Focus
Nine-year-old Owain Weinert's face lit up as he nudged the joystick forward and the 62nd Civil Engineer Squadron's bomb-diffusing robot lurched into motion. He'd had control of the robot for only a few minutes and already he'd nearly mastered the thing. Standing next to Owain with a wide smile on his face
Focus
If there's ever a management situation that 1st Lt. Kristina Sawtelle has never experienced, she knows she always has a large support network of peers whom she can bounce possible solutions off. Sawtelle, a logistics officer with the 627th Logistics Readiness Squadron at McChord Field, is the president of the McChord
Focus
It's 6:30 in the morning inside Clover Park High School's main gymnasium, and 14 Air Force JROTC cadets on the armed drill team are doing their best to make sure they're all on the same page. They march in formation around the gym, their hard-soled dress shoes creating an echo throughout. "If
Military Life
Every time Air Force spouse Rochelle McKeown took her 10-month-old daughter Josephine out to see what the other neighborhood children living on their cul-de-sac in Spanaway were up to, the two would end up just watching all the older children ride bikes. "I just wanted her to be around other babies
Focus
Clover Park High School Air Force JROTC cadet Miguel Angarita thought he had his military service career plan all mapped out. "I was thinking first (going into) Special Forces or maybe (becoming) a fighter pilot," said Angarita, a sophomore. But a field trip to Madigan Army Medical Hospital Feb. 7 with the
Focus
If visitors to the Museum of Flight in Seattle are lucky enough to be led on an hour-long tour of the many exhibits by docent Robert Guyette, it's likely they're going to leave with a deeper knowledge about a wide variety of aircraft. The 61-year-old docent is a walking encyclopedia of
News Articles
While sifting through grant request applications, an employee board at Quadrant Homes came across the application for the 446th Airlift Wing's Care and Share Society. It immediately struck a cord with the board. "We were so impressed by it," said Quadrant Homes spokesperson Kate Tate. "They were able to tailor their needs
News Articles
It wasn't a shock that Lt. Col. Sean Kirschner gave credit to his Army background for helping his "Team Smokin' Chickens" take home the trophy for the best chili in the battle of the services Feb. 3 at the 13th annual Lakewood Chamber of Commerce Chili Cook-off. "The Army pulls together
Focus
With nearly 40 years of experience working in aviation across the military and commercial sector, Air Force veteran Larry Kanaster has lots of good stories to tell. Like how his F-4 Phantom navigator was overwhelmingly steadfast in his pursuit to make sure maintainers kept the duo's jet in tip-top flying shape
Focus
During his recent deployment to a major air transportation hub in Southwest Asia, Tech. Sgt. Ron Rendorio got a stark reminder of the importance of the mission he worked so hard daily to keep going. While moving a transfer case containing the body of a U. S. servicemember from one aircraft
Jobs
After a round of personnel cuts just two years ago, the Air Force plans to trim the ranks again in the coming years. The Air Force is looking to get rid of about 5,750 people by fiscal 2012, officials told Stars and Stripes in March 2010. That breaks down to cutting 1,373
Focus
With OH-58D Kiowa Warrior helicopters buzzing overhead, two Soldiers playing the role of insurgents and dressed in black beanies, sweat shirts and camouflage pants burst out of the dense forest and into the open field. Each hit the ground and started firing blanks at a nearby group of Soldiers scouting the
Veterans
The promotion and management side of the world of professional boxing and mixed martial arts can sometimes be a more dangerous place for fighters than the ring itself. If fighters don’t have any business acumen, or are just plain new to the behind-the-scenes negotiations, valuable missteps such as scheduling a fight
Veterans
While enrolled at Evergreen State College's Tacoma campus, film student Ronald Lagman saw heavy doses of sex and violence - a la Quentin Tarantino style - grace the screen in several of his classmates' films. Lagman knew he wanted something different out of his work. After seeing a documentary about a
Schools
It was completely silent throughout the Washington High School cafeteria except for the pops of compressed gas passing through rifle barrels and the plink of tiny metal pellets hitting their targets and dropping into a collection tray. Eleven of the school's Air Force JROTC cadets lay on the floor carefully sizing
Focus
Senior Master Sgt. Tracy Taylor's very first car was a 1981 Mustang. It had a weak, four-cylinder, 88-horsepower motor. My, oh my, how things have changed. The 36-year-old Taylor's current ride is a supercharged, 500-plus horsepower 2007 Shelby Mustang GT/SC. The Western Air Defense Sector Guardsman has always been a fan of cars
Focus
Staff Sgt. Natasha Sanchez still remembers the day quite clearly. She was 19 years old; her brother was 15. Both were bowling in a tournament in their home state of Tennessee. Suddenly, two lanes down from Sanchez, loud cheering broke out around her brother's lane. He'd bowled a 300 - a
Operation Family Support
Thanks to a new reading device, children of deployed troops can now hear their parent read their favorite book to them every night despite being on the other side of the world. The AnyBook Reader, manufactured by Franklin Electronic Publishers, hit the market in October and gives children the chance to
News Articles
After a little more than four months of serving as the lone head of her household, McChord Field spouse Tiffany Costley was ready for a much-needed break. When her pilot husband, Christopher, left on a 120-day deployment with the 4th Airlift Squadron, Costley was in the early stages of her pregnancy.
Veterans
It started with a father wanting to do something to make a better opportunity for his grown children in Washington state after their military careers in the Air Force come to an end. But after Dennis Primoli started looking over the laws that aid veterans in Washington, the retired colonel and
