"Crunch" Time at Osan

(Rebecca Mattison is an Osan spouse. She and dozens of other Team Osan volunteers spent several days in October and November baking more than 90,000 cookies to be distributed to servicemembers throughout the Korean peninsula for the holidays. It's all part of Team Osan's "Cookie Crunch.")



Cookie Crunch this year was wonderful!! I am not sure how long it has been going on, but it is a unique program at Osan because of the small number of accompanied Airmen compared to the huge number of Airmen and Soldiers we give cookies too. I love being a part of it because not only do I get to volunteer with other spouses from the base, but also with Active duty volunteers from across the Wing, 7 Air Force and the tenant units.


Sometimes, military members even came in during their lunch breaks, on a day off or Saturday. Some of them even take a day off to volunteer and bake cookies. Everyone from chiefs to colonels to airmen, they all came out to help bake cookies and do their part to help make Cookie Crunch a success.

When I'm baking cookies at the Mustang club on base it feels like I'm working in Santa's workshop! When volunteers show up they are given a job to do like breaking eggs, mixing dough or scooping dough onto pans. The bakers are given the job of putting the pans of cookies into one of the six massive ovens we use. Usually, all six of the ovens are going at one time! Other volunteers help put cookies into bags and pack them into boxes. It is a great chance to meet people from all walks of life at Osan. While it is hard, exhausting work, it is so much fun you don't notice how hard you are working until it is over. My family knew that after a day of baking at Cookie Crunch, they could expect a take-out meal from one of the many Services restaurants on base :)



It feels good to know we provided a taste of home in the form of a few cookies to every unaccompanied Airman and Soldier at Osan and Kunsan and the consolidated operating bases.



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Hickam Airmen honored by China's #2 General

(Major Troy Cullen is a pilot assigned to the 204th Airlift Squadron at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawai’i)

On November 2, Major Anthony Davis, 204th Airlift Squadron at Hickam AFB, Captain Billy Dye 535th Airlift Squadron, Hickam AFB, and I met General Xu, the second highest ranking member of China’s military. General Xu Caihou specifically requested the opportunity to meet the aircrew involved in the recent United States humanitarian support of the earthquake and blizzard relief missions into China...

We met with General Xu at Camp H.M. Smith, United States Pacific Command’s Headquarters. We joked with each other about our surreal position while standing with the Joint Staff in a receiving line for General Xu.

Talking through an interpreter, General Xu thanked us, on behalf of the Chinese people, for providing the disaster relief and vital supplies to earthquake victims in China in May 2008. General Xu bestowed a great honor on the aircrew by presenting us with his personal coin along with a photo album of the relief missions titled “Timely Help from Afar.”

It was obvious to all present, this was a one of a kind event that probably would never happen again. Major Davis, Captain Dye and I felt honored to represent Pacific Command.

Photo used with permission from The Honolulu Advertiser


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History of a sister service

(Capt. Kirsten Udd is a public affairs officer at Pacific Air Forces Headquarters at Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii.)

Purple. It’s not just my favorite color, it’s also the term used to describe the joint world in which our Armed Forces now operate. Everyone has to work together to get the job done. This is not just some sappy, feel-good, or seasonal sentiment; it’s something I believed before I joined the service. So, here are some of the things that an Air Force officer learned about the history of a sister service...

Tuesday morning I had the honor of attending a ceremony at Central Pacific Bank in downtown Honolulu. The event highlighted some amazing U.S. Army veterans, specifically the 442nd Regimental Combat Team, 100th Infantry Battalion, and 1399th Engineer Construction Battalion. A friend had told me a little about the history of the 442nd, but the beautiful museum-quality displays enhanced the story with actual weapons, photos and memorabilia from the era.



These men were awarded the designation of honorary Texans because they rescued the Texas boys of the “Lost Battalion” (just one of many feats of bravery). I chatted with one veteran who described the “Banzai charge, basically a suicidal charge which, in this case, saved the lives of their fellow soldiers. The regiment’s motto became “Go For Broke” as a result of this rescue.

He went on to describe the sound the troops feared most: a Panzer round that made no noise (when the artillery made a whistling sound they knew it was going over their heads). He described grenades that were so heavy that the soldiers risked injury if they tried to hurl them with any degree of power, the men learned to lob then underhanded instead.

These Japanese-Americans were fighting for America in an era where, not only was their loyalty questioned because of their heritage, but Japanese families were interred for National Security reasons. These Japanese-Americans veterans are a special group called “Nisei”, the generation born of children born to Japanese immigrants. I learned from Wikipedia that the term has its roots in the Japanese numeral system. One is “ichi”, two is “ni”, and “san” is three. Hence the children are Nisei and the grandchildren are Sansei.




