2012 Capt. Jodi Callahan Memorial Graduate Scholarship Recipients

Each year around this time, AFA awards the $1,000 Callahan Memorial Scholarship to deserving Air Force active duty, full time Guard or Reserve pursuing a non-technical Master’s Degree. Congratulations to this year's winners: SSgt Evelyn Nicholson and TSgt James Lloyd for the 2012 Captain Jodi Callahan Memorial Graduate Scholarship.

SSgt Nicholson is pursuing a master’s in Business Administration from American Military University. She currently in serving at Osan Air Base in South Korea in Emergency Management Plans & Operations. SSgt Nicholson plans to use her skills developed through her master’s program to become a more effective leader at the tactical level and help improve business operations within the Air Force.
TSgt Lloyd is pursuing a master’s degree in Management from the American Military University. Currently he serves in the selectively manned 25th Space Control Range and is responsible for maintaining over $58 million worth of Air Force systems and equipment at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado. TSgt Lloyd plans to use his education courses to enhance his skills relevant to his Air Force Career. He believes many of the courses will contribute to becoming an effective leader as well.

Captain Jodi Callahan was an AFA National Director and a Trustee of the Aerospace Education Foundation. She was a life member of AFA. This scholarship is possible because of the generous donations of her family and friends through the Jodi Callahan Memorial Fund.

“Jodi was both a devoted Airman and scholar. At the time of her death, she was pursuing her second master's degree at George Washington University. Both this program and her Masters of Organizational Leadership from Gonzaga University were off duty education initiatives supported in part by the Air Force,” said the Callahan Family. “It takes a lot of determination and hard work to find that right balance of life, scholarship and career. To recognize these Airmen’s achievements and to contribute to their academic growth in the name of our daughter gives us great pleasure. We wish them the best of luck.”

A New Face at AFA: Lt. Gen. Richard Newton Named New Executive Vice-President

AFA today announced that Lt. Gen. Dick Newton, who retired from a 34-year career in the Air Force this past June, will be replacing David T. “Buck” Buckwalter as AFA’s Executive Vice-President as of August 27, 2012.

Newton retired as the Assistant Vice Chief of Staff and Director, Air Staff, Headquarters USAF, where he oversaw the administration and organization of the Air Staff, which develops policies, plans and programs; establishes requirements; and provides resources to support the Air Force’s mission. He also served as Deputy Chairman of the Air Force Council, and was the Air Force accreditation official for the international Corps of Air Attachés. 

A little about AFA's New EVP:
Born at Forbes Air Force Base, Kan., Newton hailed from an Air Force family and graduated from the U.S. Air Force Academy in 1978. His command assignments include the first B-2 squadron, a B-1B operations group and a B-52 wing. He served at Headquarters U.S. Air Force as a planner, then executive officer for the Deputy Chief of Staff for Plans and Operations, and later as Deputy Director for Strategic Plans and Future Systems for the Deputy Chief of Staff for Personnel. 

A little about AFA's outgoing EVP: 
After five years in the position, Buckwalter leaves AFA after having provided strong leadership and expertise. He leaves behind key accomplishments including: the development and expansion of AFA’s flagship STEM program, CyberPatriot – the National High School Cyber Defense Competition, and completion of the Association’s transition into an IRS 501 (c)(3) organization. Prior to taking his EVP position, he served in the USAF as a logistics group commander, component repair squadron commander, requirements action officer and executive officer on a major Air Force staff in Europe -- and also had held several positions within AFA, AEF (Aerospace Education Foundation, and other committees.

Note from AFA -- Courage, Gen. Loh op-ed

The Air Force has just released its latest “Portraits in Courage.” The Portraits in Courage series highlights Airmen who display bravery and determination in the face of especially challenging or dangerous circumstances. You can find it here at http://www.af.mil/specials/courage/index.html. In our subsequent notes, we will highlight each individual, like Captain Jennifer Curtis, who assisted U.S. Army Special Forces with village stability operations. You can read her story here at http://www.af.mil/specials/courage/10curtis.html.

Secondly, an excellent editorial by Gen (Ret) John Michael Loh appeared in Defense News. In it, Gen Loh, addressing the new “Pivot to the Pacific” strategy, states the Asia-Pacific region, because of its huge expanse, few land operating bases, and many far-reaching potential battle scenarios, will require airborne all-weather sensors for wide-area surveillance, and airborne battle management, command and control (BMC2) centers. Today, there are few aircraft that perform this mission and none planned in the future. He points out the Libyan Campaign had no established command and control center, no nearby bases and no wide surveillance of the battle area until AWACS and JSTARS joined the fight. This campaign underscored the need for these systems in the future. BMC2 is but one new capability the Air Force will need to execute the “Pivot to the Pacific” strategy, and the need comes at a most challenging time for modernization of systems already in the pipeline. You can read the piece here at http://www.defensenews.com/article/20120820/DEFFEAT05/308200009/The-Eyes-Brain-8216-Pacific-Pivot-8217-


Buck

David T. "Buck" Buckwalter
Acting President
Air Force Association

2012 Air & Space Conference: Heritage Spotlights

Photo courtesy of the Air Force Association's Library

In the pre-dawn hours of June 25^th, 1950, six columns of North Korean forces stormed across the 38^th parallel into South Korea. Ninety thousand communist troops augmented by armored columns and close air support rapidly overwhelmed South Korean soldiers. The newly-created US Air Force swung into action, and by June 27^th, an F-82 crew claimed the first aerial victory of the war.

