Capt. Bob Bernazal, chief of the information operations integration strategy division within the 612th Air and Space Operations Center at Davis-Monthan AFB, Ariz., has been named the Air Force-level Outstanding Information Operations Active Duty Company Grade Officer of the Year. He received this award July 30, being honored for his instrumental planning role in Operation Willing Spirit, the July 2008 mission led by the Colombian military that rescued 15 hostages, including three American in Colombia from the hands of the FARC terrorist group. “I’m very proud that information operations could bring its full power to bear in support of this mission,” said Bernazal, a nine-year USAF veteran and native of Kingwood, Tex. The award also recognized his efforts in developing and implementing a new plan for utilizing IO duty officers. (Davis-Monthan report by TSgt. Eric Petosky)
Happy Birthday US Air Force: 78 Today
Sept. 18, 2025
Seventy-eight years ago today, on Sept. 18, 1947, Supreme Court Chief Justice Fred Vinson swore in Stuart Symington as the first ever Secretary of the Air Force, and the Air Force officially became the first new military service since the Revolutionary War.
