The US Pacific Command-sponsored “Pacific Angel” humanitarian assistance and capacity building program recently wrapped in the Philippines after a week of training events and outreach activities to residents of Bohol Province, according to Pacific Air Forces release. Service members from the US, Australia, East Timor, Indonesia, and Papua New Guinea participated in the event alongside their Philippine colleagues. Activities included the refurbishment of several schools with new electrical systems and plumbing, subject matter expert exchanges on topics such as public health outreach and crowd control, and the provision of health care services to 5,101 patients. The culminating event was a mass casualty training simulation. These projects and events are a sign of the US commitment to “support international disaster and humanitarian relief efforts in the region,” said USAF Brig. Gen. John Hillyer, the mobilization assistant to the Chief of Staff of PACAF. PACANGEL is executed by PACAF, which also has run iterations in Cambodia, Vietnam, Mongolia, Laos, Nepal, and other countries.
Gene Smith, Former POW and AFA Chair, Dies at 91
Jan. 19, 2026
Lt. Col. Richard “Gene” Smith, who overcame five and a half years as a prisoner of war in the notorious Hanoi Hilton from 1967 until 1973, died Jan. 16. He was one day short of his 91st birthday.