At our 2012 Air & Space Conference, members of the aircrews from the 1950s’ Korean War will lead a panel, describing their experiences flying the flying F-80s, F-51s, B-29s and B-26s in Korea, amidst the brutal cold of winter and the oppressive heat of summer.

But the Korean War Aircrews are just one of several heritage spotlights on the agenda. Other heritage highlights include:

• Panel comprised of Fighter Pilots of World War II
• Panel comprised of Aircrews of the Berlin Airlift
• Book signing by Clarence “Bud” Anderson, To Fly and Fight: Memoirs of a Triple Ace
• Book signing by Gail Halvorsen, The Berlin Candy Bomber

The full conference agenda can be found here.

The 2012 Air & Space Conference will be held September 17-19, 2012, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center, just across the river from Alexandria and minutes from downtown Washington, DC. This year’s conference will host more than 60 conference addresses and 50,000 square feet of the latest and greatest technology from industry in the Exhibit Hall. Advance registration is available here.

[Note: All Active Duty military members and DOD civilian personnel can attend the conference free of charge!]

AFA's Air & Space Conferene Sessions Qualify toward Airmen CLPs

The Air Force has again made several sessions of AFA's 2012 Air & Space Conerence eligible for Continuous Learning (CL) points for personnel required to maintain professional currency in their acquisition specialty area by meeting DOD and AF Continuous Learning standards. With the conference fees now waived for all active-duty military members and DOD civilian professionals, the Air & Space Conference is a great venue for professional development training as conference attendees have access to Air Force leadership, industry experts, academia and current aerospace specialists from around the world giving insight to past, present and future aerospace challenges.

This year’s conference will host more than 60 conference addresses and 50,000 square feet of the latest and greatest technology from industry in the Exhibit Hall. Speaker Highlights Include:

• Secretary of Veterans Affairs, Eric Shinseki
• Deputy Secretary of Defense, Ashton Carter
• Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, General Martin Dempsey
• Secretary of the Air Force, Michael B. Donley
• Chief Master Sergeant of the Air Force, James . Roy

The full conference agenda can be found here. 

 

The 2012 Air & Space Conference will be held September 17-19, 2012, at the Gaylord National Resort and Convention Center in National Harbor, MD.

[Personnel can earn 0.5 points per hour, maximum of four points per day and 20 points per year for Symposia/Conference Attendance. Please contact the Air Force Acquisition Training Office for further guidance. However, other Services must contact their acquisitions departments to see if attendance at AFA’s Air & Space Conference and Technology Exposition fulfills their qualifications.]

Mitchell Hour Recap: Air Operations Over Afghanistan

Yesterday's Mitchell Institute for Airpower Studies welcomed Major General Tod D. Wolters, former commander of the 9th Air and Space Expeditionary Task Force-Afghanistan, as the guest speaker for its latest Mitchell Hour. 

In an hour-long briefing, he discussed Air Force and NATO air operations in Afghanistan from Summer 2011 to Summer 2012, the height of the insurgency. For a year in his role, he led more than 9,000 airmen across three Afghanistan-based air wings.

From providing ISR capabilities (more specifically, full-motion video ISR) to synchronizing messages and executing plans that were in line with the COMISAF, Wolters had the responsibility of leading his task force in the "relentless pursuit" of the target to achieve ISAF and GIROA success.

He provided his perspective on the successes and limitations of US and NATO airpower in Operation Enduring Freedom in Afghanistan, emphasizing how air remained a critical enabler throughout the year and citing casualty evacuation (CASEVAC), medical evacuation (MEDEVAC), lift, close air support and electronic warfare as major assets during his tenure. 

Notable accomplishments:

• On CASEVAC/MEDEVAC: Evacuating casualties from the battlefield to the nearest hospital within 60 minutes of their injury, averaging 40 to 45 minutes  
• On ISR: USAF provided 560-600 hrs/day of full motion video, in addition to a few more hundreds of hours provided by the Army and Coalition forces.
• On close air support: the requirement is to have an asset overhead to protect ground troops within 12 minutes, however, they average eight minutes today.

Check out Air Force magazine's Aug. 15 Daily Report for further reading!

[Gen. Wolters is currently the Air Force Director of Legislative Liaison. The directorate is the contact between the Air Force and Congress on issues such as legislative and constituent inquiries, programs and weapons systems.]

Anniversary of Victory over Japan (V-J Day)

Today, we celebrate Victory over Japan Day, otherwise known as V-J Day, when the surrender of Japan effectively ended World War II. Though the official documents were not signed until September 2, 1945, the Allied nations celebrated across the globe. 

The many celebrations did not just illustrate American sentiment on the surrender of Japan, but recognized the fact that  the Second World War had effectively ended, taking with it half-a-decade of global conflict and loss of life.

Reporters upon hearing the announcement of the Japanese surrender. (From the Harry S. Truman Library)

The infamous 'kiss' in Times Square. (Photo from the August 27, 1945, issue of LIFE)

V-J Day in New York City. Crowds gather in Times Square to celebrate the surrender of Japan., 08/15/1945 (Photo from the National Archives)

Check out some more great photos here!