The four airmen USAF announced in December 2005 as the recipients of the 2005 Lance P. Sijan Air Force Leadership Award came to Washington, D.C., this week to participate in a Pentagon ceremony, officiated by Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Lichte, the Air Force assistance vice chief of staff and director of staff. The honorees were Lt. Col. Gerald Ven Dange from the Defense Contract Management Agency West in Redondo Beach, Calif.; Capt. William Dains from Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; MSgt. Ramon Colon-Lopez from Kirtland AFB, N.M.; and SrA. Grailin Blamer from Ft. Lewis, Wash.
U.S. Southern Command recently announced its first lethal strike on a suspected narco-trafficking vessel in two months, and the first under a newly formed permanent counter-cartel task force. The U.S. is also reportedly planning to transfer MQ-9 drones to Colombia to bolster its counter-cartel efforts.