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DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE — In the early 1940s, Art Benko of Bisbee was trained at this airfield, which was then out in the desert near Tucson. Benko was a top turret gunner on a B-24 Liberator bomber during World War II and would become known as the top bomber gunner in the Army Air Force. His exploits included the downing of seven Japanese planes on one mission over then-French Indochina. On May 22, officials at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base will dedicate the installation’s fitness and sports center in honor of Tech. Sgt. Art Benko. Honoring Benko sits well with...

In the four years that Master Sgt. Tony Roy's electronic combat unit has been deployed, he's spent nearly two years away from home. Roy is one of roughly 140 airmen based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base who have been constantly at war since March 2004, deploying several times to provide electronic cover to troops in Iraq and Afghanistan. Members of the 55th Electronic Combat Group hop back and forth from combat zones to Tucson for months at a time, coming home only long enough to retrain, regroup and head back.

With their bright yellow and pink hair ribbons, matching dresses and shiny patent leather shoes, the little girls were more than ready Saturday for an Easter parade. Despite the early morning hour and the slight chill in the air, Paige Hargis, 6, and her sister, Summer, 4, danced around their mother, Sarah, 28, who was waiting with the rest of the crowd for the parade to start. This parade, however, was like no other. For one, many of those in the crowd wore plastic orange cones in their ears to muffle the roar. And, instead of being made up of...

Two Sabino High School students are listed in fair condition at University Medical Center. They were injured when a boulder fell on them while hiking. A HH60 Pavehawk, a cousin to the Blackhawk, rescued two teenage boys from Mt. Lemmon Wednesday. The 563rd and 55th Rescue Squadrons deployed form Davis Monthan Airforce Base with a para rescue jumper on board. They rescued 18 year old Adam Roberts and 16 year old Kevin Swen. The para rescue jumper told News 4 he decided to bring Roberts up first, becuase of his injuries and the fact that hypothermia had set in. A...

Air Force Tech. Sgt. James Fisher, who until recently was at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base in Tucson, will send regular dispatches from Afghanistan. Excerpts will run on Sundays in the Star. Find Fisher's blog at http://go.azstarnet.com/kabulHello, I must be going (Jan. 5) My name is Jim Fisher. I am a technical sergeant in the Air Force, assigned to Davis-Monthan, and I'm on my way to Afghanistan. I have been stationed in Tucson for less than a year, but I have family here, and I've been coming here to visit for years. I'm 16 years into a 20-year career (hopefully), and...

Tucson's night skies will be buzzing with more military traffic for the next several days. Some jet flights will run as late as midnight as personnel at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base test their war readiness. A series of drills simulating real combat conditions began Tuesday and will run until next Friday, base officials said in a news release. Midnight flying deadlines are scheduled for Tuesday through Thursday. D-M officials have pledged to "minimize flight operations that cause undue stress to the community," the news release said. Airmen serving overseas typically work 12- to 14-hour shifts, so the training exercises will...

A powerful new combat rescue chopper may be whumping across Tucson skies in the not-so-distant future. The U.S. Air Force recently announced its chosen replacement for the aging HH-60 Pave Hawk helicopters now flown from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Starting in 2012, the Pave Hawk's search and rescue work gradually will be taken over by the much larger HH-47, a modified version of the Army MH-47 Chinook now used by special-operations soldiers. "This is a major milestone for the combat search and rescue community, not only at D-M, but worldwide," said Col. Michael Kor-check, commander of the base's 563rd Rescue...

Two helicopters from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base were called Saturday to rescue an American who suffered what appeared to be a stroke about 500 miles off the California coast. The helicopters, from the 943rd Rescue Group, were chosen because the Navy and Coast Guard cannot refuel in the air, said Capt. Eric Simon, of the 943rd. While there is a rescue group stationed at Moffett Federal Airfield in the San Francisco area, Capt. Simon said the holiday made it difficult to activate that group. The man was aboard the cargo ship Horizon Pacific when he began suffering stroke symptoms, according...

For a number of airmen at Davis Monthan Air Force Base, it's been six months since they've seen their loved ones. But now, members of the 563rd Rescue Group are coming home. Seventeen airmen came back on a C-17 Tuesday night and more were soon to follow. During their time overseas, this unit performed 24 rescue missions for the U.S. military, and also offered foreign assistance to small children in need of medical care. Major Steve Ammons' wife can't wait for him to see how much their 10-month-old daughter has changed. "I'm excited, excited for him to see her, how...

