Two Iraqi citizens have completed the Aircraft and Munitions Maintenance Officers Course at Sheppard AFB, Tex., making them the first maintenance officers for Iraq’s nascent Air Force. (The Air Force has withheld their names and ranks for security reasons.) One of the officers commented on the children in Texas that he saw playing and smiling, and said that the Iraqi people need American help to give Iraqi children “back their smile.”
Air Force F-16 pilot Lt. Col. Eric R. Emerson, who commanded a small quick reaction force of fighters responding to Iranian-backed militia groups in 2024, became the first Air National Guardsman presented with the Anthony C. Shine Award on Feb. 10.
