Briefer Briefs

The Air Force says that SSgt. Sarah Charles, the recruiter stabbed in New York City on Dec. 11, remains in stable condition; a Good Samaritan came to her rescue, according to this Newsday report. • TSgt. David Denton, a senior flight medic with the 375th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron at Scott AFB, Ill., received the Gen. P.K. Carlton Award for Valor, presented by the Airlift/Tanker Association at its annual convention last month, according to a Dec. 9 Scott release. • Air Force Office of Scientific Research-supported physics researcher Dr. Emil Wolf has received the 2008 Joseph W. Goodman Award for his book Introduction to the Theory of Coherence and Polarization of Light, which discusses how light propagating through the atmosphere affects laser beams used in Air Force communications and guiding and tracking efforts. • An Air Force accident investigation into the Oct. 24, 2008, forced landing of a Kadena (Air Base, Japan) Aero Club Cessna-172 found that the aircraft’s engine failed because the pilot improperly planned for fuel on the round-trip flight from Kadena on Okinawa to Amani Island; there were no injuries among the four people on board when the pilot landed in a sugar cane field.