Feature Search

  • Andrews Airmen participate in Total Force exercise

    Editor's note: this story accompanies a recent news story regarding Ability to Survive and Operate and readiness training the 459 ARW participated in prior to the 2011 February Unit Training AssemblyIt all started with an exercise recall of over 1200 459th Air Refueling Wing Reserve Airmen on a

  • Air Force Reservist takes flight in WWII-era plane

    It's a warm fall afternoon when a crowd of vintage aircraft enthusiasts line up along the railing at a makeshift airfield in Bealeton, Va. for one of the annual Flying Circus air shows. Their attention is drawn skyward as a propeller-powered biplane performs aerobatic maneuvers high above. The sound

  • Making supplies go a long way... 459th LRF trains at RAF Mildenhall

    "Fuel to the Fight. " That's the 459th Air Refueling Wing's motto. We all know the jets need gas, but what do the mechanics and logistics personnel need in order to maintain and keep a 50-year-old aircraft flying with the ability to refuel? Keep in mind, the KC-135R was constructed during the

  • 459 ARW takes icy plunge for Special Olympics

    Even a snow storm couldn't keep members of the 459th Air Refueling Wing from jumping into Maryland's Chesapeake Bay for a worthy cause. They took the Polar Bear Plunge on Jan. 29, to raise money for the Special Olympics Maryland."I heard about it (Polar Bear Plunge), and I thought I could put up

  • Hurricane Hunters: All in a day's work

    Thunderstorms poured through the nation's capital August 22 as Hurricane Bill moved up the coast. Those traveling around the Beltway may have noticed heavy traffic. Sports fans were braving the storms to travel to one of the three professional sporting events taking place in the city that evening.

  • Wing command chief imparts advice, farewell to Airmen

    A teenage girl, curious about what the blue-suited neighborhood recruiter was all about, decided taking her friend and trying to join the Air Force would be the best way to find out. The rigor of the initial fitness exam proved too much for the young girl, but the friend she persuaded to accompany

  • 459th ARW members bridge generations at Armed Forces Retirement Home

    Decades since they faced and overcame the challenges of war, dozens of Armed Forces Retirement Home residents in Gulfport, Miss., couldn't have expected the events of Aug. 29, 2005. By the time most of the world became aware of Hurricane Katrina's magnitude, the daylong cataclysm had already ravaged

  • Wings of hope: Guard, Reserve team up to make child "Pilot for a Day"

    When Michael Ogunjimi was in third grade, he won a regional essay contest with a submission titled "I Love Life and I Want to Live." Two years later, the 10-year-old Washington, D.C., honor roll student continues to fight every day to make good on his essay's assertion. Michael is both a Truesdell

  • 'Lady' and gentleman: Former AFRC commander visits Andrews

    A former commander of Headquarters Air Force Reserve touched down here aboard a piece of history Oct. 12 to participate in the dedication of one of America's newest memorials. Retired Maj. Gen. Richard Bodycombe said he and his crew endured a "very chilly" trip aboard a B-17 Flying Fortress from

  • Wing med techs, flight nurses train to save lives

    When a passenger aboard a KC-135 cargo aircraft was suddenly stricken with a grand mal seizure, members of the 459th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron seemed to know exactly what to do. Had the mock seizure not been a planned part of the squadron's training mission, it's a safe bet the flight nurses,