Nearly 2,000 emergency services vehicles from all over the U.S. and Canada gathered at McChord Dec. 8, lining up for the miles-long funeral procession for the slain Lakewood police officers. One airman from the 446th Maintenance Squadron stood at attention for nearly four hours as the procession exited the flightline. Read more here.

The Buffalo Bills cheerleaders will sign autographs and hand out posters from 10:30 a.m. to noon on Saturday, Dec. 12 at the McChord B/X. 

If you miss them on McChord, head over to the Fort Lewis P/X from 3 to 5 p.m.

Aircrews from the 446th Airlift Wing flew some unique cargo recently. Read more about it here.

In this week's Northwest Airlifter:

• Spanaway resident Ed Shadle, a former Air Force maintainer, has assembled a team of local aviation minds and a modified F-104 Starfighter in an attempt to break the land speed record of 763 mph.
• Airmen from the 5th Air Support Operations Squadron at Fort Lewis are utilizing a new simulator to practice calling in air strikes and talking to pilots before deploying.
• McChord was recently assigned a new command chief, Chief Master Sgt. Greg Warren, who replaces Chief Master Sgt. Cary Hatzinger, who recently retired. 

Four reservists from the 446th Airlift Wing have earned 2009 Fourth Air Force Lt. Gen. Leo Marquez awards in their respective categories.

• Civilian manager - Ralph Myers, 446th Aircraft Maintenance Group
• Senior NCO Aircraft Maintenance - Master Sgt. Brian Goodin, 446th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron
• NCO Aircraft Maintenance - Tech. Sgt. Anna Jezek, 446th AMXS
• Airman Aircraft Maintenance - Senior Airman Joshua McCabe,446th AMXS

The award is presented to maintainers who have demonstrated the highest degree of sustained job performance, job knowledge, job efficiency and results in the categories of aircraft, munitions/missile and communications-electronics maintenance.

Retired Lt. Gen. Leo Marquez, now 77, visited McChord in April to partake in the 62nd Maintenance Group’s Knuckle Buster award ceremony.

After serving at McChord as a maintenance officer in the 325th Fighter-Interceptor Wing in 1962, Marquez later became commander of the 325th Organizational Maintenance Squadron in 1964.

“I fell in love with maintenance guys here at this base,” Marquez said on his visit.

This from TNT Husky beat reporter Todd Milles:

As a way to recognize Sunday's killing of four Lakewood police officers, the Huskies are offering four free tickets to Saturday's Cal game to all active police, military and fire department personnel. 

They can walk up to the ticket window on the northeast plaza Husky Stadium on game day to receive the tickets, or call the UW ticket office (206-543-2200) ahead of time.

The Air Force announced the start of this demonstration a couple of weeks ago and we ran a short news brief in the printed Airlifter, but now McChord officials have released more information about the 62nd Airlift Wing's role. 

From the 62nd AW PA:

To reduce reliance on military specification products, simplify the fuel supply chain and save money, Air Force Petroleum Agency researchers will conduct demonstrations to use commercially available jet fuel instead of military standard JP-8 fuel.

In addition to McChord, the demonstrations of Jet A fuel versus JP-8 fuel will occur at Dover Air Force Base, Del.; Little Rock AFB, Ark.; and Minneapolis-St. Paul Air Reserve Station, Minn. Each base has C-5 Galaxy, C-17 Globemaster III or C-130 Hercules primary-assigned aircraft. 

McChord's role in the demonstration is the injection of necessary fuel additives as fuel goes into flight line fuel tanks that are used to issue fuel directly to aircraft. During the demonstration, McChord officials will inject military additives at various points in the supply chain and have a business case analysis completed at the conclusion of the demonstration to see which option is best.

"We are uniquely dedicated to the switch and have begun receiving Jet A already," said 1st Lt. Brian Jorgensen, 62nd Logistics Readiness Squadron fuels management flight commander. "The refinery is located in Tacoma, so it is conveniently located to McChord."

During the demonstration, suppliers can put Jet A fuel into shared pipelines, according to Jorgensen.

By eliminating the need for a specialty fuel like JP-8 and using a more readily available Jet A, refineries and fuel depots will be able to reduce infrastructure costs and save money which they will be able to pass along to the DOD.

Officials estimate the annual savings for the Air Force at $40 million.

Master Sgt. Mark Walker, Air Force Petroleum Agency project manager noted that another part of the initiative is sponsoring research that may lead to a reduction or elimination of certain military additives. By reducing the need for military additives, Air Force suppliers can reduce the logistics footprint during contingency operations, he added.

One of the key parts of the demonstration is the ability to inject military-specific fuel additives into Jet A prior to use like icing inhibitor, Jorgenson said. By injecting fuel system icing inhibitor further forward in the supply chain, the quantities can be reduced by nearly 60 percent, he said.

The demonstrations are set to run for 12 months. Afterwards, AFPA and Defense Energy Support Center officials will review the data to determine a future course of action.

SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. (AMC PA) — Gen. Raymond Johns Jr. assumed command of Air Mobility Command from Gen. Arthur J. Lichte in a ceremony here Nov. 20.

AMC is responsible for providing rapid, global mobility and sustainment for America's armed forces. As the commander, Johns acts as the lead agent for all mobility air forces comprised of more than 130,000 personnel from the active duty, Air National Guard, and Air Force Reserve. The command also plays a crucial role in providing humanitarian support at home and around the world.

Johns comes to AMC from the Pentagon where he served as Deputy Chief of Staff for Strategic Plans and Programs, Headquarters U.S. Air Force, Washington, D.C. Past assignments with AMC include serving as the 62nd Airlift Wing commander, 60th Operations Group commander at Travis AFB, Calif., and senior director at the Tanker Airlift Control Center at Scott AFB.

Johns served at McChord from August of 1998 to July of 2000.

 "Though I've been away from the command for a few years, AMC is part of my blood," Johns said. "AMC is part of the fabric of my Air Force life."

Lichte is set to retire in January.

When you think about local companies that support their reserve and guard members, Boeing automatically comes to mind because of all its close work with the government.

But Microsoft was recently awarded the 2009 Secretary of Defense Employer Support Freedom Award — the highest recognition given by the U.S. government to employers who support guard and reserve employees.

Maj. Stephen Oliver, a reservist with the 446th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron and a Microsoft employee, was one of two reservists who submitted the company for the award.

Check out the print paper in the near future for more on this story.

WOW!