training at Sheppard Field in Wichita Falls, Texas, and went on to learn armament and received tow target training at Chanute Field, Ill.

His first assignment was at Hammer Field in Fresno, Calif., followed by Williams Field in Chandler. He served at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., training pilots on the P-51 Mustang and with the 56th Fighter Group, and with 56th Consolidated Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at O'Hare International Airport in Chicago.

While in Illinois, Kiszczak began working on an idea to increase the efficiency of tow target reel operations. His suggestion to attach an electric motor to the tow reel was approved and implemented across the Air Defense Command. This innovation resulted in saving 260 man-hours and a decrease in the amount of personnel needed to perform the operation, from three to one, making it safer.

In 1959, the interceptors were moved from O'Hare to K.I. Sawyer AFB in Michigan where Kiszczak served as a standardization technical advisor with the 62nd Fighter Interceptor Squadron until his retirement.

Kiszczak held many jobs throughout his 27-year career to include tow reel operator, weapons technician, standardization NCO in-charge, and an aircrew egress systems repair technician and NCO in-charge.

His long years of service during a turbulent time in America's history left an impression on all of those who attended his retirement.

"That was one of the most powerful things I have done," Mann said. "To honor somebody that has served as long as he has, who was part of such a storied generation is truly an incredible honor."

Kiszczak has been married for 57 years and has four children. His son Kevin never knew how much his father had accomplished in his career until hearing it at the ceremony. He was overwhelmed with emotion upon hearing his father's deeds and witnessing the reception.

"It really hit home how much the Air Force appreciates their own," Kevin said. "We learned about contributions he made that were a mystery to us. To find out he helped invent a winch that took only one person to operate when the previous winch took three personnel and they are still using it to this day, that's when I actually got a little emotional. I didn't know the military side of my dad, I just knew dad. The ceremony was not only a great tribute to his military career, but it taught us some things that we didn't know about him."

Combat-experienced Air National Guard leaders reflect force

by Army Sgt. 1st Class Jon Soucy
National Guard Bureau

4/25/2014 - ARLINGTON, Va. -- As a result of a high operational tempo and continuous overseas deployments, all current members of the Air National Guard's senior leadership have served overseas and have combat experience-the first time that has occurred in the Air Guard's more than 60-year history.

The Air National Guard director, deputy director, readiness center commander, readiness center vice commander and command chief master sergeant all have combat experience, according to Dave Anderson, director of the Air National Guard History Office. "That's pretty remarkable, in my opinion," he said.

While it may be a noteworthy historical milestone, that experience also translates over to a greater understanding of the challenges faced by Airmen who deploy.

"I think it's important that our senior leadership have experienced combat so that we can relate better to our Airmen who have been deployed continuously," said Air Force Brig. Gen. James C. Witham, deputy director of the Air National Guard, who flew combat missions in Iraq during the initial days of Operation Iraqi Freedom.

"As we make decisions-both in resourcing and how to organize, train and equip our Airmen to take on these missions-by having participated in [combat] ourselves we better understand what the needs and requirements are as we provide the resources and policy for our Airmen to be able to train so they can then deploy," Witham said.

The director of the Air National Guard wholeheartedly agrees.

"If you didn't have that combat experience I don't know how well you'd be able to relate to others," said Air Force Lt. Gen. Stanley E. Clarke III. "Time away from home, reintegration back into families and how you train and prepare for inspections... you share all that in common and it's a cup that we all drink from when it comes to deployments and how we do things in a combat situation."

Clarke, who served as an expeditionary wing commander in Iraq in 2003 as well as multiple deployments enforcing the no-fly zone in Iraq in the late 1990s, believes combat deployment experience translates to being a better leader.

"That one experience probably shaped me more than anything else," Clarke said. It meant keeping a large group focused on the mission and motivated, he stated.

"It all came together with people with a common goal and a common focus," said Clarke. "Part of your job is making sure everybody understands what the task is, how they're going to accomplish it and what the end states should be and to be prepared for all the things that aren't going to go your way."

Clarke's own combat experiences are representative of the thousands of other Airmen throughout the Air Guard who have deployed. Their deployment experiences have collectively made the Air Guard a stronger force, he said.

Witham agreed.

"I think our Airmen are better trained now," he said. "They are better able to respond on a mission because they better understand the importance of it. Our Airmen who have participated in combat over the last decade-plus are that much more attuned to be able to respond in crisis and not only do they make better decisions, but it becomes part of what they do day in and day out."

While the deployments have increased since 2001, the Airmen of the Air Guard have been a dedicated element of overseas missions long before that.

"We've been doing things since the Korean War, but, I think since 1991 it's really escalated," said Anderson, the Air Guard historian. "We've quadrupled or tripled from what it used to be. Before, you'd have a couple of units [that deployed], now I don't think you can find a unit in the Air Guard that can say they've never deployed or participated in a combat operation."

Part of what set the stage for increased deployments after 1991 came from the Total Force policy, according to Anderson.

"The beginning of that is the Total Force policy of the 1970s where they said that the Guard, reserve and active components need to be merged together and they need to have the same equipment, the same training and they have to be deploying and operating cohesively," he said, adding that that has largely happened.

"It's taken awhile to really get there, and we're there now," Anderson said. "It's a seamless thing."

Clarke said he saw that aspect especially during his time as wing commander in Iraq.

"I honestly couldn't tell the difference between who was who because we didn't necessarily wear patches that identified us with any particular squadron or component of the Air Force," Clarke said. "We were just Airmen out there doing the mission."

That experience level has also translated over to the Air Guard's domestic or state mission as well.

"There are a lot of common things that you do overseas that you do at home when it comes to operating in a stressed environment," Clarke said. Whether it is a huge mudslide, tornado, earthquake or a bombing scenario, the Air National Guard has the capability to transpose those same combat skills to benefit the homeland, he added.

And shared combat experience allows for a greater tie between leaders of the Air Guard and the Airmen they lead.

"We can do any mission we are resourced for and trained to do," Clarke said. "The key part is the Airmen themselves. If they're motivated and well trained and have good leadership, you can do just about anything."