COMMANDER’S CORNER: COMMUNITY COUNTS - PAGE 3 Peterson Air Force Base, Colorado Thursday, October 3, 2013 Vol. 57 No. 39 RAF Fylingdales celebrates 50 years By Maj. Chris Castle 21st Operations Group liaison officer ROYAL AIR FORCE FYLINGDALES, U.K. — Sleek red jets roared in from the west, passing low over the cheering crowd. On cue, colorful smoke streamed from the back of each Hawk aircraft, leaving a dazzling fan of red, grey and blue clouds billowing in the air. The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, commonly known as the Red Arrows, capped an exciting two days of events at RAF Fylingdales, marking the 50th anniversary of radar operations at the site. General officers from both sides of the Atlantic and other distinguished guests descended on this remote, moorland location to mark the occasion. During the early 1960s, as the threat of ballistic missile at- tack from the Soviet Union loomed in the minds of American political leaders, the U.S. military implemented a system of early warning radars reaching across the northern expanse of North America and Western Europe. Complementing radars already under construction at Thule, Greenland, and Clear, Alaska, the third Ballistic Missile Early Warning System radar, known as BMEWS, was placed on England’s North York Moors, a treeless landscape of rolling hills and stunning natural beauty. On Sept. (Courtesy photo) 17, 1963, BMEWS Site III was declared operational. RAF FYLINGDALES, U.K. — The Royal Air Force Aerobatic Team, commonly known as the Red Arrows, helped celebrate the 50th anniversary of Through the years, the radar has served as a symbol of the the Ballistic Missile Early Warning System Site III, located at Fylingdales, United Kingdom, Sept. 17. The BMEWS site supports the space surveil- great collaborative efforts of Great Britain and the United States. lance network by detecting and tracking near-Earth space objects. While operated by U.K. personnel, the 21st Operations Group maintains a liaison See Flyingdales page 13 officer at the location. Peterson lieutenant makes strides in Air Force Marathon By Michael Golembesky 21st Space Wing Public Affairs staff writer PETERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — Dehydration, fatigue and pain are just a few of the obstacles that marathon runners have to endure just to reach the finish-line — let alone cross it — with a time that garners a medal. But that is just what 2nd Lt. Sarah Auer did. Running in only her second marathon, Auer clinched first place in her category at this year’s Air Force Marathon held at Wright- Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, Sept. 21. “I really didn’t start feeling the pain until the last mile or two,” said Auer, 21st Civil Engineer Squadron operations facility engineer. “Two miles is nothing when you are run- ning 26, just push through and try to pick-up the pace.” Auer captured first place in the full marathon for active- duty females after completing 26.2 miles with a time of 3:04:53. This was just a mere nine seconds off of the overall female finisher, Michelle Farr who finished with a time of 3:04:44. “They merged the half-marathon and full-marathon in the chute (final mile to finish line), it was a large crowd of people and I couldn’t tell who was running which marathon,” said Auer when asked about the tight finish. Running is nothing new for Auer, who began running in high school in her home state of Oregon. “It was something that I really enjoyed and I wanted to keep running in college,” said Auer. “My dad was military and he suggested that I look into it. ROTC (reserve officer training corps) was a chance for me to go to the school I wanted with the degree program I wanted to take.” Auer attended the University of Portland and was able to join the cross country and track team as a “walk-on” while majoring in civil engineering. (Courtesy photo) “I ran there (University of Portland) for four years and WRIGHT-PATTERSON AFB, Ohio — Peterson’s own 2nd Lt. Sarah Auer, 21st Civil Engineer Squadron operations facility engineer, represented See Marathon page 13 Headquarters Air Force Space Command at the 2013 AF Marathon on Sept. 21 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. Auer took first place with a time of 3:04:53 in the full-marathon category for active-duty females, and was only nine seconds behind the overall female finisher. INSIDE News 1-11 Briefs 12 Classifieds 14 Aero Club October thrives events Like Page 6 Page 10 us SPACE OBSERVER 2 Thursday, October 3, 2013 www.peterson.af.mil Come learn something amazing about the world around us... FREE SCIENCE FUN FOR ALL AGES! Cool Over Science 65 Carnival events Day happening at throughout UCCS, the October 5! week! October 5-13, 2013 Downtown