I hope you learned something new and increased your awareness of Hawai’i’s rich military heritage. You can read more about these heroes at http://nisei.hawaii.edu/page/home.
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What being an aggressor maintainer means to me

(Tech. Sgt Bill Mullenburg is a 354 Aircraft Maintenance Squadron specialist flightline expeditor at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska)

Every Day when I first walk in the doors of the Aircraft Maintenance Unit I usually have one question running through my mind. What twist of the mission will be thrown on us today? At the end of the day the same outcome happens. How we get there is never the same. We always manage to dig deep down and make sure we get every pilot off the ground safely and efficiently. There are always tough challenges that require great team work and proficiency to get the job done. When things get moving quickly and start changing along the way it does not matter what your job is. Weapons personnel, crew chiefs, and specialists always work together.

When we first arrived here at Misawa Air Base, Japan, we had to reconfigure all the aircraft that landed. As Aggressors our configurations do not change as much as other units. When we first set the schedule for our first day of the TDY we planned for the worst. Due to the units' team work our day shift was able to recover all the airplanes and reconfigure their tanks, pods and weapons stores all before swing shift ever hit the door. Every one of my fellow coworkers was proud of the fact we were able to accomplish all of that. It allowed the much-abused swing shift workers to have the night off and enjoy their first night TDY to Japan.

Most units have the luxury of day-to-day flying and knowing when takeoffs are, as well as exactly when each jet is going fly. As an Aggressor maintainer I first learned everything and anything is subject to change at any time. Due to color schemes and aircraft configurations, things get changed up often. But we are always ready and always make it happen.

The bottom line is that at the end of the day when we wipe the grease off our hands and look back at what we made possible, we are always proud. Whether it was configuration changes or heavy maintenance, we always make it happen.
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Maintenance in the fight

(1st Lt. Cedric Adams is with the 414th Combat Training Squadron at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev. and participated in Red Flag-Alaska at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska.)





Red Flag-Alaska 10-1 was another great experience for my Air Force career.  This was my second chance to come up to Eielson AFB to support the exercise in the position of maintenance officer.  The exercise here
has a lot of similarities to the exercise in Las Vegas as well as many differences.

During previous exercises, I was able to work with Pacific Air Forces units instead of Air Combat Command units as well as our allies, the French and Japanese. It is always amazing to see how the units; operators, maintenance, and support both from the host base and all the visitors can come together and accomplish the training to keep our fighting forces at the top of their craft. The highlights of this trip were shooting new weaponry with the Army Rangers and participating in a friendly soccer game between the Japan Air Self-Defense Force and Eielson AFB soccer teams. Hopefully, I will be able to return in the near future.
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The Alaskan Sky

(Misty Gott is a military dependent at Eielson Air Force Base, Alaska)

Alaska is an amazing place with many beautiful sites, one being the picture perfect skies.  You never know what you might see when you look up.  A few weeks ago I was driving down the Richardson Highway and saw the most amazing sky.  It was a gorgeous shade of gold, something I don't think I've ever seen before.  It looked like golden rays piercing out from behind the few clouds in the sky.  While I was admiring the beautiful color, I caught a glimpse of a KC-135 cutting across my view...it look like a painting.  I must of stared at it for 2 miles.

Then a few nights after that, my husband and I were driving back from Fairbanks, I happened to look out the window and see the Aurora dancing across the sky.  For those of you who have never seen the Aurora, it is absolutely one of the most amazing things.   The only way I know how to describe it is a bright green visible gas drifting and twirling across the sky, with stars twinkling in the background.  Alaska has some of the most amazing skies I have ever seen.
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My First Air Show

(Capt. Crystal McLeod is assigned to the 51st Medical Operations Squadron. She attended an air show for the first time Oct. 21 at Osan Air Base's Air Power Day.)

 

I kept hearing the buzz around the clinic and on the campus. I said to myself, “Who are the Thunderbirds and why is everyone making such a big deal about them?" Needless to say the Thunderbirds showed me EXACTLY who they were. Not only was this my first time seeing them, but this was my first Air Show, period.

As I made my way toward the flight line, I suddenly felt like a kid on her first visit to the candy store. I wanted to have a taste and view of everything in sight. So as the team prepared for their show and began their descent down the runway to prepare for takeoff, I fumbled for my video camera not wanting to miss one second of the show. I was so amazed at the performance, accuracy of stunts and precision. But, on the other hand, I must admit that I was also very nervous.

It was an awesome show and now when I hear someone say, “Thunderbird,” I can say, “ THEY ARE AWESOME.”
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