Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory is Air Force Magazine‘s digital platforms editor. A former Military Times/Defense News Early Bird Brief editor, Defense & Aerospace Report digital editor, and Advance Digital (now Advance Local) National Desk producer, Jenn has reported for outlets including Task & Purpose, AUSA News, USA Today and UPI.com. She holds an M.S. in Journalism from Northwestern University’s Medill School of Journalism.
Recent stories by Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory
The Forensics of Flight Emergencies
How military researchers are working to understand—and prevent—hypoxia-like events in Air Force aircraft fleets.
Q&A: Protecting the Homeland
Lt. Gen. Michael A. Loh is the director of the Air National Guard. Air Force Magazine Digital Editor Jennifer-Leigh Oprihory interviewed Loh in February, touching on the Guard mobilization in the nation’s capital, the ANG’s COVID-19 response, and more.
Here’s How the Air Force Resourced Leaders for Extremism Stand Downs
The Department of the Air Force has given USAF and Space Force commanders and senior enlisted leaders a toolkit to help equip them to carry out Defense Department-directed stand downs to address extremism within their ranks, department spokesperson Lt. Col. Malinda Singleton confirmed to Air ...
Heraldry Reviews Are Done, But Don’t Expect a Report.
When Department of the Air Force leaders in December ordered comprehensive reviews of all organizational heraldry, symbology, awards, mottos, and more, to identify issues that might impede their drive toward increased diversity and inclusion, they gave commanders 60 days to make any necessary changes. Anything ...
SECDEF Directs Pentagon to Champion LGBTQI+ Rights
Defense Secretary Lloyd J. Austin III on March 12 directed the Defense Department to “take steps to rescind any directives, orders, regulations, policies, or guidance” that doesn’t line up with President Joe Biden’s Feb. 4 memorandum that charged multiple U.S. government organizations with championing and ...
‘Accelerated Path to Wings’ Graduates First Class of Pilots
Air Education and Training Command's “Accelerated Path to Wings” program graduated its first-ever class of undergraduate pilots at Joint Base San Antonio-Randolph, Texas, on March 12. The program produces pilots in approximately seven months—five months shorter than typical undergraduate pilot training—by letting student pilots stick ...
New Ribbon Recognizes Guard Troops Who Supported Biden Inauguration
The D.C. National Guard Presidential Inauguration Support Ribbon, a new award created by the head of the District of Columbia National Guard and approved by the Army last year, recognizes National Guard troops from the District and any U.S. state or territory who supported President ...
‘Fly Like a Girl’: The Story Behind a Morale Patch That Honors Female Aviators
Air Force Capt. Melaine Valentin, a T-38C instructor pilot from Laughlin Air Force Base, Texas, leveraged her lifelong passion for visual art when asked to design a morale patch for Air Education and Training Command’s 2019 Women’s Fly-In. But since the event, the patch's popularity ...
Air Force Inspector General: ‘Human Error’ Enabled Andrews Breach
A complacent defender failed to prevent an intruder from accessing Joint Base Andrews, Md., on Feb. 4, the Air Force Inspector General found. In a report released March 11, the IG said the intruder came upon a malfunctioning gate and, because of other Airmen’s mistakes, ...
24th SOW Using Machine Learning to Prevent Injuries in Special Tactics Airmen
Tech company Sparta Science is pairing force-plate technology with machine learning to help Air Force Special Operations Command’s 24th Special Operations Wing predict and prevent injuries in its special tactics Airmen. Force-plate scans help illuminate movement quirks that can make people more prone to injuries, ...
Dyess B-1 Supports JTAC Training in Norway, Sweden
A B-1 Lancer assigned to the Air Force's 7th Bomb Wing supported training for foreign joint terminal attack controllers and integrated with Swedish Gripen fighters during a Bomber Task Force mission in Norway and Sweden on March 8, according to a U.S. Air Forces in ...
National Guard Takes on Vaccine Stigma
While the Guard can’t force troops to get a COVID-19 vaccine, it is engaged in educational initiatives to keep personnel informed about what’s available. “We just try to educate people on the potential benefits of getting the vaccine and we’re doing the best we can ...
National Test Pilot School Trainer Crashes at Edwards, 2 Pilots Successfully Eject
An aircraft that took off from the Mojave Air & Space Port in Mojave, Calif., crashed at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., on the morning of March 5, the 412th Test Wing confirmed. The “non-military aircraft” came down “in an uninhabited area” of the California ...
Al-Asad Air Base Comes Under Rocket Attack, Pentagon Confirms
About 10 rockets struck Al-Asad Air Base, Iraq, on the morning of March 3, just over a year after Iranian ballistic missiles ravaged the installation and left more than a hundred U.S. troops with traumatic brain injuries, the Pentagon confirmed. An American contractor suffered “a ...
Air Force OKs Shorts for Maintainers, New Sock Colors, and More Starting March 15
Maintainers will soon be allowed to wear shorts, under new rules based on feedback from Airmen and Guardians. The Department of the Air Force on March 15 will publish a “change to Air Force Instruction 36-2903”—which governs dress and appearance for USAF and Space Force ...
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