The 62nd Airlift Wing Safety Office recently earned the 2011 Air Mobility Command Safety Office of the Year Award.

"This is a win for the entire wing," said Lt. Col. Jason King, 62nd AW chief of wing safety. "Each and every Airman's effort to safely accomplish the mission made 2011 one of the best years on record for McChord Field. Every Airman played a part, and every Airman should be proud."

Last year, the office operated 53 C-17 Globemaster IIIs and launched more than 12,000 sorties without a major mishap. By spreading awareness and involving everyone from commanders and supervisors down to individual Airmen, all ground mishaps were reduced by 17 percent.

The office received an "excellent" rating during the Unit Compliance Inspection with zero flight safety discrepancies. Also, during a no-notice Limited Nuclear Surety Inspection, the office garnered an "outstanding" rating with four total strength areas.

"Strengthening the nuclear enterprise remains a top priority for our service and our nation," said King. "The professionals at McChord Field are leading the way with passion and a culture of continuous improvement like never before."

In addition to the office award, two safety professionals were individually recognized. Tom Thompson was named AMC Safety Civilian of the Year and Capt. William Dabney was named AMC Nuclear Surety Individual of the Year.

"It is such an honor and so humbling just to be nominated," said Thompson. "The civilians within the office here are such professionals and are so good at what they do, that to be nominated from among that group was just a tremendous honor. Then to win at the AMC level was just so humbling that I was speechless. Even though it is an individual award, I think it is a great testament to the quality people we have here."

As Staff Sgt. Verne Patterson stood on the stage of the base theater at McChord Field and received his Bronze Star with Valor, those in the audience watching waited patiently to show their excitement.

When the opportunity presented itself for people to cheer for the 22nd Special Tactics Squadron Airman, the place got loud.

Patterson, son of Senior Master Sgt. Barbara Adams, a Reservist with the 446th Aeromedical Staging Squadron, was honored at a ceremony Jan. 10 at the base.

Fellow Reservists with Adams' unit and the 446th Airlift Wing came out in force to show their support.

"They all watched him mature and grow up over the years," said Adams, who will celebrate her 26th year with the unit in October. "They're all so proud of him. He feels very supported."

The Bronze Star is awarded in recognition of bravery, heroism and meritorious service during engagement with an armed enemy of the U.S. It is the fourth highest combat honor within the military. The Bronze Star recognizes meritorious service while the Bronze Star with Valor recognizes heroism.

Patterson, 30, took classes at Highline Community College and worked as a delivery driver after graduating from Spanaway Lake High School. But he enlisted in the Air Force soon after, following in the footsteps of his grandfather, an Air Force special operations Airman, and his father, a highly decorated Vietnam helicopter pilot who passed away 17 years ago.

"I supported him in everything he did," said Adams, who works full-time as an ER nurse at Tacoma General and the University of Washington Medical Center.

Although Patterson's mission with the 22nd STS has him gone quite often, Adams said her son has a ton of support behind him.

"I see his children and his wife more than I see him," she said. "We're pretty close."

There is also great support network within the squadron.

"They really take care of each other," Adams said. "It's like another family for him."

Patterson was injured during a deployment about two years ago, but he hasn't let it slow him down.

"He's always been that type of kid," the proud mother said. "He bounces back fast and doesn't let anything get to him."

And while it's often Adams who's the one gushing about how proud she is of her son, Patterson isn't shy about letting his mom - who has deployed six times in her career - know exactly how he feels about her.

"He's proud of what I do," she said.

A robotic arm, dubbed "Luke," after the Jedi with the mechanical hand, served as the centerpiece for a Jan. 31 discussion here regarding advancements in prosthetics.

The robotic arm is a Defense Advanced Research Projects Agency-funded project, in partnership with the Department of Veterans Affairs. The goal of the project is to restore functionality for individuals with upper extremity amputations. The project is still in development.

"The original goal for the program, back when we got started in 2005, was to create, within this decade, a fully functional motor and sensory upper limb that responds to direct neural control," said Dr. Stewart Coulter, during the 2012 Military Health System Conference at the Gaylord National Hotel and Convention Center, from Jan. 30 to Feb. 2.

