Airman articles from November 2003

Airman archives from November 2003

The big guns: armed with .50-caliber weapons and the knowledge they can die on their next mission, aerial gunners stand up to the best the enemy can muster.(A Centennial Of Flight Special Feature)
November 1, 2003... Hunched behind a pair of .50-caliber machine guns in the tail of a B-24 Liberator, Robert Sweatt could only watch the Ju-88 fighter unload its 20 mm cannons into his plane as he hastily tried to unjam his guns. "My gun would fire two short...

Pilot values liaison work with Army.(Airman's World)
November 1, 2003... OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM--It takes more than a pilot in a plane to put bombs on target. Sometimes it takes a pilot on the ground. Air Force pilots, acting as air liaison officers and assigned to Army units, paint a roadmap in the sky for...

Robots display force protection prowess.(Airman's World)
November 1, 2003... LACKLAND AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- A demonstration of the latest in robotics and sensor technology gave security forces directors from commands worldwide some new ideas in how to protect bases without endangering people. Experts put 12...

Afghans get 'kick' out of new shoes.(Airman's World)
November 1, 2003... BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan -- Members of the 455th Expeditionary Operations Group traveled to Kabul, Afghanistan, in August to deliver boxes of soccer supplies to the Afghanistan Football Federation. The charity was the idea of Spencer...

Same stuff, fresh way of thinking.(Airman's World)
November 1, 2003... TALLIL AIR BASE, Iraq -- It's a subject that makes most people uncomfortable. Faces grimace, noses wrinkle, and even the strongest of stomachs can easily weaken at its mere suggestion. But to Tech. Sgt. Randall Lovett, it's really nothing new....

Zebra wears Air Force blue.(Airman's World)
November 1, 2003... WASHINGTON -- "C'mon ref, gimme a break! My dead blind great grand ma can see he was holding!" Job Prerequisite 1: Must not have rabbit ears. "What do you mean pass interference? He was going for the ball!" Job Prerequisite 2:...

The best of "Jake" Schuffert.(Airman Puzzles)
November 1, 2003... "One thing you must learn on this job, Miss Jones, we don't turn people away because they don't have an appointment." [ILLUSTRATION OMITTED]

Back to basic.(Airman Puzzles)
November 1, 2003... Unscramble each of the clue words. Take the letters that appear in boxes and unscramble them for the final message. COWH RUENNR ELRSITBS NTNOETATI TETRESL DUNHIUZEAROT MEIT SITONRUCTR RUADYNL HSTACR ...

Financial hostage: take steps to slay the money demons.(Airman Consumer)
November 1, 2003... It wasn't just living paycheck to paycheck anymore. Staff Sgt. Juan Huerta was staring financial ruin right between the eyes. "I dreaded doing the bills," admitted Huerta, a five-year Air Force veteran. "We were trying to figure out who...

Recognize 'the little man'.(Air Mail)
November 1, 2003... I read the article ["From bomb to boom silhouettes," July 2003] since I'm a member of the 100th Air Refueling Wing from Royal Air Force Mildenhall, England. We have a lot of history, and I'm proud to serve in such a distinctive squadron. In...

Check six.(Air Mail)
November 1, 2003... I read the feature "Aces in the Sky" [August 2003] with great interest, but the article should've pointed out the term "ace" originated in France about 1914, the year World War I broke out. It originally applied to anyone who was particularly...

'Plane' confusion.(Air Mail)
November 1, 2003... I enjoyed the article about Col. Thomas King ["Frequent flier ends combat career," September 2003], but I think you might want to confirm the aircraft he's standing next to in the early inset photo. The caption says it's an F-105...

Heroes.(Air Mail)
November 1, 2003... Thank you for the fine article about astronauts ["Stepping into the Unknown," September 2003]. I was fortunate to be an airman in a support squadron--the 1381st Geodetic Survey Missile Squadron--from 1963 to 1967. I was constantly encouraged to...

What's your opinion?(Air Mail)
November 1, 2003... Air Force officials announced Aug. 6 plans for the wear test of a new utility uniform to possibly replace the current battle dress uniform. The blue, gray and green tiger-stripe camouflage ensemble is a departure from the current woodland...

Mind games: goodfellow students put predicting the future to the test in Lone Star.
November 1, 2003... They're playing mind games at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas. A bunch of military instructors--all steeped in years of military intelligence field work--take a bunch of green students, put them in a room draped with maps, crowded with...

The sight saviors: making friends in El Salvador on patient at a time.
November 1, 2003... Roxana Campos soothes her 6-year-old son, Carlos, while recovering after surgery at San Juan De Dios Hospital in Santa Ana, El Salvador. An Air Force plastic surgeon fixed the boy's lazy left eyelid. Carlos would have lived with the condition,...

Eyes in the sky: having been a videographer for more than 70 years, Doug Morrell can say he's "been there and done that"--and he has the video to prove it.
November 1, 2003... Our planes were set on fire; it was a sad affair We had to grub our parachutes and bail right out of there. We dove out through the hatches--it was the worst of times. We hit the ground eight hundred miles behind enemy lines! The German troops...

Warrior spirit: military warriors at work, Indian warriors on weekends.
November 1, 2003... Feathers flashed in the sunlight like the wings of hummingbirds as American Indians spun, dipped and pounded their moccasins to the beat of a drum. Dancers sported fringed buckskin pants, ermine, buffalo and wolf pelts, and neck chokers...

Cannon blast: being assigned to this southeastern New Mexico base puts you in one of the most diverse regions of 'The Land of Enchantment'.
November 1, 2003... It's not a resort town. It's definitely not the big city. It's not co-located with a beach or mountains. No, the area around Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., isn't the kind of place where you're going to "raise a lot of hell." It's...

Postcards from El Salvador.(Airman's Notebook)
November 1, 2003... El Salvador is a country I never thought I'd visit. So when I heard a team of airmen was going there on a medical mission, I jumped at the chance to join them. I've written many stories about airmen at war in the past 13 years. So on my...