SSgt. Ryan Fausey with the 682nd Air Support Operations Squadron at Shaw AFB, S.C., is the Air Force’s Fighter Duty Technician of the Year for 2007. The job of an FDT is to support Joint Terminal Attack Controllers and aircrews in a theater of operations, or, in Fausey’s words: “It’s all about getting the aircraft to the target safely and helping them prosecute targets efficiently.” According to some of his peers, Fausey is the right man for the job. “SSgt. Justin Cremer, also with the 682nd ASOS, calls Fausey “one of the finest FDTs I’ve worked with in my eight years of being a [terminal air control party specialist].” (Shaw report by SSgt. John Gordinier)
Trainees in Basic Military Training and technical school no longer have the option to try alternate PT drills if they fail an initial assessment, according to a policy change the Air Force made in April. The move is part of a larger shift out of the classroom and into hands-on,…