Coulter, who serves as the general manager at DEKA Research and Development Corporation in Manchester, N.H., also has the role of product manager for the revolutionizing prosthetic arm system to provide improvements in functionality and usability for wounded warriors and others.

The DEKA arm has 10 degrees of movement, and features moving fingers, wrist, elbow and shoulder. All those parts move with electric motors, which are controlled by the user with signals from a foot-based controller.

But Coulter said it's easy to confuse the advances being made in prosthetics with science fiction.

"A lot of people have seen, for instance, the Terminator movies, and sometimes forget that those aren't actually real," Coulter said.

The standard for prosthetic arms up until now has been "two to three degrees of freedom," Coulter said, which is not much different than a prosthetic arm that features a hook.

"You see the hand open and close, you're seeing elbow flex, you might see a wrist rotate but not much more than that," Coulter said. "You're seeing low torque, but you're not seeing any feedback to the user."

In addition to degrees of freedom in prosthetic movement, Coulter said work being done to combine multiple individual prosthetic movements into single, more fluid movements. He also said there is work being done to find better ways to attach prosthetics to the user's body.

"These are the three areas that need to be resolved," he said. "If you can't address making the arm have the capability, if you can't address the control seam part, if you can't address how you attach it to them, it won't do any good to address two of the three."

The various grips are also important.

"If you want to be able to use a drill, there's a whole different grip," Coulter said. "So now we have a grip that will let you close the index finger independently like that. And you ought to see somebody's face light up who hasn't used a drill in 20 or 30 years."

One of the hard parts about this, he said, is finding a way to control a system, given the fact there's now 10 degrees of freedom in the arm.

"Current ones are done with myoelectric controls, so they'll use residual muscles and it's very difficult to do that," he said. With the DEKA arm, they are using foot-based controls.

"This provides a pretty good level of control, without relying on someone else to do it, relying on a joy stick, or relying on using their other arm to control it," he said.

Coulter said his team works very closely with a number of people who have used the arm system, and he says they've let the team know what works, and what needs to be fixed.

"We've done clinical studies over the life of the program to improve design and to confirm we got it right," he said. They now have more than 4,000 hours of use time on versions of the arm system.

"This has really given us the experience with the people who'll have to use it," he said.

Coulter said it's fun to have a group of engineers sit and design something but even more fun to have people use it.

"It's been tremendous to work with them and give them the chance to say what activities they want to do," he said. "We've let five people take it home for two weeks, see what they think of it, come back and tell us what's going on."

The feedback, he said, has been very positive.

"They want to do the things that are important to them, such as, going out to a restaurant and eating with chopsticks or a fork, playing golf, holding a trumpet and playing it, leaning up on a lamppost with an outstretched arm, holding a baseball, or reaching up to the top shelf and picking up a glass of water and holding it level as it's brought down to drink," he said.

"To hear them say, 'Yes, I can use this for things I couldn't get done before,' is exactly what we're pushing for here," Coulter said.

Military members usually don't mind receiving credit for a job well done. That recognition is even more meaningful when it's given by one of the nation's leaders.

That's why U.S. Congressman Adam Smith presented a recognition letter to the 446th Airlift Wing, Washington State's only flying Reserve unit, for earing the Meritorious Unit Award. Although the wing won the award last year, Smith took time out of his busy schedule to personally recognize the wing here, Jan. 30, 2012.

The wing flew more than 9,700 missions in more than 42,000 flying hours, averaging 2,000 missions every four months to 11 different Iraqi airfields to earn the award again.

"It's an honor to recognize the 446th for its performance and its commitment to serving the United States," Smith said in his presentation. "I ask that my colleagues in the House of Representatives, please join me in congratulating the 446th Airlift Wing for receiving the Air Force Meritorious Unit Award."

Col. Bruce Bowers, 446th AW commander accepted the letter on behalf of the wing.

"I think it was very gracious of Congressman Smith to take time out of his busy schedule to make this presentation to Congress and then to us here at the wing," Bowers said. "It shows how passionate he is about supporting the people and the mission here. I truly appreciate him recognizing our Reserve Airmen and their civilian employers."

Mission support units, such as the 446th Civil Engineer and 446th Security Forces Squadrons mobilized for deployments, in which they provided security and emergency response at strategically critical air bases in Iraq.

