AFCEA - Los Angeles

During a Senate hearing yesterday on President Barack Obama's $9.5 billion military construction budget request for fiscal 2014, Defense Department Comptroller Robert F. Hale said the severe and abrupt budget cuts imposed by sequestration are devastating the U.S. armed forces.

Hale and John Conger, acting deputy undersecretary of defense for installations and environment, testified on military construction and family housing before the Senate Appropriations subcommittee on military construction, veterans affairs and related agencies.
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Gen. Philip M. Breedlove took command of U.S. European Command here today during a ceremony at the command's headquarters with Deputy Defense Secretary Ash Carter presiding.

Breedlove succeeds Navy Adm. James G. Stavridis, the first sailor to hold the command. Stavridis is retiring following a 37-year career and has been named dean of the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University in Medford, Mass.

Stavridis also will relinquish his NATO position as Supreme Allied Commander Europe to Breedlove in a ceremony scheduled for later this week.
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(This feature is part of the "Through Airmen's Eyes" series on AF.mil. These stories focus on a single Airman, highlighting their Air Force story.)

After escaping the violence of the Iran-Iraq War, a young girl and her family reached a refugee camp in Turkey.

One of the things she still remembers vividly from this journey are the large red crosses emblazoned on the aid tents in the camp. After all, it was here that 1st Lt. Wajeeha Omar first encountered an American nurse who worked in the immunizations area -- an encounter that would later influence the course of her own life.
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This week's photos feature Airmen around the globe involved in activities supporting expeditionary operations and defending America. This weekly feature showcases the men and women of the Air Force.

View the slideshow.
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She looked up to the ceiling and took a deep breath as tears began to glisten from behind her dark, square-framed glasses - a stark contrast to the precise composure displayed just moments before.

"My mom was..." she stopped, blinking rapidly and clearing her throat. "When my sister and I were little, my mom and dad separated for a while. We were really poor when I was a kid, and I remember we wouldn't get whatever we may have wanted, but we always had everything we needed."

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Airmen at five installations will see a new era in food service operations as the Air Force Food Transformation Initiative moves into its second phase.

The initiative, known as FTI, is a pilot program designed to provide Airmen greater variety, availability, and quality of food, while maintaining home station and warfighting feeding capabilities.

The second phase of FTI is underway at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., Ellsworth AFB, S.D., F.E. Warren AFB, Wyo., Beale AFB, Calif., and Vandenberg AFB, Calif.
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Friend and colleague. Mentor and role model. Son and daughter. Husband and wife. Mother and father. Airman and hero. These were just some of the words used to describe three fallen warriors.

Service members gathered for a memorial service May 9, 2013, at Transit Center at Manas here to honor and pay respect to Capt. Mark T. "Tyler" Voss, Capt. Victoria A. "Tori" Pinckney, and Tech. Sgt. Herman "Tre" Mackey III.

The three Airmen perished May 3, 2013, when their KC-135 Stratotanker crashed in northern Kyrgyzstan. All three were deployed to the 376th Air Expeditionary Wing's 22nd Expeditionary Air Refueling Squadron from Fairchild Air Force Base, Wash., in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.
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About three years after a bullet in his head in Iraq dramatically changed the course of his life, Capt. Wes Glisson can put his sentences together again as he continues his recovery from traumatic brain injury. He's able to remember just about everything about his life except for the shooting, which he's perfectly happy to never recall.

Rehabilitation after he was shot in February 2010 came slow for Glisson. After he awoke in his hospital bed at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda with his wife and fellow Air Force Academy graduate, Maj. Amy Glisson, at his side, he had to learn to talk and walk all over again.
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Contracts valued at $5 million or more are announced each business day at 5 p.m.

The wife of an Air National Guard Airman who created support groups for military families and businesses has been selected as the 2013 Military Spouse of the Year.

Alicia Hinds-Ward, the spouse of Tech. Sgt. Edwinston J. Ward of the 113th fighter wing at Joint Base Andrews, Md., was chosen among more than 2,000 nominees and presented with the award today during a ceremony held at Joint Base Myer-Henderson Hall in Arlington, Va.

Hinds-Ward co-founded the Joint Base Andrews Business and Community Support Group that reaches out to military business owners, and she also started a spouse forum at the base to educate military families about benefits. She also has presented National Guard issues before Congress.
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The Air Force took another step forward with its newest fighter jet when an advanced F-35 Lightning II landed at the service's lead training base, home to the largest fleet of F-35s worldwide.

