Gen. Mieczyslaw Cieniuch, Poland’s highest ranking military officer, made an official visit to the Arizona Air National Guard’s 162nd Fighter Wing at Tucson International Airport, inspecting the training and facilities used there to instruct Polish and other foreign pilots. “We’ve trained F-16 pilots from Poland here since 2004, and it’s an honor to show their senior leaders first-hand the quality of our training wing, our personnel, and our equipment,” said 162nd FW Commander Col. Michael McGuire. Accompanied by Poland’s defense attaché to the United States, and its deputy chief of operational planning, Cieniuch met with Polish student pilots and flew in one of the wing’s F-16 simulators. The Polish dignitaries also met with base and local leadership during the stopover on Jan. 12. Before visiting Tucson, