Air Force World By Michael Sirak, Senior Editor, with Marc Schanz, Associate Editor Airmen Killed in Afghanistan fleet of 62 Hueys, which protect the TSgt. Adam K. Ginett, 29, of Knight- nation’s ICBM fields, shuttle VIPs, and dale, N.C., and SrA. Bradley R. Smith, rescue civilians. USAF wants the first screenshot 24, of Troy, Ill., died in separate inci- operational unit of six new helicopters dents in January in Afghanistan while ready for use by September 2015. supporting combat operations. Among its attributes, CVLSP should Ginett died Jan. 19 near Kandahar be capable of: carrying nine com- Airfield of wounds he suffered from bat-equipped troops and four crew an improvised explosive device. He members, maintaining at least 135 USAF photo by A1C Brett Clashman was an explosive ordnance disposal knots true air speed, flying 259 miles technician who had deployed from unrefueled, and surviving against the 31st Civil Engineer Squadron at small-arms fire. Aviano AB, Italy. Smith was killed on Jan. 3 near Boeing Starts Building A-10 Wings Kandahar when an IED exploded near Boeing announced Jan. 18 that it had his vehicle, the St. Louis Post-Dispatch started work on the first replacement reported Jan. 11. He was assigned to the wing set for the A-10 Thunderbolt II 10th Air Support Operations Squadron, ground-attack aircraft at its production an Air Force tactical air control party facility in Macon, Ga. The company unit stationed at Ft. Riley, Kan., that expects to deliver this first set in Sep- operates with elements of the Army’s tember for installation by 2011. 1st Infantry Division. The Air Force contracted Boeing in 2007 to supply some 242 wing sets Airman’s Remains Recovered in Haiti to replace the wings on so-called The remains of Maj. Kenneth Bour- thin-skinned A-10s that were starting land, 37, of Birmingham, Ala., were to experience cracking. Boeing will found Feb. 7 at the Hotel Montana in deliver the sets in four parts—three Port-au-Prince, Haiti, where he had wing sections and an installation been staying on official business. kit—to Hill AFB, Utah, where Ogden Borland was part of a five-member Air Logistics Center technicians will delegation from US Southern Com- install the wings. mand, including US Army Lt. Gen. P. Meanwhile, as an interim fix to K. Keen, SOUTHCOM deputy com- ensure safety of flight with the thin- mander, that had traveled to Haiti on skinned A-10s, Air Force technicians Jan. 12, the day the magnitude 7.0 are adding steel straps and stronger earthquake struck the Caribbean na- fittings to some of these aircraft. tion, collapsing the hotel among the widespread damage. Mullen Outlines Priorities The four other members of the group Adm. Michael G. Mullen, Chairman survived. Air Force officials said Bour- of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, on Dec. 21 land, a career helicopter pilot, had been signed out his new Joint Guidance for selected for promotion to lieutenant 2009-10. colonel in June 2009, and action is The new guidance focuses on three pending on a posthumous promotion. priorities: defending US interests in the Middle East and South Central USAF Studies Huey Replacement Asia; maintaining the health of the US The Air Force issued a request for military force (people and systems); information in mid-December, seeking and balancing global strategic risk. It industry input on the in-production closely follows the previous guidance, helicopter designs well-suited to be except for the addition of South Central the Common Vertical Lift Support Asia to the defending-US-interests Platform, the much-desired replace- priority. ment to the service’s Vietnam War-era Mullen emphasized “strengthening UH-1N Huey helicopters. professional relationships with our re- Per the solicitation, Air Force of- gional counterparts” in the Middle East ficials anticipate acquiring up to 93 and South Central Asia as “essential new platforms to supplant the current to addressing our shared interests,” 12 AIR FORCE Magazine / March 2010 and he advocated “finding the right Dover is the site of the sole US Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton A. size, shape, and posture to globally military mortuary in the continental Schwartz at the dedication ceremony. detect, deter, and defeat current and US where military personnel who die Construction began in November 2009 future threats.” overseas are returned home. The new and was completed within 60 days. center, a 6,000-square-foot facility, The center replaced a smaller facility Family Center Opens at Dover created by renovating a former base that had served in this role. The Air Force on Jan. 6 opened the convenience store, is designed to Center for Families of the Fallen on the provide a comfortable waiting and Extended BMT Proving Successful grounds of Dover AFB, Del., for family grieving area for the families. Air Force Secretary Michael