The new stealth fighter kicks off a major training effort at the F-35 schoolhouse on an aircraft with unmatched capabilities.

The F-35 is the military's newest stealth fighter jet. Students from all military branches who are learning to fly the plane go through the schoolhouse at Eglin, including some from international services.
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The nonprofit Partnership for Public Service announced their 2013 Samuel J. Heyman Service to America medalists, which included a senior Air Force official.

Dr. Kevin Geiss, Air Force deputy assistant secretary for energy, was recognized as a finalist May 7 on Washington's Capitol Hill.

The finalists were honored as part of Public Service Recognition Week. The Service to America medals are regarded as the most prestigious awards to honor America's civil servants.

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In 2006, the C-5 Galaxy underwent a "super" upgrade to further strengthen the airframe's worldwide airlift capabilities.

Test teams here and at Dover Air Force Base, Del., are showing why the recent software upgrade to the largest aircraft in the Air Force inventory -- now known as the C-5M Super Galaxy -- is no small task.

Officials tested the initial modifications at Dover AFB, then the aircraft was ferried back to Edwards AFB, where the test teams will accomplish the remaining flight test sorties this month.
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When hot, dry, gusty winds from the east, known as Santa Ana winds, carried the sparks and embers of the Camarillo Springs wildfire dangerously close to homes and neighborhoods late last week, the California National Guard members who responded alongside fire personnel had a unique opportunity: to protect their own homes and communities.

The 146th Airlift Wing, which is based here and flies C-130J Hercules aircraft equipped with the Modular Airborne Firefighting Systems II, is called upon each year to fight fires across the United States. Last year the 146th and the Air Force's three other MAFFS units dropped more than 2 million gallons of fire retardant on wildfires in eight states.
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The Air Force Medical Service is now registering children in its web-based secure messaging health application, MiCare.

MiCare allows beneficiaries to communicate securely and privately with their health care teams anywhere and anytime. The secure tool is now available to more than 70 percent of Air Force bases, with the expectation it will be fully implemented AF-wide by the end of the year.

Registering a child in MiCare is as easy as 1, 2, 3. Pediatric patients are registered via a request to the clinic by the parent or guardian after they have first registered themselves in MiCare. The medical home accepts the pediatric patient after the parent or guardian has enrolled the child to their MiCare account.
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The Air Force's aggressive response when missile-launch crews at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., fell short of established standards during an inspection in March underscores the integrity of the  nuclear weapons program, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command told Congress May 9.

"I do think they reacted very aggressively to the mistakes they saw," Gen. C. Robert Kehler told the House Armed Services Committee, adding  that Air Force officials are working to deal not only with mistakes revealed during the inspection, but also the root causes.
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The Air Force's aggressive response when missile-launch crews at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., fell short of established standards during an inspection in March underscores the integrity of the  nuclear weapons program, the commander of U.S. Strategic Command told Congress May 9.

"I do think they reacted very aggressively to the mistakes they saw," Gen. C. Robert Kehler told the House Armed Services Committee, adding  that Air Force officials are working to deal not only with mistakes revealed during the inspection, but also the root causes.
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Approval last week of security technical implementation guides for BlackBerry and Samsung Knox devices means that Defense Department organizations will be able to use those devices in conjunction with a secure enterprise mobility environment.

The May 2 release of the Defense Information Systems Agency's Samsung Knox STIG provisionally allows DOD to use the latest technology as soon as it is available commercially. Officials also released STIGs for the BlackBerry 10, Blackberry Playbook and Blackberry Device Service. The STIGs allow use of accepted devices as part of approved mobility pilots with actively defended mobile device management systems, DISA officials said.
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Approval last week of security technical implementation guides for BlackBerry and Samsung Knox devices means that Defense Department organizations will be able to use those devices in conjunction with a secure enterprise mobility environment.

The May 2 release of the Defense Information Systems Agency's Samsung Knox STIG provisionally allows DOD to use the latest technology as soon as it is available commercially. Officials also released STIGs for the BlackBerry 10, Blackberry Playbook and Blackberry Device Service. The STIGs allow use of accepted devices as part of approved mobility pilots with actively defended mobile device management systems, DISA officials said.
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Base identification card issuing offices will no longer be able to manually correct or update certain types of personnel information in the Defense Enrollment Eligibility Reporting System, Air Force Personnel Center officials said May 9.

DEERS is the system used to enroll Airmen and their eligible family members for an identification card and associated benefits such as medical and dental care, federal installation access and access to installation facilities such as the commissary or exchange.
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