Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III send the following Memorial Day message to Airmen of the U.S. Air Force and their families:

Memorial Day provides an opportunity to reflect upon the sacrifices of our nation's uniformed service members, particularly the more than one million Soldiers, Sailors, Airmen, Marines, and Coast Guardsmen who gave their "last full measure of devotion" to preserve the freedoms we cherish. Many of us can envision a specific individual -- a relative, friend, or coworker -- who has paid the ultimate price in defense of America. Take a moment -- right now -- and think of that person and their family ... thank them for giving their all.
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Air Force officials announced today Altus Air Force Base, Okla., as the preferred alternative for the KC-46A formal training unit (FTU).

McConnell AFB, Kan., was selected as the preferred alternative for the first active duty led KC-46A main operating base (MOB 1) and Fairchild AFB, Wash., and Grand Forks AFB, N.D., are the reasonable alternatives.

The preferred alternative for the first Air National Guard KC-46A main operating base (MOB 2) is Pease Air Guard Station, N.H., and Forbes AGS, Kan.; Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J; Pittsburgh IAP AGS, Pa., and Rickenbacker AGS, Ohio, are reasonable alternatives.
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A massive tornado struck Moore, Okla., three miles south of Tinker Air Force Base, May 20, killing 24 people. Nearly 250 members of the Oklahoma National Guard, as well as members of Tinker AFB are assisting with clean up efforts. The following are photos of the damage and relief efforts.

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Nearly 250 members of the Oklahoma National Guard, as well as members of Tinker Air Force Base are assisting with victim search and security in Moore, Okla., where a tornado left at least 24 dead, including nine children, authorities said.

The twister hit Monday, May 20, about 3:15 p.m. CDT, just three miles south of Tinker.

Tinker Air Force Base officials activated the 507th Air Refueling Wing Crisis Action Team and initiated accountability of all personnel assigned to the wing.
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More than 8,000 money-saving ideas have cascaded into the Pentagon from across the Air Force this month.

Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Gen. Larry Spencer launched the Airmen Powered by Innovation Challenge May 1, challenging uniformed and civilian Airmen to find places to save money across the service, no matter how big or small.

"If there are things we can do better, if there are things we can stop doing, or if there are ideas (Airmen) have on how we can better manage our money... we want to hear it," Spencer said.
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Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel today announced Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., as one of five of the 2013 recipients of the Commander in Chief's Annual Award for Installation Excellence.

The award recognizes the outstanding and innovative efforts of the people who operate and maintain U.S. military installations, Pentagon officials said, and the five recipients were selected for their exemplary support of Defense Department missions.

The other installations are:

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This week's photos feature Airmen around the globe involved in activities supporting expeditionary operations and defending America. This weekly feature showcases the men and women of the Air Force.

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By looking at him, you would never be able to tell he is a battle-tested, combat-injured Airman. He is a testament to invisible wounds and just how their effects can become visible in everyday life.

Capt. Mitchell Kieffer is a mathematician at heart and an operations research analyst at Joint Base Langley-Eustis, Va. The three-time Air Force triathlete and personal trainer was stationed at Eglin Air Force Base, Fla., working at the Air Force Research Laboratory there when he got the opportunity he had been waiting for - a deployment.
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After weeks of review, Defense Secretary Chuck Hagel has concluded budget cuts will require most of the department's civilian employees to be furloughed beginning in July, but that because of other efforts to deal with the shortfall, only half of the 22 days originally envisioned as temporary layoffs will now be necessary.

During a town hall meeting May 14 at the Mark Center in Alexandria, Va., Hagel told Defense Department employees that most will be required to take 11 furlough days beginning July 8, one per week, through the end of the fiscal year, Sept. 30.
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Life can be described as a series of moments, seconds even, strung together to form experiences and memories. A split-second decision can mean the difference between life and death.

Senior Master Sgt. Martin Smith knows the impact just one second can make.

Smith, a seasoned motorcycle rider and Active Guard Reservist, was driving home from work just as he had done countless times before. A construction project on the interstate caused traffic to back up on the roadway. As he came around a sharp curve, he didn't realize the cars in front of him were actually at a stand-still.
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Behind her bright brown eyes, easy smile and contagious laugh there is pain -- both physical and mental.

Retired Staff Sgt. Zuleika Cruz-Pereira joined the Army after Sept. 11, 2001, because she wanted to do something to help people.

