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n F-16 from the 162nd Fighter Wing of the Air National Guard has crashed near Douglas close to Arizona's border with New Mexico, Davis-Monthan Air Force Base has confirmed.

Scare at the Sub Base GROTON -- Police and fire units have set up a perimeter at the Groton Sub Base. Bomb-sniffing dogs have been also called out to the scene. Navy authorities are providing very limited information as to what happened Monday morning. Crystal Lake Avenue and the military highway road along the river have been blocked off by local police. This provides access to Gate #1 where the incident involving a truck took place. A spokesperson for the sub base tells Eyewitness news that at 6:30 a.m. Monday a Navy dog trained to sniff for explosives sensed something...

The Air Force’s plan to retire its entire fleet of A-10C “Warthogs” could make Davis-Monthan Air Force Base vulnerable to the next round of base closures. In its proposed budget, the Air Force would eliminate the close air support jet, including 55 active-duty A-10Cs at D-M, by fiscal year 2016 and 28 Air Force Reserve A-10Cs at D-M by fiscal 2019. In 2019, 21 F-16s would be moved to a Reserve unit at the base. The Pentagon also plans to cut its fleet of EC-130H Compass Call electronic warfare planes — based solely at Davis-Monthan — roughly in half, to...

by John Urban | TopRight News A potentially disastrous security breach by the Pentagon was discovered by sheriff's deputies during a routine traffic stop in Southern Arizona. Pinal County deputies stopped a 2006 Ford Expedition for a traffic violation. The Mexican national initially presented an Arizona Identification Card, in the name of Armando Villalobos of Phoenix. A records check revealed that not only did the illegal alien have no driver's license, but there were outstanding felony warrants for his arrest in Texas.The suspect eventually told the deputy that his real name was in fact Mario Bustamante, 37, and that he was in...

PINAL COUNTY - An illegal immigrant is arrested in Pinal County and it's discovered he had gained access to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. On Thursday, Dec. 26, at 7 p.m., a Pinal County Sheriff's deputy stopped a 2006 Ford Expedition westbound on Interstate 10 near milepost 180 for a traffic violation. The driver of the vehicle identified himself, using an Arizona Identification Card, as 37-year old Armando Villalobos of Phoenix. The deputy did a routine license and warrant check. Villalobos returned with a "No License" status and a felony warrant for his arrest out of Texas. The warrant showed he...

Back to the Title 10 side of the house for a moment; the Air Force Council meets today to consider further cuts in aircraft to meet aggressive savings targets laid out by Defense Secretary Robert Gates. One option on the table: early retirement of all 66 B-1B Lancer bombers (the last delivery of which came back in 1988). Force structure cuts might also extend to the air arm’s much cherished but currently under-utilized fighter force. The service already plans to early retire 250 fighters this year, Air Force Secretary Michael Donley said last month; gone are 112 F-15s, 134 F-162,...

The funeral flowers were red, white and blue. The flag overhead was three stories tall. The salutes numbered in the thousands. Davis-Monthan Air Force Base paid somber tribute to two elite combat rescuers killed in action in Afghanistan, but amid the pomp, the tiny hand of a toddler hammered home the loss. Nestled in the arms of his tearful mother, 21-month-old Michael Flores Jr. reached out and petted a photo of his late father's face that overlooked an empty pair of combat boots. The moment capped an emotional morning at Thursday's on-base memorial for Tech. Sgt. Michael Flores, 32, a...

4/2/2010 - DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFNS) -- For some military members, the call to duty is only surpassed by the call to help others. For Air Force reservist and 920th Rescue Wing member Tech. Sgt. Corey Hellmann, it's his motivation and mission in life. When he isn't providing respiratory therapy at his civilian job in a level-one trauma center in Tampa, Fla., Sergeant Hellmann, in his military job, can be found administering critical care to wounded warfighters being evacuated from the war zone. As a member of the 920th Aeromedical Staging Squadron at Patrick Air Force Base, Fla.,...

After a three-year hiatus, the largest aerial spectacle in Southern Arizona returns March 20 and 21 to Davis-Monthan Air Force Base. Air show director Lt. Col. Tim Krauss has been working since last May to bring military and civilian aircraft from around the United States to participate in the free two-day event, whose theme is "Davis-Monthan: Tucson Pride, Air Force Power." "D-M and Tucson are rich with aviation history and our goal is to highlight the many achievements of the base and our Air Force that could not have been accomplished without the outstanding support of our local community," Krauss...

