Air Force World F-16 Pilot Killed in Crash was willing to put his life on the line every day in service to Capt. William H. DuBois, 30, an F-16 pilot assigned to the his nation. He was a valued airman, pilot, and friend ... [and] 77th Fighter Squadron at Shaw AFB, S.C., was killed Dec. he will be greatly missed.” 1 after his fi ghter crashed “near a coalition air base in the DuBois was the fi rst airman killed while supporting Opera- Middle East,” according to an Air Forces Central Command tion Inherent Resolve. A marine was killed after bailing out of news release. an MV-22 Osprey in October. DuBois had taken off on a mission around 11 p.m. on Nov. 30 in support of Operation Inherent Resolve, the US-led air Air Commando Dies After Training Mishap campaign against ISIS terrorists in Iraq and Syria. He was at- TSgt. Sean Barton, a pararescueman assigned to the 320th tempting to return to a base in the region, shortly after takeoff, Special Tactics Squadron, died Oct. 30 from injuries sustained when he crashed. while rappelling during training near Kathmandu, Nepal, accord- “Losing Captain DuBois is sad and tragic. Our most sincere ing to an Air Force Special Operations Command press release. condolences go out to his family, friends, and squadron mem- “Sean was a selfl ess leader on our team,” said Capt. Michael bers during this diffi cult time,” said Col. Stephen F. Jost, 20th Erickson, 320th STS combat rescue offi cer and Barton’s team Fighter Wing commander. “Captain DuBois was a patriot who leader. screenshot 12.03.2014 Lt. Col. Ryan Haden, 74th Fighter Squadron commander, lands an A-10C on a desert landing strip at White Sands Missile Range, N.M. The 74th FS was supporting Iron Strike, a large-scale live-fi re exercise hosted by the Army’s 1st Armored Division. 10 AIR FORCE Magazine / January 2015 By Aaron M. U. Church, Associate Editor “He aggressively pursued excellence with a smile on his end of the Cold War.” The readiness action plan enables face and laughter never far behind. His love for his family, NATO “to meet any threats from wherever they come,” he said. loyalty to his team, and relentless determination serve as The interim force will primarily be made up of troops based an example for us all.” in Germany, the Netherlands, and Norway, although all 28 Barton, who joined the Air Force in 2003, had served in countries “will contribute to this effort into the next year.” both Iraq and Afghanistan and was a recipient of multiple The interim force is expected to be available early this year. Air Medals, among other commendations. NATO’s full capacity spearhead force will “provide the quick reaction capability we need,” added Stoltenberg. Al- NATO Announces Interim Spearhead Force lied defense ministers are slated to decide the full size and NATO announced Dec. 2 that an interim “spearhead force” design of the force in February, and the “aim is to stand it will go operational next year as part of the Alliance’s efforts up in 2016,” according to offi cials. to improve readiness and assure eastern allies in light of Russian aggression in Ukraine. Arizona Predators NATO Secretary General Jens Stoltenberg said the move The Arizona Air National Guard launched its fi rst Stateside is “the biggest increase in our collective defense since the MQ-1 Predator sortie from Fort Huachuca, Ariz., Nov. 5. USAF photo by A1C Ryan Callaghan AIR FORCE Magazine / January 2015 11 Ai F r c e o r l d The sortie was enabled by the unit’s new launch and recovery element, according to a wing news release. “The P a t ne s h ip o r W a t e LRE completion is a product of more than six years of U S i n e s t i g a o rs l aun h e d s e v e ra n e s t i g a i o n planning and preparation, and the first flight of an Arizona i n o w h e t h e r U S - h an l e d a rc ra t ro c ure m e n s o r h e MQ-1 … was a great milestone for our wing,” said 162nd A f g h an A i r F o rc e b re a h e d c ri m i na l a . Wing Commander Col. Phil Purcell. T h e n t e d t a e s s a m i n o e t h e A A F u a a The wing’s 214th Reconnaissance Group began flying sustainable air arm, but purchases such as a fleet of remote RPA combat missions in theater from Davis-Monthan 20 - 2 A ran p o r s r v e d n r d i b l y a t e f u , p e c i a AFB, Ariz., eight years ago. i n p e c t o r e n ra o r A f g h an s t an r c o n t ru t i o n J h n . The new LRE will take on a crew-training role to “prepare S o p k o a d a a re s s ro un t a l e n a h i n t o n . C . airmen from across the country to operate and maintain our T h e A i r o rc e n e d u c ra p i n h e ro b l e m - nation’s RPA assets, and as one of only five ANG LREs in p l a u d A f g h an - 2 s o r e nn e s n h e o l l ar arl i e r the country, Arizona remains at the forefront of readiness this year. “They didn’t fly and didn’t work,” said Sopko. for any federal or state requirement,” Purcell said. His office, known as SIGAR, estimates that the total The unit has logged more than 70,000 combat flying c o s t o f t h e C - 2 c o n ra t a o un e d t o b e t w e e n $ 6 00 hours to date and is still awaiting the completion of hangars m i l l i o n an 8 00 i l l i o n a t h o u h i s au i t o r a e n t and support facilities next year. ye t d e t e rm i n d a f u l a c o un i n o f t h e c o s t s . “We want to find out why [the purchase was made] Mis s il e Fo r c e A o p t T h r ee Y ea R t a io ns and see if there are lessons learned,” he added. The The Air Force will adopt a test scheme forcewide to rotate p l ann d a q u s i t i o n f a d i t i o na i - 17 e l i c o p t e rs o r new missileers after three years of proficiency building into t h e A A F a ro b l e m a i c a e l l , e a d . three-year instructing or supervisory roles, announced 20th That’s because the Afghans had difficulty flying and Air Force, which oversees ICBM forces. maintaining their existing Mi-17 fleet, and SIGAR saw “In the past, the focus was to become an instructor or n n e d t o a d n w - b u l d a rf ra e s t o i t , h e s a d . evaluator, leading to less experienced people” often over- —Marc V. Schanz seeing more experienced officers, explained Maj. Ray Vann, ICBM operations lead at Air Force Global Strike Command’s Applied Capabilities Office. The new “3+3” plan decreases the length of first-term Europe, USAF Gen. Philip M. Breedlove called overt acts assignments and allows launch officers to gain experience. attempting to message the US and its allies on Russia’s It was beta tested at Minot AFB, N.D., earlier this year. military reach and influence. The result, thus far, has been that officers in the missile field “attain a high level of expertise as leaders and opera- Ir a is in t h e A izo na D e e t tors so they can lead from the front when they become The Defense Department will deliver the Iraqi Air Force’s commanders of ICBM units,” said Col. Jay Folds, 20th Air first batch of new-build F-16s to Tucson, Ariz., where they Force operations director. will be used to train Iraqi pilots, officials announced. “An added benefit to the ‘3+3’ model is the new perspective gained by serving in multiple units” early in a career, Vann said. B ea s a t h e B a k D o o r Russian bombers will expand long-range patrols in the Western Hemisphere, including international airspace in and around the Gulf of Mexico, Russian Defense Minister Ser- gei Shoigu announced in November. Long-range aviation units, including Russia’s Tu-160 and Tu-95 strategic bombers, will expand exer- cises to include areas over the Arctic and the Western Hemisphere.