Hurlburt Field, Fla. – “Is there a doctor on board?”

Sitting in his aisle seat toward the back of a commercial flight, Air Force Staff Sgt. William Flaspoehler saw the flight attendants scrambling for help.

Hurlburt Field – Active-duty personnel, local veterans and members of the public gathered Dec. 14, 2024, at Beal Memorial Cemetery in Fort Walton Beach, Florida, for the annual Wreaths Across America Placement Ceremony.

Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas – Tiffany Zaloudek became the first female survival, evasion, resistance, escape specialist to earn the rank of chief master sergeant, the highest enlisted rank in the U.S. Air Force, Nov 1.

The Next Generation Aircrew Protection team performed innovative vapor purge testing on an AC-130J Ghostrider gunship at Hurlburt Field, Florida, from June 24 to December 6, 2024.

The 96th Test Wing and local emergency response agencies participated in a large-scale aircraft accident response exercise Dec. 11.

Hurlburt Field – Nov 29, 2024, marks one year since a CV-22 Osprey, assigned to the 353rd Special Operations Wing, crashed near Yakushima, Japan, while participating in a joint interoperability exercise resulting in the loss of the eight crew members aboard.

U.S. Air Force Gen. Ken Wilsbach, commander of Air Combat Command, and Chief Master Sgt. David Wolfe, ACC command chief, visited the 505th Command and Control Wing, Nov. 14. Wilsbach and Wolfe were accompanied by their spouses, Mrs. Cindy Wilsbach and Dr. Doniel Wolfe.

Eglin Air Force Base – A tactical air-to-surface missile, known as the Stand-in Attack Weapon, successfully released from a 40th Flight Test Squadron F-16 Fighting Falcon for the first time Nov. 7 over the Gulf of Mexico.

Hurlburt Field – “There were bushfires and famine; people were dying of hunger—it was horrible.”

Growing up in Ghana, Staff Sgt. Barfi’s younger years were marked by conflict and adversity, but it was not the challenges that defined him rather, it was the kindness of strangers that shaped the course of his life.

Governor Ron DeSantis announced more than $2.1 million in additional funding for military-supporting infrastructure through the Defense Reinvestment Grant Program. This program provides grants to support infrastructure projects and economic growth in Florida’s military communities.