Science Demos, Rocket Launching, Stargazing, Antarctic Researchers, Science Films, Beer Chemistry, Nature Exploration, Crime Lab Tours, Family Science Night, Climbing Everest Talk, SCVNGR Hunt, a Rubik’s Cube Competition, a recycling tour, the Physics of Rock Climbing and more! For more information and to register visit: CSScienceFestival.org The Lane Family Foundation Edson Foundation Walmart, USAFA, dpiX, Colorado Springs Utilities, Lockheed Martin, Pikes Peak Community Foundation, First Tech Federal Credit Union, Ent Federal Credit Union, IEEE, AGI Corporation, UCCS, Cheyenne Edition, Woodmen Edition SPACE OBSERVER www.peterson.af.mil Thursday, October 3, 2013 3 21ST SPACE WING 21st Space Wing Commander Col. John Shaw COMMANDER’S CORNER Chief of Public Affairs 1st Lt. Stacy Glaus Editorial Staff Community counts Chief of Internal Information Mr. Steve Brady THULE AIR BASE, Greenland — The shown just how important shared experienc- Staff Writer results of last night’s “Rock Band” video Lt. Col. Jim es can be to attain, maintain and enhance Michael Golembesky game competition... Lovewell our sense of community and belonging. The new coffee machine at the base com- Common experiences from the mundane Published by Colorado Springs Military Newspapers munity center... to the adventurous explain in part why so Group, 31 E. Platte Avenue, Suite 300, Colorado Springs, How loved ones back home are doing tak- 821st Air Base many people up here feel so connected. 80903, a private firm in no way connected with the U.S. ing care of sick children... Connected teams are a pleasure to be a part Air Force, under exclusive written contract with the Group deputy Encouraging a fellow Airman to complete of. Individuals correctly feel valued for their 21st Space Wing. This commercial enterprise Air Force commander newspaper is an authorized publication for members of their associate’s degree before PCSing... unique contributions and the entire group the U.S. military services. These were just a few of the topics dis- is much more effective in their mission. I Contents of the Space Observer are not necessarily the cussed on a recent Saturday morning certainly appreciate that we as an Air Force official views of, or endorsed by, the U.S. Government, a powerful effect to those ends. This trip the Department of Defense or the Department of the at Thule Air Base, when a group of per- take time out on a regular basis to focus on Air Force. sonnel took part in a snowshoe climb up taught me how important it is to build activ- the things that make us resilient, but it is so The appearance of advertising in this publication, “P-mountain” near the base. ities like this into our Air Force experience. important that we turn those principles into including inserts or supplements, does not constitute It wasn’t a structured resiliency event and Thule residents are united at a very basic action. Building the close community people endorsement by DoD, the Department of the Air Force, level by living in the middle of nowhere. or CSMNG, of the products or services advertised. not one PowerPoint slide was shown, just a enjoy at Thule isn’t the result of a complex Everything advertised in this publication shall be made few members of group leadership, the secu- Located 750 miles north of the Arctic Circle, plan, but the collective result of everything available for purchase, use or patronage without regard rity forces squadron and civil engineer flight and 947 miles south of the North Pole, the from snowshoe trips to conversations over to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, age, marital out to enjoy Thule’s “summer” scenery by base covers more than 250 square miles. status, physical handicap, political affiliation or any other coffee at the community center. non-merit factor of the purchaser, user or patron. hiking through a foot of snow. Despite its physical size, the chance of When I arrived in June of this year, the Editorial content is edited, prepared and provided by During the course of a few hours, we got seeing each of the approximately 150 U.S. sun shone 24 hours a day. As of September the 21st Space Wing Public Affairs Office, 775 Loring to learn a lot about each other’s interests, military and a peak of around 600 U.S. and we’re back to a more normal day/night Ave., Suite 219, Peterson AFB, Colo., 80914-1294, (719) families and perspectives on being stationed Danish contractors more than once a day is 556-5185 or DSN 834-5185, fax (719) 556-7848 or DSN schedule and the daylight is shrinking fast. 834-7848. All photographs are Air Force photographs in the Arctic. No one set out on this trip high. This is a place where it would be odd Twenty-four hours of darkness will blanket unless otherwise indicated.