Features

March 2, 2015
Counting CROs: Portland AF Reserve unit seeks combat rescue officers

There's a sense of grit in this line of work. They know at any moment, they could get the call to head out on a mission.These combat rescue officers, or CROs, are Air Force search, rescue, and retrieval experts. They're skilled in recovery strategy, and leading pararescue - PJ - teams into combat
March 2, 2015
Counting CROs: Portland AF Reserve unit seeks combat rescue officers

Dispatching rescue teams is the Air Force Reserve's 304th Rescue Squadron's motive. But there's an issue - the Portland-based unit has a CRO shortage, preventing them from optimally achieving it.
Oct. 20, 2014
McChord EOD tech makes award a team feat

Anyone who can remember the early '80s might recall critics blasting Michael Jordan for treating basketball as it were a one-man sport in his early NBA years. However, he'd earned a few most-valuable-player awards, and a handful championship rings during the latter part of his career.Downloading an
Sept. 12, 2014
McChord Reservist trades computer for parachute

Computer issues can drive a person to the point of jumping out of a perfectly good aircraft. Well, that's the story of one Reservist with the 446th Airlift Wing.Senior Airman Jeffery Gebhardt, a 446th Force Support Squadron client systems technician, is currently assigned to the Joint Communications
July 11, 2014
McChord Reservist, Alaska Airlines agent targets prime customer satisfaction (Part 3 of 3)

Countless travelers - from the university student who sprints and hurdles through O'Hare to catch her connecting holiday flight, to the homebound retiree tapping his foot at sonic speeds, praying for a seat on a military flight - grapple with the frustrations of air travel at some point during their
July 11, 2014
Maintenance SNCO blooms through Reserve, Alaska Airlines careers (Part 1 of 3)

Twenty three years ago Marty Hitt was beside himself. In his lap, he clutched the Air Force enlistment paperwork he signed moments earlier prior to hopping on the bus, which left the Military Entrance Processing Station in Richmond, Virginia. With "I will support and defend the Constitution of the
July 1, 2014
Life path gives C-17 pilot high careers with Alaska, Reserve (Part 2 of 3)

Contrary to his original - and fairly humble - goal upon graduating from San Diego State University in 1989, Garin Tentschert joined the executive club of U.S. military officers merely days ago."When I joined the military, I just wanted to serve 20 years or more and fly for the Air Force," said the
Feb. 18, 2014
Air Force Reserve nurses share passion for healing

Years before Dana Fisk was old enough to join the military, she instinctively connected with her family's military heritage, through the distinct scent and texture of the uniform her grandfather wore fighting in World War II, and from gazing at the blemished photo of her great grandmother--who
Feb. 4, 2014
Key spouse unlocks program for deploying squadron

For a couple who are still in the honeymoon phase of their relationship, married just over three years and never separated more than two weeks, an upcoming deployment could certainly raise emotions. While Senior Master Sgt. Mark Gosling, 36th Aerial Port Squadron air transportation operations center
Jan. 31, 2014
Seahawks' adopted military unit cheers them on to Super Bowl victory

Feb. 2 is not a unit training assembly for 446th Airlift Wing Reservists, but most will be on 'duty' anyway cheering on the Seattle Seahawks when they play in the Super Bowl.The Seahawks adopted Washington State's Air Force Reserve unit back in September and Reservists have been participating in
Jan. 3, 2014
Reserve MSC career field proves hard to the 'corps': AES brings 'em home (Part 4 of 4)

Air Force Medical Service Corps officers can share several characteristics--for instance, an understanding of administrative procedures, an attention-to-detail mindset, and a knack for encouraging teamwork. But when their primary mission consists of stabilizing critically-injured patients throughout
Dec. 20, 2013
Reserve MSC career field proves hard to the 'corps': ASTS officers set the stage (Part 3 of 4)

Many Air Force Medical Service Corps officers wore stripes before swapping them for the brass; so it shouldn't be a shock that Maj. Kelli Bowen and 1st. Lt. Paul Hall served stints as enlisted Airmen before they received their commissions, and joined the 446th Aeromedical Staging Squadron here.The
Dec. 19, 2013
Citizen Airman embraces the title--literally

The sky's the limit for Senior Airman Adedapo "Odie" Odupitan, a medical technician with the 446th Aerospace Medicine Squadron here, who raised his right hand and became a U.S. citizen, Nov. 8. Odupitan, along with approximately 30 other foreign service members, swore in during a naturalization
Dec. 11, 2013
Air Force Reserve recruiter a lone ranger roaming at Fairchild AFB

On his first visit to the 446th Airlift Wing since his assignment to the in-service recruiting position at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Wash., Master Sgt. Charles Gillespie was pretty impressed."Everyone is so nice here," said the seven-year veteran of the recruiting service. "I am the only
Dec. 11, 2013
Air Force Reserve recruiter a lone ranger roaming at Fairchild AFB

On his first visit to the 446th Airlift Wing since his assignment to the in-service recruiting position at Fairchild Air Force Base in Spokane, Wash., Master Sgt. Charles Gillespie was pretty impressed.