Free Republic

4/30/2009 - DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFNS) -- Over the Arizona desert near Tucson, nine student pilots took the "final exam" for a career most people only dream about in April. They are in the final stages of training to become F-16 Fighting Falcon pilots for the Air Force. At the end of 7.5 months of intense F-16 Basic Course Training with the Texas Air National Guard's 149th Fighter Wing in San Antonio, the students participated in Exercise Coronet Cactus at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. "At the end of the course, we bring them out here for two weeks...

To troops downed in combat, few sights are sweeter than the approach of military rescuers. In a few weeks, Tucson will be at the center of efforts to speed up that lifesaving process. Personnel from around the globe will converge at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base from Dec. 1 to Dec. 12 for the largest rescue exercise of its kind. The effort, dubbed Angel Thunder, will involve the U.S. Army and Air Force, troops from Germany, Chile, Colombia and observers from Canada, Mexico, Brazil and Pakistan. Several non-military U.S. agencies such as the State and Justice departments, the National Geospatial-Intelligence Agency...

Hundreds of Davis-Monthan personnel are off to war again with the base's A-10 Thunderbolt II aircraft. About 300 airmen from the 354th Fighter Squadron and the 355th Maintenance Group are due to start leaving for Afghanistan this weekend. The pilots, navigators, mechanics and other personnel likely will be overseas for four to six months, though the exact length of their deployments isn't certain, officials said. "America's airmen from Davis-Monthan are ready for combat," the base's wing commander, Col. Kent Laughbaum, said in a statement announcing the departures. The A-10 provides close air support to U.S. ground troops. The aircraft "has...

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...

Staff Sgt. Jason Winge never walks alone when he goes to war. Four paws pad along beside him, swathed in special scorch-proof booties to protect against hot sand in the Middle East. By day, Rex the military working dog sniffs for explosives that could endanger U.S. troops. After work, the 3-year-old Belgian Malinois behaves much like a loyal pet, gazing quizzically at his master as if to ask what's on his mind. The bond between man and beast is perhaps never stronger than during deployment, said Winge, who soon will head overseas with Rex at his side. "They get to...

This is the story of a Christmas miracle, a snowfall that couldn't be, and a cat named Tuffy, who truly was. In the waning hours of Dec. 23, 1941, Richard Wood, then age 9, was fast asleep. Not far above him, a four-engine bomber with 19 men aboard was silently gliding through the icy air, heading for an emergency landing at what was then called Davis-Monthan Field. "I assume I didn't hear it because no motors were going," says Wood, who also soundly slept through the ensuing crash - right through the roof of a house less than two blocks...