Tucson’s skies will be busier than usual this month and next with an influx of out-of-town military jets. Dozens of Air National Guard F-16 pilots are escaping the chill in their home states to train here in the program known as Operation Snowbird. Ten F-16s from New Jersey will arrive within the first two weeks of January. They’ll be followed mid-month by about a dozen F-16s from Vermont, and another dozen or so from Ohio at the end of the month and into the first week of February. Operation Snowbird is run by the Arizona Air National Guard’s 162nd Fighter...

CHARLESTON AIR FORCE BASE, S.C., Oct. 19, 2009 – Though she's personally paid a high price, Air Force Master Sgt. Lisa Peele continues to "pay it forward." Air Force Gen. Duncan McNabb, commander of U.S. Transportation Command, signs Air Force Master Sgt. Lisa Peele's re-enlistment papers after officiating at Peele’s re-enlistment during her first C-17 Globemaster III flight, Oct. 7, 2009. U.S. Air Force photo  (Click photo for screen-resolution image);high-resolution image available. A little more than two years ago, Peele suffered a concussion, two broken bones and a torn knee ligament in an accident at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base, Ariz., that...

12/12/2008 - DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFNS) -- More than 850 ground recovery forces and 51 aircraft from the Department of Defense and numerous other countries kicked off a personnel recovery and combat search and rescue exercise Dec. 8 here. The two week-long Angel Thunder 2008 exercise allows U.S. and international military forces and numerous national, multinational and interagency personnel recovery assets to train through the full spectrum of personnel recovery capabilities -- preparation, planning, execution and adaptation. "Angel Thunder is a very unique program, built by the combat search and rescue community from the grass roots level, that...

Reserve search-and-rescue crews based at Davis-Monthan Air Force Base will begin deploying to the Middle East next week. About 80 reservists with the 943rd Rescue Group, which specializes in combat search and rescue, are scheduled to leave in the first of three deployments, said Master Sgt. Shawn McCowan, a unit spokesman. The 943rd will deploy along with members of its parent unit, the 920th Rescue Wing, for more than a year, McCowan said. He wouldn't say when the unit would leave or exactly where the reservists will be sent due to security concerns, which is standard military procedure. The unit...

11/30/2006 - DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz. (AFPN) -- The A-10C Thunderbolt II made its official roll-out debut here Nov. 29, revealing its transformation and its enhanced capabilities under the Precision Engagement program. The Precision Engagement program will offer the A-10 the most significant modifications it has ever received in its 30-year history, making it a more capable and survivable attack fighter, according to Maj. Dan Walls, 355th Training Squadron director of conversion training unit operations. "Precision Engagement increases the lethality, survivability and standoff of one of the most respected and recognized attack aircraft in the world and ushers in...

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...

10/24/2005 - DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz -- The Air Force broke ground on a new combined air operations center here. There was the sound of sledgehammers swinging when workers started the conversion of an old ground-launched cruise-missile facility into the new Falconer CAOC facility Oct. 17. The new operations center -- scheduled to open in July 2006 -- will be the only “continuously operational” facility in the United States and one of only five Falconer CAOC weapon systems used to support combatant commanders worldwide. The CAOC -- an $11.35 million construction project -- is part of an Air Force...

Davis-Monthan Air Force Base is bracing for a spike in noise complaints when a squadron of British warplanes arrives in Tucson next week. Eight Royal Air Force GR4 Tornado jets will touch down Aug. 27 for a month of training that will put them in the skies seven days a week. The British attack jets are notably louder than the A-10s and C-130s typically flown at D-M, and their arrival tends to generate extra complaints to the base's public affairs office, a D-M official said Tuesday. Exact noise comparisons were not readily available, but a 2001 Air Force environmental impact...

DAVIS-MONTHAN AIR FORCE BASE, Ariz., Aug. 4, 2005 — An environmental engineer here won $2,500 from “Good Housekeeping” magazine as a runner-up for the magazine’s Women in Government award. “I was on a bike ride with my son, Alex, (when I) was contacted by ‘Good Housekeeping’ magazine on my cell phone,” said Karen Oden, 355th Civil Engineer Squadron. “I am fortunate to have a job that I really enjoy, and find meaningful and challenging. To be recognized for my effort is an honor.” “I am fortunate to have a job that I really enjoy, and find meaningful and challenging. To...