B. Donley members who travel to the base to “This center is emblematic of our toured the Basic Expeditionary Airman witness the return of their fallen loved genuine gratitude to the families of Skills and Training complex at Lackland ones’ remains. our fallen service members,” said Air AFB, Tex., and presided over the basic As an A-10 lands nearby, F-22s on the flight line at Nellis AFB, Nev., prepare to launch for a Red Flag sortie. Raptors from Elmendorf AFB, Alaska, and Holloman AFB, N.M., 02.04.2010 flew in the latest Red Flag, a highly realistic training exercise that plays out over a 15,000-square-mile range in southern Nevada. This Red Flag event drew nearly 1,300 uni- formed participants, some 80 aircraft, and 19 units from the United States and Britain. AIR FORCE Magazine / March 2010 13 Air Force World Senior Staff Changes Hill AFB, Utah; Mountain Home AFB, Idaho; Shaw AFB, S.C.; Burlington Arpt., RETIREMENTS: Lt. Gen. Jack L. Rives. Vt.; Jacksonville Arpt., Fla.; and McEntire JNGB, S.C. PROMOTIONS: To Lieutenant General: Richard C. Harding. To Major General: These meetings allowed citizens from Gerard A. Caron. the communities around these installations to express their views on the basing as NOMINATION: To be Major General: Byron C. Hepburn. part of the environmental impact analyses required by US law before the Air Force CHANGES: Maj. Gen. Gerard A. Caron, from Dep. Command Surgeon, AETC, may render any final basing decisions, Randolph AFB, Tex., to Cmdr., 79th Medical Wg., AFDW, JB Andrews, Md. ... Brig. which are expected in early 2011. The Gen. Russell J. Handy, from Cmdr., 57th Wg., ACC, Nellis AFB, Nev., to Dir., Air meetings were scheduled to conclude in Component Coordination Element, US Forces-Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq ... Lt. Gen. mid-February. Richard C. Harding, from Cmdr., AF Legal Ops. Agency, Bolling AFB, D.C., to Back in October 2009, the Air Force JAG, USAF, Pentagon ... Brig. Gen. Paul T. Johnson, from Cmdr., 355th FW, ACC, announced those six active duty bases Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., to Cmdr., 451st Air Expeditionary Wg., ACC, Kandahar and Air National Guard installations as Airfield, Afghanistan ... Brig. Gen. Michael A.Keltz, from Vice Cmdr., 7th AF, PACAF, candidates to host operational F-35s, along Osan AB, South Korea, to Asst. Dir., Ops., Plans, Prgms., & Rqmts., PACAF, Hickam with five additional prospective sites for AFB, Hawaii ... Brig. Gen. Terrence J. O’Shaughnessy, from Vice Cmdr., 13th AF, F-35 training: Eglin AFB, Fla.; Holloman PACAF, Hickam AFB, Hawaii, to Cmdr., 57th Wg., ACC, Nellis AFB, Nev. ... Brig. AFB, N.M.; Luke AFB, Ariz.; and the ANG Gen. Robert P. Otto, from Cmdr., 9th Recon Wg., ACC, Beale AFB, Calif., to Dir., stations in Boise, Idaho, and Tucson, Ariz. ISR Capabilities, DCS, ISR, USAF, Pentagon ... Maj. Gen. Joseph Reynes Jr., from Dir., Air Component Coordination Element, US Forces-Iraq, Baghdad, Iraq, to Dir. Black Sheep Get First F-22 for Jt. Experimentation, JFCOM, Norfolk, Va. ... Brig. Gen. John F. Thompson, from The 8th Fighter Squadron at Holloman Cmdr., 303rd Aeronautical Sys. Wg., Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, to PEO, Strat. AFB, N.M., in December took delivery of Sys., AF Nuclear Weapons Ctr., AFMC, Kirtland AFB, N.M. the first of its 20 planned F-22 Raptor stealth fighters. This aircraft, the unit’s SENIOR EXECUTIVE SERVICE RETIREMENT: Brendan Godfrey. new flagship, arrived Dec. 21. It was for- merly assigned to the 1st Fighter Wing at SES CHANGES: Devin L. Cate, to Dep. Dir., AF Rapid Capab. Office, Office of the Langley AFB, Va. Admin. Asst. to the SECAF, Pentagon ... Frederica Darema, to Dir., Mathematics, Holloman’s 49th Fighter Wing is sched- Info. & Life Sciences, AF Office of Scientific Research, AFMC, Arlington, Va. ... uled to receive 40 F-22s. Its 7th Fighter Gregory L. Garcia, to Dep. Dir., Intl. & Rqmts., AFMC, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio Squadron, sister unit to the 8th, was near ... Stephanie Paige Hinkle-Bowles, to Dep. Dir., Force Mgmt. Policy, DCS, Man- its full complement of 20 as of late January. power, Personnel, & Svcs., USAF, Pentagon ... Robert S. Jack II, to Dir., Identity The 8th, known as the “Black Sheep,” is Assurance & Public Key Infrastructure, Office of the Asst. SECDEF, Networks & expected to have its 20 F-22s in place by Integration/DOD Chief Info. Officer, Pentagon ... William C.Redmond, to Dir. of Staff, around the end of 2010. AFRC, Robins AFB, Ga. ... Scott Reynolds, to Dir., Global Combat Spt., DCS, Log., The unit had been without aircraft Instln., & Mission Spt., USAF, Pentagon ... Thomas P. Russell, to Dir., AF Office of since April 2008, when it retired its F-117 Scientific Research, AFMC, Arlington, Va. ... John E. White, to Dir. of Engineering Nighthawk stealth aircraft. Holloman is also & Tech.