The Meritorious Unit Award, established in 2004, recognizes organizations for outstanding achievement and service in direct support of combat operations on or after Sept. 11, 2001. It is given to units that have displayed outstanding devotion and superior performance of exceptionally difficult tasks, setting themselves above other units.

"The 446th directly contributes to national objectives and continuously demonstrates their combat readiness as they fulfill global peacetime and wartime operations," said Smith. "For this, my constituents and I are most grateful."

Secretary of the Air Force Michael Donley and Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz released the 'Air Force Priorities for a New Strategy with Constrained Budgets' white paper Feb 1.

"The Air Force has made the hard choices to closely align with the new strategic guidance in our FY13 budget submission by trading size for quality," the leaders stated. "We will be a smaller but superb force that maintains the agility, flexibility, and readiness to engage a full range of contingencies and threats."

The Air Force strategy document provides an overview of the way forward for the present and future Air Force. The Following areas are outlined in the document: The Air Force new strategy; force structure; readiness; modernization; more disciplined use of Defense dollars; and taking care of people.

"It is our intent, indeed our obligation, to the American people and our Airmen to remain the world's finest Air Force in the years and decades to come," Donley and Schwartz penned. "Innovative and adaptable, America's Air Force will continue to meet emerging challenges and ensure the security of the Nation and its bright future."

To read the 'Air Force Priorities for a New Strategy with Constrained Budgets' click here.

The former commander of the 4th Airlift Squadron at McChord Air Force Base, Wash., is one of four service members to have been accepted into the 15-member 2011-2012 class of White House Fellows.

Lt. Col. Rodney Lewis, a C-17A Globemaster III pilot, began his fellowship in August 2011 when he was assigned to the Office of the First Lady. The program provides those selected with an opportunity to work within the U.S. government, and it is intended to encourage active citizenship and a lifelong commitment to service.

"I think for any Airman to understand how our government works and how you as an Airman fit within the construct of our Constitution is key," Lewis said. "I will have a much better understanding of all three branches of government."

While there, Lewis' primary mission is to help further Michelle Obama's and Jill Biden's Joining Forces program, which is a national initiative that mobilizes all sectors of society to give service members and their families the support they have earned, according to the program's website.

Lewis explained that there are three pillars that make up Joining Forces: employment, education and wellness. The employment pillar focuses on helping veterans and spouses expand employment and career development opportunities, the education pillar helps military children by working with schools to make them more aware of their unique academic needs and the wellness pillar brings attention to critical issues facing veterans and their families.

"We don't work on issues that aren't real. This is about impacting all service members across the board. One of the biggest roles that I play is the understanding of the grassroots level and to put some validity to what we're working on with Joining Forces."

Lewis said one of the highlights of his fellowship was getting the opportunity to meet with a group of business leaders in New York who were interested in finding ways they could employ the talented veterans who are transitioning from the military.

Part of his role during the meeting was "breaking down stereotypes and answering questions about how they could do that," he said. "These individuals have the authority to go out and chart the direction of their companies and say, 'Yes, we are going to hire veterans. That's going to be a part of our strategy.'"

Lewis said he sees similarities between working at the White House and leading Airmen in the Air Force.

"A normal day here is much like being a commander in the Air Force," the lieutenant colonel explained. "I don't think of my day in terms of ending, but being able to create and move forward on the initiatives I'm working on. There are meetings that I will attend on behalf of Joining Forces but really my day is (about) going out and engaging government and private industry to help them understand and shape what the first lady wants to do with Joining Forces."

Lewis was directly responsible for the Defense Department's only prime nuclear airlift force, which handles the nation's most sensitive cargo and provides tactically qualified C-17A crews who stand ready to airdrop combat troops and supplies anywhere in the world.

In 2010, Lewis was awarded the Air Force Association National Medal of Merit for his work supporting children with medical problems in the Pilot for a Day program. He is a native of Oklahoma City, Okla.

The White House Fellows Program was created in 1964 by President Lyndon B. Johnson to give promising American leaders "first- hand, high-level experience with the workings of the federal government, and to increase their sense of participation in national affairs," according to a White House press release.

(Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr. contributed to this story.)

