Meet Your Military
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PHOTO: Air Force Senior Master Sgt. Ray Lewis, a refueling boom operator assigned to the Air Force Reserve’s 18th Air Refueling Squadron, 931st Air Refueling Group, McConnell Air Force Base, Kan., has been serving in the Air Force for more than 24 years and recently passed 6,500 total flight hours and 1,500 missions flown. Courtesy photo by Jonathan Pece Air Force MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. – A reservist assigned here has reached a career milestone that was more than 24 years in the making. Senior Master Sgt. Ray Lewis, a refueling boom operator assigned to the Air Force Reserve’s 18th Air Refueling Squadron, 931st Air Refueling Group, recently passed 6,500 flying hours while at the same time tallying his 1,500th mission. Lewis said he sees the totals as less of a milestone and more of a reflection on the fact that he has been able to continue to fly regularly for his entire career. "I think I'm just lucky," he said. "I'm lucky in the sense that I've been able to stay in the Air Force for as long as I have and I've been able to continue to fly, serving as a reservist. I've been in the Air Force Reserve for more than 16 years of my career, and I get to fly roughly four hours a week, so it's really just been an accumulation of hours over the years." As a boom operator, Lewis' primary job is to control the KC-135 Stratotanker's refueling boom during air refueling operations.
He communicates and coordinates with the receiving aircraft's pilot to ensure the safe transfer of thousands of pounds of jet fuel, all while the two aircraft are less than 30 feet apart, traveling at 500 miles per hour, 30,000 feet above the ground. Though he has spent the equivalent of nine months in flight doing the job, Lewis said, it never gets old. "I still get excited each time I'm scheduled to go fly," he said. "It's been that way ever since the first time I did an air refueling mission, back when I was just a 19-year-old kid. I've always loved the job, always loved being in the airplane. Honestly, I like being in the airplane more than I like being at home. That may sound weird, but I'm just very, very comfortable in the airplane, and I love doing the job." That excitement of doing the job has been a hallmark of Lewis's career, dating back to that very first mission. "I was excited and terrified at the same time," he said with a laugh.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Reservist Reaches Air Refueling Milestone
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PHOTO: Air Force Staff Sgt. Maria Escobar, right, a military training instructor with the 737th Training Group, addresses a trainee during basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, May 20, 2014. U.S. Air Force photo by Benjamin FaskeARLINGTON, Va. – The Air Force basic military training instructor is vital to the development of making future airmen, and the Air National Guard plays a relevant role in that process. Escobar, a member of the Massachusetts Air National Guard, volunteered for MTI duty to teach and mentor future airmen. Air National Guard members who apply and are accepted carry out a four-year assignment as an MTI before returning to their home units.
Air Force Staff Sgt. Maria Escobar is one of those Guard members. She left her human resources specialist job at the 102nd Intelligence Wing at Otis Air National Guard Base, Massachusetts, to begin her MTI tour at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas, in 2010. Escobar said her own basic training experiences encouraged her to pursue her current path, which has taken her back to where it all began for her. “My military training instructor inspired me to become an MTI,” Escobar said. “She was a great leader and mentor and she exemplified what a true airman needed to be.” Escobar said her experiences of being on the 102nd Intelligence Wing honor guard, along with working in personnel, have had a positive effect on her MTI assignment.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Air National Guard Member Molds Future Airmen
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BETHESDA, Md. – Their school break was drawing to a close and Army 2nd Lt. Jason Ausman and his roommates, all first-year medical students at the F. Edward Hébert School of Medicine at the Uniformed Services University of the Health Sciences here, were looking forward to a carefree day of fun before classes resumed the next day. Ausman, along with fellow Air Force second lieutenants Taylor Roth and Doug Morte, headed to Jessup, Maryland, for some indoor electric go-kart racing at the Autobahn Indoor Speedway. Dick Talley, 69, had also gone with friends to Jessup from his home more than two hours away in southern Maryland for a day of Grand Prix-style go-kart racing at the speedway. Talley and his friends arrived before the medical students and took their turns behind the wheel. After a number of laps, Talley’s go-kart came to a stop and as he stood up to get out, he suddenly felt faint and then blacked out.