New ideas are on the horizon for making Davis-Monthan Air Force Base a nicer neighbor. From higher aircraft altitudes to different flight routes to annual town hall meetings, a civic committee is considering an array of suggestions and will present the most promising of them to the public next week. The work of the Military Community Compatibility Committee represents one of most extensive efforts ever made to iron out conflicts that have arisen as urban growth surrounded the air base, one the city's largest employers. The group has spent months trying to find workable solutions that will protect D-M while...

The driver of a pickup truck that ran a checkpoint at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base on Tuesday headed back to his native Mexico in an ambulance Thursday and may never be prosecuted, Tucson police said. The driver, an illegal entrant, was taken from University Medical Center to a medical facility in Sonora, said Sgt. Mark Robinson, a Tucson Police Department spokesman. Police had no choice but to let him go, Robinson said, because their investigation isn't finished and no criminal charges have been filed against the man. "There are times when people leave the jurisdiction before we can make a...

The driver of a truck that ran a checkpoint at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base on Tuesday had a loaded gun at his feet and what may have been cocaine in his pocket, Tucson police said Wednesday. The truck also reeked of alcohol when rescuers arrived to tend to the driver and passenger after they crashed into a metal road barrier that protects the air base from unauthorized entry. The men remained hospitalized in fair condition late Wednesday. Police said they have discounted terrorism as a potential motive and now suspect the duo may have been impaired by drugs or alcohol...

Police have identified the two men who ran a checkpoint at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base on Tuesday morning and crashed into a barrier. The driver, Fidel Antonio Lopez-Sanchez, 28, suffered critical injuries and remains hospitalized. Lopez-Sanchez was driving a 1999 Dodge truck when he crashed into a traffic barrier aimed at stopping unauthorized base entry to the gate at Swan and Golf Links roads, police said. In Lopez-Sanchez's clothes, police found a small amount of what they believe may be cocaine. Under his feet, officers found a loaded revolver. The passenger, Saul Cazares Carrillo, 24, of Three Points, may be...

Authorities are trying to determine why two men in a pickup truck ran a checkpoint at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base this morning, crashing into a traffic barrier aimed at stopping unauthorized base entry. Terrorism is not thought to be a motive at this point, but military officials and civilian police hope to learn what prompted the pair to speed past the control gate at Swan and Golf Links roads without stopping for required identification checks. Both occupants of the 1999 Dodge truck were taken to University Medical Center with serious injuries. The men were not carrying identification and were unconscious...

This weekend be sure to look up into the sky and catch a glimpse of modern and historic military aircraft. The event allows pilots to practice formation flying for the 2006 Air Show Circuit. From historic warplanes, to advanced and sophisticated jets. The F-22A Raptor is the Air Force's newest fighter aircraft. It's only been in circulation a few months and there are only 62 in the world like it. Lieutenant Colonel Jim Hecker says luck was on his side when he was picked to fly a Raptor. Hecker said, It's a stealth aircraft and has the ability to super...

In the officers' club of Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, where aviators swap stories of danger and daring, few can top the tales of Maj. Joseph Galletti. He and his crew braved a blinding sandstorm in Iraq and repeatedly dodged enemy fire to carry out a rescue that made history. The awards they received for it put them in the company of some of the biggest names in aviation. In December, the 32-year-old helicopter pilot was among those awarded one of the service's highest honors, the Mackay Trophy for "most meritorious flight of the year." Galletti also won a Distinguished Flying...

Begin on the sixth floor, third room from the end, swathed in fluorescence: a 60-year-old woman was having two toes sawed off. One floor up, corner room: a middle-aged man sprawled, recuperating from a kidney transplant. Next door: nerve damage. Eighth floor, first room to the left: stroke. Two doors down: more toes being removed. Next room: a flawed heart. As always, the beds at Montefiore Medical Center in the Bronx were filled with a universe of afflictions. In truth, these assorted burdens were all the work of a single illness: diabetes. Room after room, floor after floor, diabetes. On...

Santos Alicea tottered haltingly over to the art shop in East Harlem, his legs screaming. The regulars knew what he was going through. They always did - the diabetes was speaking. He confirmed this with numerical rigor: 228, his nasty blood-sugar reading this morning. Nods all around. They had ugly numbers, too. James De La Vega owned the art shop on Lexington Avenue, near 104th Street, and regarded the sidewalk out front as his living room. There, with his friends and family, he shared a lot over the years: Latino art and culture, the slow cadences of East Harlem life,...

