The Air Force has bestowed the 2006 Col. James Jabara Award for excellence in airmanship upon Capt. John Vargas, a 1996 graduate of the Air Force Academy. Vargas, an F-16 pilot with the 555th Fighter Squadron, Aviano AB, Italy, has completed 45 combat missions, comprising more than 200 hours in Operation Iraqi Freedom, Operation Enduring Freedom, and Operation Joint Forge. He demonstrated his skill when he flew at high speed and low altitude—expending flares—directly over enemy forces attacking a coalition convoy, allowing the convoy to move to safety.
A legislative standoff has led to a lapse in a $4.26 billion small business innovation contracting program widely used by the Air Force and could spell the end of it entirely, industry sources warned Air & Space Forces Magazine.
