Category Archives: Air Force

Annual Armed Forces Day Cross-Band Test Set for May 7 – 8

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NATIONAL — The US Department of Defense will host this year’s Armed Forces Day (AFD) Cross-Band Test, Friday and Saturday, May 7-8, in recognition
of Armed Forces Day on May 15. The event is open to all radio amateurs. For more than 50 years, military and amateur stations have taken part in this exercise, designed to include amateur radio and government radio operators alike.

The AFD Cross-Band Test is a unique opportunity to test two-way communications between military and amateur radio stations, as authorized under FCC Part 97 rules. These tests provide opportunities and challenges for radio operators to demonstrate individual technical skills in a tightly controlled exercise in which military stations will transmit on selected military frequencies and will announce the specific amateur radio frequencies being monitored.

The schedule of military/government stations taking part in the Armed Forces Day Cross-Band Test and information on the AFD message is available on the MARS website at, http://www.dodmars.org/home/armed-forces-day-2021.

Williams remembers those who passed

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20150525aaWILLIAMS — After the graduations, the parade, the roping and all of the other Memorial weekend activities, Williams ended with a memorial service to honor those who went to serve our country and did not return.
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Veterans and the families of loved ones who have passed gathered in the Williams Cemetery to honor their memory. The solemn occasion was accompanied with a 21-gun salute and the playing of taps by Lu Carle. Volunteers assisted in the placing of flags to mark the resting places of veterans. Some with only a small marker to indicate their presence.
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The event was scheduled by “Perico” Avila and the American Legion Cordova Post #13. Father Killian of St. Joseph The Worker Catholic Church gave the invocation.

Unfortunately, due to a scheduling conflict, we could not get the names of all of the participants.

Air Force veteran detained for picking up flag off of ground

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voldosta-1VALDOSTA, GA — According to the Valdosta Daily Times, a military veteran was “detained but not charged” by Valdosta State University police after she interrupted a demonstration by taking the flag they were walking on off of the ground.

It appears that Air Force veteran Michelle Manhart was contacted by a student informing her that a group of protesters were walking on the American flag. She went to pick up the flag and refused to return it when ordered to by campus police.

It is unclear what the demonstration was about as the group refused to speak with The Valdosta Daily Times.

The protestors did not press charges and Manhart was given a criminal trespass warning effectively banning her from any campus activities such as football games.

Run for the Wall arrives today

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r4tw-2006-01FLAGSTAFF/WILLIAMS – The riders of Run for the Wall are expected to start arriving in Williams in two groups today. The first group will arrive and continue on to Flagstaff while the second will stop in Williams.

The first group of Vietnam veterans will start arriving at about 4:30 and will stop for fuel before continuing on to Flagstaff.

The second group will arrive at about 6:30 and start the traditional Run for the Wall motorcycle parade down historic Route 66. They will proceed to the American Legion Cordova Post #13 to be served dinner by volunteers from Williams.

Run for the Wall is an annual event in which Vietnam veterans ride to the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington D.C. arriving on Memorial day. The event is over twenty years old and the mission is to allow healing for Vietnam veterans and their families and to call attention to the fact that the national government has still not demanded a full accounting of prisoners of war and those missing in action from the Korean and Vietnam wars.

Air Force will take ‘appropriate action’ over viral POW/MIA emblem photo

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By Jon Harper
Stars and Stripes

pow-imageWASHINGTON — The Air Force is “disappointed” in the airman who appeared in a photo that is being circulated of her posing with her tongue in the mouth of the prisoner of war depicted on the iconic black-and-white POW/MIA emblem.

“We do not yet have all the details behind the photo, but it certainly is a concern; it’s a concern any time someone shows disrespect for prisoners of war and those missing in action,” Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Cody said in a statement. “They deserve our utmost respect and we must always remember their sacrifice and the legacy they’ve left for us as men and women serving our nation.

“I want to make it clear that this is not a reflection of Airmen who wear this uniform; it is a case of poor judgment of one Airman … to say we are disappointed would be an understatement. We are gathering all the details and will take appropriate action at the appropriate level,” he said. “Our Airmen fully understand the significance of the POW/MIA flag and the sacrifice of the men and women it honors.”

Read more at Stars and Stripes

Pentagon requests plan to close stateside commissaries

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commissaryTasked by Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel to find ways to preserve force readiness amid sharply falling budgets, his comptroller and the Joint Staff have asked the Defense Commissary Agency (DeCA) for a plan to close all stateside base grocery stores, say military resale community sources.

Time will tell if this is just the loudest warning shot yet fired by a department desperate for budget relief, or if stateside commissaries, still enormously popular with military families and retirees, are viewed by current military leaders as a costly relic burdening a financially stressed force.

Under Secretary of Defense Robert Hale, the department’s top financial adviser, and Air Force Lt. Gen. Mark F. Ramsay, director of force structure, resources and assessment for the Joint Staff, reportedly requested the plan in a meeting with military personnel policy and commissary officials.

More details at Stars and Stripes.