Meanwhile, Ausman, Roth and Morte had arrived at the speedway, signed in, and then watched the mandatory safety video before heading to the go-kart area where the previous session’s drivers were just ending their last laps. The students watched the drivers exit their vehicles and noticed Talley collapse. Ausman, who’d served for eight years as a paramedic, paramedic instructor and flight medic with the Lee County EMS in Fort Myers, Fla., before coming to the university, immediately rushed over to help. In the few seconds it took Ausman to reach him, Talley was lying still and had no pulse. "They teach you that if a person is not conscious and not breathing normally to go ahead and start CPR," Ausman said. And he did just that, continuing compressions until paramedics arrived, refusing to let anyone take over. “I have seen lots of people do CPR,” Ausman said. “I have also seen lots do poor CPR, and if there’s a chance for the victim to make it, you’ve got to keep up good perfusion.” Once paramedics arrived, Ausman told them he believed Talley was in cardiac arrest. Although paramedics initially discounted his diagnosis, a cardiac monitor revealed that Talley displayed signs of ventricular fibrillation, a lethal rhythm that showed that his heart was not beating. The paramedics, with help from Ausman, began administering life-saving support.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Student Uses CPR to Save Man's Life
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PHOTO: Ryan Forbes, right, a 13-year-old San Diego native diagnosed with Medulloblastoma, a form of brain cancer, and his older brother Jason eat “chow” with the Marines of Lima Battery, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment, 1st Marine Division, during a Make-A-Wish Foundation event aboard Marine Corps Air Ground Combat Center in Twentynine Palms, Calif., May 13, 2014. U.S. Marine Corps photo by Cpl. Ismael OrtegaMARINE CORPS AIR GROUND COMBAT CENTER TWENTYNINE PALMS, Calif. – He stands noticeably smaller than the Marines to his right and left. Their frames fill out their camouflage utilities and flak jackets, while his looks a couple sizes too small. Make-A-Wish Foundation partnered with 11th Marine Regiment to help Forbes fulfill his wish to become a “Marine for a day.” Despite the noticeable size difference, Ryan Forbes, a 13-year-old native of San Diego, held his own with the Marines of Lima Battery, 3rd Battalion, 11th Marine Regiment. His grin from ear to ear could be seen as they joked during lunch and when describing the lifestyle of the Marines in the field. Forbes received a small taste of that lifestyle when he was made a “Marine for a day” with the battery.
The Marine Corps coordinated with the Make-A-Wish Foundation to grant Forbes’ wish May 13. Forbes was diagnosed with medulloblastoma, a form of brain cancer in January, but he hasn’t let his current treatment hinder his enthusiasm for the military. Forbes arrived with his parents and brother in the morning, but after a short meeting and a long drive, he was seen in flak jacket and Kevlar. He talked to Marines about various weapon systems, ate a Meal, Ready-to-Eat, called orders through the radio and participated in a fire mission at the gunline. It was an eventful day that culminated with him fulfilling one of his dreams. “I came out and fired a howitzer,” said Forbes with a grin. “It shook me.” Forbes has wanted to join the military for several years. He spends time learning about the different branches, what it takes to complete recruit training and the various weapon systems. He saw some of the same weapon systems today. “I learned a lot about different guns like the 240B (machine gun) and the SAW (squad automatic weapon), and how a howitzer works,” Forbes said.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Marines Grant San Diego Youth's Wish
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PHOTO: Air Force Col. Brad Hoagland, left, and Air Force Lt. Col. Elizabeth Clay, graduates of the same Ohio high school and of the U.S. Air Force Academy, pose for a photo at the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing in Southwest Asia. Courtesy photo SOUTHWEST ASIA – Throughout life, there are people who inevitably leave lasting impressions -- an imprint on our consciousness. As examples, mentors and friends, they help us strive to be better, push harder and reach for higher goals. For Air Force Lt. Col. Elizabeth Clay, Air Force Col. Brad Hoagland made a difference in her life and career more than 28 years ago, when the two were in high school. Today, they find themselves serving together halfway around the world -- he as the vice commander of the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing and she as deputy commander of the 386th Expeditionary Maintenance Group. Clay and Hoagland grew up in the neighboring small towns of Elyria and Oberlin, Ohio, where they attended the same elementary and high schools. Hoagland, three years ahead of Clay in school, had three younger brothers, one of whom was in the same grade as Clay.
Both were active in their high school athletics programs, with Clay playing volleyball, basketball and running track, and Hoagland winning two state championships in football during his high school years. It was during this time that the two learned the importance of working as a team, dedication and setting high goals for themselves. It was this foundation that would propel both forward in their Air Force careers. In 1986, Clay was attending the end-of-year awards ceremony for her high school and witnessed a special moment in Hoagland’s life. He had been called onto the stage at Elyria Catholic High School to be presented with his appointment to the Air Force Academy.
Read more: Meet Your Military: Hometown Friends Serve Together on Deployment