Living the American Dream

On Christmas day in 1991, the Soviet flag flew over the Kremlin in Moscow forthe last time. People across the country took what jobs they could find, gettingpaid a fraction of what they made before as the local currency became nearlyworthless. The burden of the country’s uncertain direction weighed

Daesh fears Coalition airpower

At the Coalition airpower hub for operations in Iraq, Afghanistan and across the Central Command Area of Responsibility, the commander and Coalition partners know they are making a difference in the fight against Daesh.“We know from our intelligence that Daesh [Islamic State] fears Coalition

Silent Sentry meets a decade of interstellar combat support

29 years ago, as a form of protest against cable companiescharging fees to satellite dish owners, a man by the alias of Captain Midnight intrudedinto a live HBO telecast of ‘The Falcon and the Snowman’  utilizing equipment from where he worked at ateleport.  This was a form of

When it's hotter than Hades, leave it to Hercules

Blood, Sweat, Tears: crew chief’s pour everything in to OIR

(Editor’s note: Due to safety and security reasons,last names and unit designators were removed.) At the beginning of each shift, Staff Sgt. Oren grabsa pair of green and orange foam hearing protection packaged in a little whitebox; he rolls them in to a fine point and puts them in his ears. His

HVAC Airmen withstand the heat to deliver the cool

Desert environments contain harsh elements, which can beextremely difficult to become acclimated to. One element in particular, tendsto grab people’s attention immediately making its presence known in anunforgiving way.As soon as new members get here and step off the plane theyexperience the

Bagram manages weather radar system for wide part of Afghanistan

The weather flight here holds the responsibility of managing the only weather radar system that impacts a wide swath of the rugged country of Afghanistan, impacting operations from Bagram to Kabul to Jalalabad. Having the responsibility of managing the region’s weather radar, the 455th Expeditionary

Maintaining the vehicles that move the mission

(Editor’s note: Due to safety and security reasons,last names and unit designators were removed.)Imagine unloading 60 thousand pounds of cargo byhand. Aircraft missions, personnel movements, and supply distributions wouldcome to a screeching halt. The time and resources necessary to accomplish sucha

CAPS does its part, keeps CENTCOM In the fight

Quick accessto spare engines, batteries, C-130 wheels or just an O-ring on a gas gauge couldsave time, money, and maybe even lives downrange. The Consolidated AircraftPart Store is where more than 18 thousand sorties per year gain their support. Having morethan 390 thousand items in stock daily

Fuel testing keeps planes in the fight

The 455th Expeditionary Logistics Squadron Fuels Laboratory has the critical task of ensuring the fuel that keeps the airplanes in the sky and in the fight is free of contamination.They do this task by conducting fuel sample analysis ensuring that the fuel delivered to aircraft on the line here