During his
stop Aug. 4 at Eielson AFB, Alaska, President Bush was primed for the 354th Fighter Wing, asking up front “Iceman Team: Ready to Go?” Assembled airmen on cue replied, “At 50 below!” In his brief remarks, Bush praised the unit for “keeping us safe on the nation’s Western flank” and added, “The people in the lower 48 send their very best.” Bush, who was on his way for an eight-day tour in Asia to include a stopover at the Olympic Games in China, thanked the airmen of the 354th FW, including the 200 currently deployed, and the Alaska Air National Guard’s 168th Air Refueling Wing at Eielson, whose “contributions to Operation Enduring Freedom and Operation Iraqi Freedom are significant and important.” He did not forget the soldiers of nearby Ft. Wainwright, which he said would shortly send a Stryker brigade to Iraq.
Amid a high-profile recruiting crisis, Air Force leaders and experts have increasingly noted the challenging long-term trends the service will face in enticing young Americans to sign up—decreasing eligibility to serve, less propensity to do so, and less familiarity with the military. But while those same leaders say there’s no “silver…