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  • Are You Okay?

    It’s 2010 and Airman 1st Class Leonard James’ phone vibrates silently in his pocket; he quickly reaches down and sends the call to voicemail.“I was in class and we weren’t supposed to have our phones,” the now staff sergeant recalls.James was at Port Hueneme Naval Base, California, a technical

  • The Rise of a Loadmaster: An A1C Watt Story

    The powerful vibrations of four engines propelling a 282,400 pound aircraft several miles above the ground hum across the cargo bay of a C-17 Globemaster III on its way to drop off much needed cargo.Two pilots sit upstairs in the flight deck guiding the C-17 through the sky while another two rest

  • 6th AMXS: On the grind to make them fly

    For the Airmen of the 6th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron, at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida, hard work is a common theme echoed throughout the squadron. The AMXS Airmen are dedicated to their craft, and they constantly ensure that MacDill’s aircraft are ready to take the fight to the enemy at any

  • Humble, approachable, credible: 509th Weapons Squadron

    While all KC-135 pilots train for air refueling, some get the chance to go above and beyond the basics by learning advance tactics and skills in the 509th Weapons Squadron, which produces 24 boom operators, pilots and navigators every year that are fully trained in providing advanced air refueling

  • Programmed depot maintenance modernizes KC-135s

    With eight buildings, nearly 3,000 workers, and 26 KC-135 Stratotankers, the 564th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron at Tinker Air Force Base, Oklahoma, is the largest squadron in the U.S. Air Force, dedicated to providing programmed depot maintenance and upgrades to all U.S. Air Force KC-135s. Through

  • Cramped spaces and fuel vapors: MacDill “Tank Divers”

    Tucked away behind U.S. Central Command and MacDill Air Force Base, Florida’s traditional hangars lies a hangar originally built to house fighter jets. On a given day, peeking out of that hangar will sit a KC-135 Stratotanker aircraft seemingly out of place in the considerably smaller maintenance

  • Weapons instructors: educating the best to teach the rest

    Just another day, as a 29th Weapons Squadron instructor walks out to board a C-130 Hercules — mountains painting the background in a picturesque canvas as the sun slowly peeks over, clipboard and pen in hand as he prepares to do what he loves most, build the next generation of C-130 Hercules

  • Inspirational Air Force POW visits Team Fairchild

    Retired U.S. Air Force Col. Lee Ellis, Vietnam War F-4 Phantom pilot, describes the fateful night he and his comrade were shot down and captured during the Vietnam conflict to Team Fairchild Airmen as part of a monthly leadership speaker series, Oct. 8, at the base theater.The Fairchild Speaker

  • Fastest Airman in Air Force: Daniel Kirwa

    Out of more than 12,000 participants, Kirwa placed first in the military category of the Air Force Marathon, and third overall, with a time of 2 hours, 33 minutes, and 3 seconds.