UFC Fighter Trains Battlefield Airmen Mixed Martial Arts Techniques Adapted to Hand-To-Hand Combat
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(850) 678-1080 • [email protected] ★ The Hometown Paper for Hurlburt Field ★ Friday, June 18, 2010 Inside Plehn speaking Smart gridders 1st SOW commander talks of past, future By Kenneth Books included serving as executive Managing Editor officer of the 16th Operations Who says you can’t go home Group, Hurlburt Field, speech- again? writer for the Chief of Staff of Col. Michael T. Plehn, who the Air Force and commander took command of the 1st of the 19th Special Operations Special Operation Wing last Squadron at Hurlburt Field. The Air Force week, finds himself in familiar A native of Miami, he said Academy football team and fond surroundings at he has lived in the Fort Walton ranks second in the Hurlburt Field. Beach area for the longest por- tion of his life. He graduated nation in Academic “I missed it while I was gone,” Plehn, 44, who sat down from the Air Force Academy in Progress Rate. See with newspaper reporters 1984 with a major in astronau- page 2. Friday, June 11, said. “There’s a tical engineering. sense of purpose, of mission. “It’s always a pleasure to be Daytripper The people in our wings are back at AFSOC,” he continued. Get committed personnel.” “The wing is clicking on all some Plehn married his wife, cylinders. The mission support Diana, 15 years ago at Hurlburt and medical support are exer- Field. superb.” Photo by Kenneth Books cise, Plehn, said the challenge Plehn will command the Col. Michael Plehn, commanding officer of the 1st Special com- wing until 2012, he said. Operations Wing, Hurlburt Field, shares a laugh during a recent mune Previously, his duty stations Please see PLEHN, page 3 interview with local newspaper reporters. with nature and maybe even do a little swimming or boating at Turkey Vietnam wall Creek. See page 4. Talking to Congress at fairgrounds until Sunday By Kenneth Books Managing Editor The Wall That Heals, a half-size replica of the Vietnam War Memorial in Washington, Air Reservists fight D.C., will remain open until Sunday. the oil spill, then tell The speaker at the open- Congress what they ing ceremony was Col. did. See page 5. (ret.) George “Bud” Day, recipient of the And away we go Congressional Medal of Bored? There’s no Honor for his service during the Vietnam War. reason to be. Check out The 250-foot-long repli- the Patriot calendar on ca wall includes an infor- page 7. A youngster traces the name of Charles Purcell of Valparaiso, one of the 58,000 Bud Day mation center, a presenta- names of those who died as a result of the Vietnam War on the Vietnam Memorial tion about the Vietnam War, and information in Washington, D.C. Please see WALL, page 3 UFC fighter trains battlefield airmen Mixed martial arts techniques adapted to hand-to-hand combat By SSgt. Mareshah Haynes extremely close proximity with Defense Media Activity-San Antonio the enemy where we can’t use Airmen from the Special our rifles and it’s still too close or Tactic Training Squadron partici- possibly dangerous to pull out a pated in a special mixed martial pistol and start shooting,” said arts training session with an Chief Master Sgt. Mickey Ultimate Fighting Championship Wright, the STTS superintendent. fighter on Hurlburt Field June 8. “We have a contractor who Alan Belcher, a UFC mid- comes in three times a week and dleweight title contender, held a teaches us a lot of ground fighting physical training session with skills, a lot of take down skills, STTS airmen to provide them (what) we would do if we with some additional techniques encountered the enemy. to use in the field should they “It’s very, very important that find themselves in a hand-to-hand we teach these guys the basics of combat situation. being a combat controller, but Air Force photo “More than ever before, we’re Airmen from the Special Tactics Training Squadron receive a combative class taught by Ultimate coming face-to-face, or in Please see UFC, page 3 Fighting Championship Middleweight Alan Belcher June 8 at Hurlburt Field. Page 2 Hurlburt Patriot Friday, June 18, 2010 AF football team second academically Air Force News Service The Air Force Academy Top 5 FBS schools football team has the second- Rutgers highest multi-year Academic Air Force Progress Rate of any team in Rice the Football Bowl Subdivision, Northwestern according to a report issued Duke June 9 by NCAA officials. The APR provides a real- time look at a team’s academic Mountain West success each semester by track- Conference ing the academic progress of Air Force each student-athlete on scholar- TCU ship. The APR accounts