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CAF Minnesota Wing Celebrating 50th Anniversary
CAF Minnesota Wing Celebrating 50th Anniversary
Photo via Amy Lauria - CAF Minnesota Wing.
This year marks the 50th anniversary for the Commemorative Air Force’s Minnesota Wing, one of the most active units within the organization. The unit formed on July 3rd, 1971 at historic Fleming Field in South Saint Paul. The Minnesota Wing was the very first charter unit of the National Headquarters Wing of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF). Originally a maintenance unit, it supported the CAF’s mission and maintained its ever-growing fleet of vintage military aircraft, vehicles, and historic artifacts.
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3 JOINT BASE ANDREWS, Md. Chief Master Sgt. Jose Velez, Jr., former 459th Air Refueling Wing Command Chief, is set to retire Feb. 28, 2021, after 26 years of faithful and selfless service to our country.
Chief Velez was not always ‘Chief.’ He was once Airman Basic Velez in 1983, back when the uniform was an olive green color. He was only 18 years old.
“I remember going to the recruiting station when I was living in Staten Island, New York, with the intentions of joining the Marines, but as I was walking there, an Air Force recruiter stopped me and asked if I was interested in joining the Air Force,” he said. “I didn’t know what the outcome would be, but I talked to him and before I knew it, I was signing a six-year contract to join the Air Force.”
176th Wing Airmen Participate in Noble Defender Rescue Exercise
HH-60G Pave Hawk aircrew of 210th Rescue Squadron simulate combat search and rescue tactics by locating and evacuating a simulated downed pilot in Southcentral Alaska. (U.S. Air National Guard photo by Senior Airman Kelly Willett/Released)
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska Alaska Air National Guardsmen of 176th Wing participated in the Operation Noble Defender search-and-rescue/personnel recovery (SAR/PR) exercise Jan. 19 to 22, 2021, in Southcentral Alaska.
Noble Defender is a North American Aerospace Defense Command Arctic air-defense operation.
“The Noble Defender exercise series seeks to support a variety of campaign objectives for both the NORAD Command and U.S. Northern Command,” said U.S. Air Force Col. Joseph Alkire III, 611th Air Operations Center deputy commander. “While the Noble Defender series can exercise a wide range of activities, objectives center around the demonstration and ability