Among the select airmen who specialize in training other airmen what to do should an enemy capture them is SSgt. Edmund Dawejko, who has been named the top Survival, Evasion, Resistance, and Escape (SERE) noncommissioned officer of 2006. Dawejko is assigned to the 18th Operations Support Squadron, at Kadena AB, Japan, on the island of Okinawa. After eight years on the job, the NCO says there is nothing he’d rather do, except perhaps be an Air Force pilot.
The Air Force is requesting about $141 million for initial enlistment bonuses in its fiscal 2026 budget, while Space Force wants $13 million.