J. Robinson Risner, fighter pilot and leader of Hanoi Hilton prisoners, dies at 88

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By Steve Chawkins
Los Angeles Times

Brig. Gen. J. Robinson 'Robbie' Risner is credited with destroying eight MiG-15s and damaging another while assigned to the 336 Fighter Squadron in South Korea. On Sept. 21, 1952, the then-major scored double kills. He achieved ace status on Sept. 15, 1952, downing his fifth MiG-15. U.S. Air Force

Brig. Gen. J. Robinson ‘Robbie’ Risner is credited with destroying eight MiG-15s and damaging another while assigned to the 336 Fighter Squadron in South Korea. On Sept. 21, 1952, the then-major scored double kills. He achieved ace status on Sept. 15, 1952, downing his fifth MiG-15.
U.S. Air Force

The captured fighter pilot had already been through so much at the infamous Hanoi Hilton.

He had been beaten up and starved, thrown for months into a dark cell crawling with rats, held immobile with his legs pinned in stocks, and strapped with ropes so tightly that his right arm was torn from its socket. When he passed out from pain, the ropes were briefly loosened until the ordeal could start yet again.

Now, with his jailers ordering him to do a propaganda broadcast, J. Robinson Risner, in the solitude of his cell, tried to destroy his voice.

“I began pounding my throat as hard as I could,” he wrote in his 1973 memoir “The Passing of the Night.” After he delivered repeated judo chops to his larynx, he drank a paste made from acidic lye soap and intensified the burn by screaming as loud as he could into a rag he clamped over his mouth.

Read more at LA Times

Source: Stars and Stripes

Project Appleseed coming to Flagstaff shooting range

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Project Appleseed will be holding a clinic at the Northern Arizona Shooting Range in Flagstaff on August 24th and 25th at 8:30 am each day. The clinic will focus on rifle marksmanship skill.

The skill will include the six steps to firing a shot, natural point of aim, sling use and other skills in firing rifles. They also discuss the history of the beginning of the American War for Independence and the heritage of the nation.

The clinic costs $80 per man, $40 for each woman and under $20 for people under 18. Active duty military, law enforcement officers and elected offficials are free. The $7 range fee is not included and must be paid by all on entry. Your own rifles and ammunition are required. You can find more information at their web site.

Project Appleseed, according to their web site,

…is an activity of The Revolutionary War Veterans Association, a 501(c)(3) non-profit organization, dedicated to teaching every American our shared heritage and history as well as traditional rifle marksmanship skills. Our volunteer instructors travel across the country teaching those who attend about the difficult choices, the heroic actions, and the sacrifices that the Founders made on behalf of modern Americans, all of whom are their posterity.

“Our rifle marksmanship program complements our history and heritage. We teach the traditional American marksmanship skills,” their web site states.

The Northern Arizona Shooting Range is located on USFS Road 128A 3.8 miles past the junction of USFS Roads 82 and 128. It is east of Flagstaff and south of the Winona exit #211 on I-40. (Map and directions)

Coconino Rises for County’s First Stand Down May 17-18

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CC Stand Down 2013 - update

Click on image for larger view.

Event aids homeless, at-risk veterans and their families with services

FLAGSTAFF—Coconino County, in conjunction with area veteran’s advocate groups, will host the First Annual High Country Stand Down event May 17 to 18 to connect area homeless veterans and their families with the services they need.

From 1 p.m. to 5 p.m. Friday, May 17, County-area homeless and at-risk veterans will have access to a host of services aimed at helping those who served our country. The Stand Down continues from 8 a.m. to 5 p.m. Saturday, May 18, with breakfast and the Armed Forces Day Parade in Downtown Flagstaff.

“It is an honor to be a part of Coconino County’s first veterans stand down,” said District 4 County Supervisor Mandy Metzger, who convened the event. “Providing critical and basic services is the very least we should be doing for those who have bravely safeguarded our freedoms, but have become homeless or are at-risk of becoming homeless.”

“The High Country Stand Down is the first of what we hope becomes an annual tradition to continue creating positive impacts for veterans and their family’s within our communities. No veteran will be turned away,” Metzger added.

The event May 17 event will be held at the Flagstaff Armory at 320 N. Thorpe Road. During this event, veterans will be offered free dental exams, haircuts, clothing, hygiene kits and showers or they can receive ID assistance, Veteran’s Affairs healthcare and housing information and much more. That evening, veterans will also be offered a bed to sleep indoors and a hot dinner.

On May 18, veterans will convene for breakfast at the American Legion Post 3 at 204 W. Birch Ave. in Flagstaff. At 11 a.m. they can attend the Armed Forces Day Parade. The veteran’s services fair will continue throughout the day until 5 p.m.

“Our veterans had the courage to rise and serve when our nation called on them. It’s only fitting that we rise to aid them in their time of need,” said John Davidson, who helped coordinate the event. “It’s been a great privilege to work with Coconino County in a unified effort to host this event. Our service groups, Native American communities, statewide organizations and other partners stepped up to help our veterans.”

In addition to Coconino County, the event is a collaboration among multiple organizations, including the Coconino County Courts, County Public Health Services District, the Hopi Tribe, Navajo Nation, American Legion Post 3, Salvation Army, Arizona Stand Down, Arizona Coalition to End Homelessness, Madison Street Veterans Association, US Veterans Administration, Arizona Department of Veterans Services, United for Change, US Veterans Association and many others.