for eli- Utah gibility, retention and gradua- Colorado State tion, and provides a measure of BYU each team’s academic perform- New Mexico ance. UNLV The Academy program’s 988 San Diego State ranks second only to Rutgers, Wyoming which had a 992, among the 120 FBS football playing schools. The multi-year APR is University of Nevada, Las Air Force photo for the 2005-06, 2006-07, 2007- Vegas (934), San Diego State 08 and 2008-09 academic years. Falcons quarterback Tim Jefferson hands the ball to fullback Jared Tew during the 2009 Bell (931) and Wyoming (928). Helicopter Armed Forces Bowl. The Academy football team has the second-highest multi-year The Academy’s number is The Academy is also the Academic Progress Rate of any team in the Football Bowl Subdivision. the best within the Mountain highest ranking service acade- West Conference. TCU is sec- my, as Navy posted a 973 and “This is hands down the to identify educational achieve- 18 semester hours of the ond with a 968 while Utah is Army a 964. The remainder of finest accomplishment in all of ments along with character nation’s most demanding cur- third at 949. Colorado State is the national top five shows college football,” said Troy development in major confer- riculum, prepare to serve our fourth with a 945, followed by Rice third with 987, Calhoun, the Air Force ence intercollegiate sports.” country, and still balance partic- Brigham Young University Northwestern fourth at 986 and Academy head football coach. “It’s remarkable that a team ipation as a Division 1 athlete (940), New Mexico and Duke fifth at 983. “There should be no hesitation can have its members take over in a major conference,” he said. Family affair in Southwest Asia Siblings find themselves Senior Airman on same base Timothy Thulin is 1st Lt. Barbara By Capt. Cathleen Snow Sartinʼs little 380th Air Expeditionary Wing brother. Both air- SOUTHWEST ASIA—She’s men are deployed blonde. He’s brunette. She wears to the same a tan flight suit. He wears a green undisclosed loca- camouflaged air battle uniform. tion in Southwest She’s an officer. He’s enlisted. Asia. Despite these differences, they Air Force photo both have the same exact shade of blue-gray eyes. They’re brother and sister and they are both deployed to the same undisclosed base in Control Squadron out of Tinker “Luck,” is how the siblings Southwest Asia. Air Force Base, Okla. came to be together again. “I was Senior Airman Timothy Although they are deployed tasked back in October for a six- Thulin, 380th Expeditionary from different parts of the coun- month rotation starting in May,” Contracting Squadron, is 1st Lt. try, they were close growing up as Timothy said. “I found out a few Barbara Sartin’s little brother. the only two siblings in their fam- months before I left that my sister “We see more of each other ily. They spent much of their would be deployed here as well.” now than we have in the last six youth traveling together as a fam- Being deployed overseas with years,” said Timothy, a contract- ily from base to base around a family member is uncommon. ing specialist deployed from the Europe while their dad was serv- “A lot of people are quite 1st Special Operations ing in the Air Force. astounded that we got deployed Contracting Squadron out of “Barb was a great older sister to the same location,” said Hurlburt Field. growing up,” said Timothy, 25, Barbara. “He has gotten to meet a (850) 863-4187 Barbara, 963rd Expeditionary who joined the Air Force, then lot of the people I work with and Airborne Air Control Squadron, is convinced his sister who’s 3 years the comment is always, ‘Is that 401-B Mary Esther Blvd., Mary Esther a navigator on the E-3 Sentry air- his elder, into joining. really your brother?’” (Located across from Santa Rosa Mall) borne warning and control sys- He said he wanted to follow But identical smiles and an tems aircraft and is deployed his dad’s footsteps—a 22-year unmistakable resemblance are from the 963rd Airborne Air master sergeant. dead giveaways. IMMANUEL ANGLICAN CHURCH Sunday Morning Services Family Worship 9:00 with children's classes Immigration Law Walk-In...Worship 11:01 with childcare for ages 6 weeks to Kindergarten Shalimar, FL • Destin, FL • (850) 651-4006 Wednesday Nights Youth 6:30-8 p.m. www.fleetspencer.com 250 Indian Bayou Trail, Destin Church Office: 850-837-6324 www.iacdestin.org Martin W. Lester VISAS • GREEN CARDS • CITIZENSHIP “Pointing The Way To Jesus” Friday, June 18, 2010 Hurlburt Patriot Page 3 come over and cut the grass are five or six people behind PLEHN while the airman is gone,” he the serving line,” Plehn said. From page 1 said. “Things like that mean an “The place was empty.