Helicopter rescue crews from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base - barely back home in Tucson after helping victims of Hurricane Katrina - took off for Texas on Friday to brace for Hurricane Rita. About 75 airmen from D-M's 563rd Rescue Group left for Randolph Air Force Base near San Antonio, along with three HH-60 Pave Hawk rescue helicopters and two HC-130 Hercules aerial refueling planes. The crews, specially trained to conduct search-and-rescue operations, have spent the last few weeks plucking people off rooftops in New Orleans and other areas stricken by Katrina. Most crew members had just returned to Tucson in...

Arriving at a hangar Friday, uniformed airmen were rocking babies, patting their buddies' backs, kissing loved ones, shaking hands and taking snapshots. About 180 Air Force personnel with a variety of specialties, from pilots to computer experts, were deployed to the Middle East from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Another group of about 50 left the base Monday, and more than 1,000 more are expected to leave this month. Officials wouldn't say where they will be stationed, citing security concerns. For many, it was their first deployment, said 2nd Lt. Christina Mundy, a spokeswoman for the 12th Air Force, which is...

JACKSON, Miss. -- As the forced evacuation of New Orleans continues, Air Force helicopter crews here are flying fewer rescues and conducting more ferry missions from evacuee collection points. Though aircrews still have a high operations tempo and their helicopters are flying much more than usual, it is different from the first hectic days after Hurricane Katrina left a path of death and destruction along the Gulf Coast. “There was plenty of rescue work to go around then. You could fly over New Orleans and it was like a scene right out of a movie. There were helicopters everywhere,” said...

Total of 1,500 will go to combat, other areas Brooke McDonough smiled bravely Monday morning as her husband, Lt. Col. Marty McDonough, slowly guided his A-10 fighter jet down the runway at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. The airman was one of about 50 who took off from the base Monday, the first wave of about 1,500 D-M personnel who will be sent this month to combat theaters in Iraq and Afghanistan and other sites overseas. McDonough and other members of D-M's 354th Fighter Squadron will provide cover for Marines and soldiers on the ground. It will be January before McDonough...

JACKSON, Miss. - About 100 men and women from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base are part of a search-and-rescue team here that continues to find stranded survivors of Hurricane Katrina. Their efforts are focused mostly in the New Orleans area, where people remain stranded in filthy and deteriorating conditions, living around and walking through water that is brown from garbage, oil, raw sewage and debris. Already some of the para-rescue jumpers - called PJs - are getting rashes from the filthy water. Since Katrina hit the Gulf Coast on Aug. 29, the 440 air military personnel operating out of the Allen...

Airman 1st Class Ashley Webb doesn't normally crawl on the ground with a gun in her job as a military medical clerk. But these days, even desk jobs can be dangerous overseas. That's why Webb is preparing for the worst as she readies to deploy to the Middle East next month from Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Borrowing moves normally used by soldiers and Marines, she and hundreds of other Tucson airmen are learning basic ground-combat skills, such as how to repel a convoy attack, how to spot a land mine and how to move in a zigzag pattern when dodging...

Defense Minister Shaul Mofaz called the recently intensified IDF operations in Gaza the "proper response" against Kassam launches from the region into Israeli neighborhoods. Army procedures in Gaza will continue as long as they are necessary, Mofaz said, as reported by Israel Radio Friday afternoon. Although he admitted that army procedures in the Gaza Strip unfortunately cannot completely eliminate rocket attacks, they certainly deter them and limit terrorist activity, Mofaz said. Hamas terrorist killed in Gaza IDF forces killed a Hamas terrorist in the Jabalyia refugee camp in the northern Gaza Strip on Friday. The terrorist, Abdel Aziz El-Ashkar, was...

The hours before a war starts can weigh on a combat pilot's mind. Chaplain Matthew Boarts knows, because he prayed with U.S. air crews on the eve of the Iraq War. Some ached at the thought of the carnage to come, Boarts said. "They were asking for prayers for the Iraqis. That really struck me," said the 36-year-old captain at Tucson's Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. "People think we're so removed in the military. But they were very much aware of the human side." Comforting troubled warriors is something Boarts seems to have a knack for doing. The Air Force recently...

They've spent months in the Middle East flying and servicing Air Force planes. Now hundreds of Davis-Monthan airmen are heading home. Several hundred local airmen who deployed to Iraq and Afghanistan last fall are due to start returning to the Tucson base this weekend. D-M's A-10 Thunderbolt II attack jets will return later. The first batch of expected arrivals are about 50 members of the 355th Aircraft Maintenance Group. They've been overseas since early November as part of the U.S.-led coalition fighting the global war on terrorism. The maintenance group includes mechanics, electricians, navigation technicians, crew chiefs and others who...