"I wanted to go out there and do something big," she said. "I'm one of those people who it doesn't matter if I know you or not. I'm going to help you if you need help."

She enlisted as a water treatment specialist and served two tours in Southwest Asia before she joined the Air Force in 2008. During her time in the Army, Cruz-Pereira saw and experienced things that are still too painful for her to share outside of her closest confidants. Despite her battle with post-traumatic stress disorder, which was undiagnosed at the time, she deployed again -- this time as a logistics Airman.
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Master Sgt. Shawn Schwantes may have been a pleasant surprise for his Air Force Warrior Games coaches during the team's training camp at the U.S. Air Force Academy. But Schwantes fully expected to flourish on the track and with his teammates because he considers sports his most effective medicine.

Representing the Air Force Warrior Games team in men's open 30-kilometer cycling and 1900-meter open track and field is a natural fit because of a strong running background that includes ultra marathons with distances of 26-plus miles.
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The 2013 Warrior Games began May 11, when Navy Lt. Bradley Snyder, with the help of Prince Harry and Olympian Missy Franklin, lit the official torch during the event's opening ceremonies at the U.S. Olympic Training Center here.

From May 11-16, more than 200 wounded, ill and injured service members and veterans from the U.S. Marines, Army, Air Force and Navy, as well as a team representing U.S. Special Operations Command and an international team representing the United Kingdom, will compete for the gold in track and field, shooting, swimming, cycling, archery, wheelchair basketball and sitting volleyball at the U.S. Olympic Training Center and U.S. Air Force Academy here.
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Staff Sgt. Lara Ishikawa found herself among a trio of female Air Force Warrior Games athletes with a special bond. Ishikawa, Tech. Sgt. Monica Figueroa and Master Sgt. Sherry Nel are all cancer survivors and relied on each other for support and conversation during the team's selection camp at the U.S. Air Force Academy.

Before the holidays in 2009, Ishikawa, then a diagnostic imaging technologist at Aviano Air Base, Italy, never imagined she would be running track and field events, not to mention in competition for wounded warrior athletes. She first felt a lump in her breast in December 2009, but her invasive mammary carcinoma wasn't diagnosed until the following April.
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Appearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense to testify about the service's fiscal 2014 budget request, Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III also addressed Congressional concerns over media reports about the findings of a recent missile wing inspection.

The 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., received an overall, passing "Satisfactory" rating during a Consolidated Unit Inspection by Air Force Global Strike Command, March 4 to13.
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Appearing before the Senate Appropriations Subcommittee on Defense to testify about the service's fiscal 2014 budget request, Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III also addressed Congressional concerns over media reports about the findings of a recent missile wing inspection.

The 91st Missile Wing at Minot Air Force Base, N.D., received an overall, passing "Satisfactory" rating during a Consolidated Unit Inspection by Air Force Global Strike Command, March 4 to13.
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This week's photos feature Airmen around the globe involved in activities supporting expeditionary operations and defending America. This weekly feature showcases the men and women of the Air Force.

View the slideshow.
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She looked up to the ceiling and took a deep breath as tears began to glisten from behind her dark, square-framed glasses - a stark contrast to the precise composure displayed just moments before.

"My mom was..." she stopped, blinking rapidly and clearing her throat. "When my sister and I were little, my mom and dad separated for a while. We were really poor when I was a kid, and I remember we wouldn't get whatever we may have wanted, but we always had everything we needed."

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About three years after a bullet in his head in Iraq dramatically changed the course of his life, Capt. Wes Glisson can put his sentences together again as he continues his recovery from traumatic brain injury. He's able to remember just about everything about his life except for the shooting, which he's perfectly happy to never recall.

Rehabilitation after he was shot in February 2010 came slow for Glisson. After he awoke in his hospital bed at the National Naval Medical Center in Bethesda with his wife and fellow Air Force Academy graduate, Maj. Amy Glisson, at his side, he had to learn to talk and walk all over again.
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The Air Force took another step forward with its newest fighter jet when an advanced F-35 Lightning II landed at the service's lead training base, home to the largest fleet of F-35s worldwide.

The new stealth fighter kicks off a major training effort at the F-35 schoolhouse on an aircraft with unmatched capabilities.

The F-35 is the military's newest stealth fighter jet. Students from all military branches who are learning to fly the plane go through the schoolhouse at Eglin, including some from international services.
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