AFRL plays major role in historic near-space jump

For more than nine minutes Oct. 14, an international audience watched as Austrian daredevil Felix Baumgartner egressed from a capsule 128,000 feet above the earth and fell toward the planet reaching speeds of 834 miles per hour, to become the first person to break the sound barrier outside a

FEHB holds open season, fair

Federal Employees Health Benefits Open Season runs from Nov. 12 through Dec. 10. Open season elections will go into effect Jan. 1. The annual FEHB Open Season Benefits Fair will be from 9 a.m. to 3 p.m. Nov. 14 in the Consolidated Support Building, Building 20245, Room 120. Health benefits provider

Officer runs 50 marathons by age 50

Lt. Col. Craig Hess, program manager at the Defense Threat Reduction Information Analysis Center, has run 50 marathons before reaching his 50th birthday. He now plans to run a marathon in every state before he turns 55.Hess became interested in running marathons after he was talked into running a

Back in the cockpit

AFMC commander visits Kirtland AFB

Gen. Janet Wolfenbarger, commander of Air Force Materiel Command, visited Kirtland Air Force Base Oct. 25 and 26. While here, the general visited with local Albuquerque civic leaders, including Mayor Richard Berry and members of the Kirtland Partnership Committee. She also toured the Air Force

This week in history: Hackney receives Cheney Award

On Oct. 30, 1968, Airman 2nd Class Duane D. Hackney (June 5, 1947 - Sept. 3, 1993), a pararescueman who received 28 decorations for valor in combat, received the 1967 Cheney Award for actions in Vietnam to save a downed pilot. Hackney received more than 70 individual awards, and is often considered

La Luz Academy launches rockets

The Air Force Research Laboratory's La Luz Academy Technology and Engineering Challenges Flight held its annual rocket launch Oct. 23 at the Albuquerque Rocket Society's launch site in Rio Rancho.TECH Flight uses rocketry to educate middle school students in science, technology, engineering and

58 SOW concludes AETC inspection in an "Excellent" manner

The 58th Special Operations Wing recently welcomed more than 60 Air Education and Training Command inspectors for an in-depth look at its processes and programs. The Consolidated Unit Inspection is mandated by Air Force Instruction 90-201. For the 58 SOW, it entailed three inspections at once: a

This week in history: First operational B-47 delivered

On Oct. 23, 1951, the first operational B-47 was delivered. The B-47 arose from an informal 1943 Army Air Forces requirement for a jet-powered bomber. In April 1946, the service ordered two prototype XB-47s, with the first flight on Dec. 17, 1947. The B-47 never saw combat, but was a SAC mainstay

377th WSSS commander awarded French defense medal

The commander of the 377th Weapons System Security Squadron at Kirtland Air Force Base recently received the French National Defense Medal (Bronze) for his actions while deployed to Regional Support Command-East, at Bagram, Afghanistan.Lt. Col. Bryan Eckart was deployed there from Jan. 19 through