Senior Airman Jonathan Fabis, a loadmaster with the 817th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, recently deployed to an undisclosed location in Southwest Asia from the 7th Airlift Squadron out of Joint Base Lewis-McChord, Wash.

Fabis, a native of Washington D.C., deployed to the 817th EAS, a C-17 Globemaster III flying squadron and joined a group of airmen ranging in specialties from loadmasters, to navigators to pilots. These airmen are what keeps this highly functional squadron operating.

They work as a team flying thousands of miles to perform an array of missions around their assigned area of responsibility.

Equipped with C-17s, the 817th EAS transport and support coalition forces engaging in combat operations as part of Operation Enduring Freedom, and they also operate in the Horn of Africa.

The squadron's mission is to provide strategic airlift, airdrop, aeromedical evacuation and humanitarian relief, to create an air bridge for personnel, equipment and supplies throughout the AOR.

Fabis and members of his team fly missions several times a week, but some of them like certain parts of the mission more than others.

"I always enjoy deployments," said Fabis. "It's a great place to get to know the people you work with and see just how you fit into the larger picture.

"My favorite part of our mission here are the combat airdrops," he continued. "Knowing that I am directly affecting the warfighter on the ground is worth all the hard work."

An airdrop mission is when supplies like food and fuel is loaded onto a plane and then dropped from the back of the aircraft over remote forward operating bases in the AOR.

The supplies are packaged into separate pallets and adorned with a parachute. As the pallet falls from the aircraft, the parachute is released and able to land safely in its projected location. Once on the ground, local coalition forces will recover the supplies.

This is Fabis' second deployment and he has been serving in the U.S. Air Force for more than two years.

The 62nd Airlift Wing dedicated Jan. 27 to focus on safety. According to the Air Mobility Command leadership, the purpose of the day is to raise awareness and focus attention on safe and effective mobility operations.

"This is an opportune time as we come off the holiday 'slow' period to refocus our attention and reinvigorate a safety mindset," said Gen. Raymond E. Johns Jr., AMC commander, in a letter to the command's leaders.

The day began with an all call in Hangar 9 at 8 a.m. Following the all call, everyone was released to their groups or squadrons.

To allow for maximum participation and to the maximum extent possible, Johns directed that AMC operations and training be limited on safety focus day. This will afford Airmen time to focus on mishap trends and the need to constantly maintain our safety focus in day-to-day air mobility operations.

Specifically, Airmen will attend briefings and discuss issues in their units. Safety down day activities highlighted safety practices and procedures, sound operational risk management and ways to enhance safety and reduce risk on and off-duty.

"Today's safety down day afforded our wing an excellent opportunity to stop and reflect on safe and effective mission accomplishment for all disciplines," said Lt. Col. Jason King, 62nd Airlift Wing chief of safety. "We need to get away from the mindset that accidents are inevitable, and believe that all mishaps can be prevented."

AMC officials expect that the Focus Day will help promote positive trends in terms of complacency, attention to detail and adherence to standards. In addition, they hope it will also highlight key issues requiring the commands attention to continue safe and effective mission accomplishment.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz explained the service's contributions to the new Defense Department strategy during a Pentagon press briefing here Jan. 27.

Schwartz said that as the Air Force approaches future constrained budgets, service officials will trade size for quality in order to ensure a ready force.

"We will be a smaller but superb force that maintains our agility, our flexibility and readiness to engage a full range of contingencies and threats," Schwartz said in the news conference, which followed the Defense Department's major budget decisions briefings on Jan. 26.

With Airmen regularly serving jointly and deploying with their coalition counterparts, the Air Force must ensure its unique contributions to national security are preserved, he added.

"Air Force capabilities are clearly instrumental to the major priorities of the new defense strategic guidance, such as deterring and defeating aggression, power projection in anti-access and area-denial environments, preventing the spread of weapons of mass destruction, space and cyber operations, and strategic deterrence," Schwartz said.

Future plans call for the Air Force to reduce its total force end strength by approximately 10,000 personnel, the general said. The changes will be tied to reductions in aircraft and other force structure, and are not being made to simply save money, he added.

Confronted by a complex security environment and significant reduction in defense resources, the Air Force determined that the best path forward was to become smaller in order to maintain and protect a high-quality force, Schwartz said.

