More than 50 members of the 621st Contingency Response Wing at Travis AFB, Calif., earlier this month partnered with airmen of the Air National Guard’s 129th Rescue Wing from Moffett Field, Calif., during Exercise Soaring Angel. These airmen helped open up a simulated forward operating base during a Middle East crisis as part of the nine-day exercise at the Army Combat Support Training Center at Fort Hunter Liggett, Calif., that concluded on Oct. 17. “The main goal of this exercise was to integrate with our partners to get significant training close to home at a reduced cost,” said MSgt. Paul Spear of the 573rd Global Support Squadron in the 621st CRW’s Oct. 17 release. The Travis airmen got hands-on training in command and control, ramp coordination, aerial port activities, and security operations, states the release. For the Moffett airmen, the exercise was valuable practice for deployments early next year to the Horn of Africa and southeast Asia, said Lt. Col. Andrew Ferguson, 129th RQW plans officer. (Fort Hunter Liggett report by MSgt. Stan Parker)
A new survey found that record rates of Active-duty military spouses want to leave the military community, with a large number of them frustrated by the difficulty of finding employment, child care, and reimbursement for moving costs after a Permanent Change of Station (PCS) move.