Army Ground Liaison Officer Capt. Phil Messer and friends have high praise for USAF’s 379th Air Expeditionary Wing and the support it provides ground forces in Iraq. Messer shared an e-mail he got from a soldier, who wrote: “We were a long, long way from reinforcements; and it’s been comforting to know that we could get on the radio and have jets screaming overhead in minutes.” Messer also told Air Force journalist TSgt. Veronica Aceveda that the 379th provides “a real confidence boost.”
Gene Smith, Former POW and AFA Chair, Dies at 91
Jan. 19, 2026
Lt. Col. Richard “Gene” Smith, who overcame five and a half years as a prisoner of war in the notorious Hanoi Hilton from 1967 until 1973, died Jan. 16. He was one day short of his 91st birthday.