"To avoid a hollow force, we must and will protect readiness at any force level and strengthen our integration of the total force team of active, Guard and Reserve Airmen," Schwartz said. "It is our intent, indeed our obligation, to the American people and our Airmen that we will remain the world's finest Air Force in the years and decades to come."

Schwartz said the Air Force supports a new round of base realignment and closures as a way to reduce excess infrastructure, and echoed comments from senior defense officials that the Block 30 version of Global Hawk would be terminated.

"The reality is that the Global Hawk is not less expensive to operate than the U-2," Schwartz said, confirming that the Air Force would continue to use the U-2 rather than the Global Hawk Block 30 as a way to reduce costs. "And in many respects, the Global Hawk Block 30 system is not as capable, from a sensor point of view, as the U-2."

Schwartz also touched on the importance of the nuclear triad, stating "the diversity, the variety and the attributes associated with each leg of the triad actually reinforce each other to a great degree."

Other key programs and investment priorities for the Air Force include the KC-46A tanker, F-35 Lightning II and the future long-range strike bomber, Schwartz said.

"The bottom line is these are important capabilities for the nation and ones that we will make sacrifices in other areas to sustain," the general said.

Schwartz ended the news conference by touching on the importance of America's servicemembers, and their families, to the success of the armed forces.

"I would just like to remind everyone that the real power of our Air Force, like our sister services, is our people, and not only in the excellence that they strive to provide, but also in the commitment that their families offer us on a daily basis," Schwartz said.

Airmen will play an important role in the joint team's effort to achieve the priorities laid out in the new defense strategic guidance, according to the Air Force's top uniformed officer.

Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz spoke to members of the World Affairs Council of Wilmington Jan. 19, where he discussed the capabilities the Air Force contributes to the new Department of Defense strategy.

The strategy, which was announced by defense officials Jan. 5, lays out a way forward for the military to defend the United States and its national interests while reducing military spending in a responsible, balanced manner.

Schwartz said he sees the Air Force contributing to the new strategy through the service's four core contributions to the nation's joint military portfolio: domain control; intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance; air mobility; and global strike.

These four contributions, which are enhanced by the Air Force's superior command and control networks, "have a proven track record of sustaining our nation's military advantage in the face of emerging threats," he said.

"The nation has come to rely on the strategic flexibility the Air Force provides to create desired, timely and precise effects at times and places of our choosing, and your Air Force is committed to providing it, even as current combat operations wind down," Schwartz said.

While the United States will maintain its focus on the Middle East, the defense strategic guidance also calls for a rebalance toward the Asia-Pacific theater, he said.

The Air Force will continue to strengthen its long-standing partnerships in that region, such as those with Australia, the Republic of Korea, Japan, Thailand and the Philippines, and continue developing burgeoning relationships with others like India, Indonesia and Thailand, the general said.

"Through these air force partnerships, we will work to leverage the unique characteristics of airpower to support our nation's, and mutual, strategic interests," Schwartz said.

The new defense strategy also affirms that the United States will maintain its commitments and advance its long-standing alliances in Europe, the general said.

"Working with our European allies, as well as with other global partners, we will seek to develop an enhanced, ‘smart defense' approach that capitalizes on our ability to specialize, share and pool capabilities toward collective effects," Schwartz said.

In addition to strengthening interoperability with selected key global partners, Schwartz said the U.S. military will continue to increase joint interdependence, as seen in ongoing efforts on the Air-Sea Battle concept.

"As potential adversaries are pursuing strategies and investments in technical capabilities that are designed specifically to challenge our access to, and ability to maneuver in, areas where we have national interests, our nation's advantage in establishing and maintaining air superiority, sea control, and access to forward bases is being threatened," the general said.

Air-Sea Battle will help to maintain U.S. freedom of action across the full range of missions, including non-military; enhance power projection capability in defense of U.S. and partner-nation interests; and preserve access to the global commons, Schwartz said.

Leading and pursuing all of these efforts to ensure the U.S. military's readiness in the years ahead is a dedicated team of joint service members supported by their remarkable families, he said.

"I am grateful for your support of our brave men and women in uniform, as well as of their families," Schwartz told the audience. "They have served our country nobly, and continue to serve with great distinction."