The Air Force Personnel Center has dispatched a team to Southwest Asia and installed self-service kiosks to provide enhanced personnel support to deployed airmen. This effort began in November 2010 in collaboration with the Air Staff and Air Forces Central. The six-person Total Force Service Center-Forward team went to Southwest Asia at the end of April. Since then, it has installed four of the kiosks at different locations in the region and scheduled meetings with personnel at several bases to assess the needs of deployed airmen. The team also is charged with determining whether the move to 179-day deployments is presenting any support gaps. “We understand the unique challenges combat airmen face in the [area of responsibility] to obtain personnel support, and we are taking a multi-faceted approach to develop innovative solutions,” said Todd Fore, AFPC executive director. (Randolph report by TSgt. Steve Grever)
The U.S., South Korea, and Japan flew an unusual trilateral flight with two U.S. B-52H Stratofortress bombers escorted by two Japan Air Self-Defense Force F-2s, and two ROK Air Force KF-16 fighters—both countries’ respective variants of the F-16—July 11. That same weekend, the top military officers of the three nations…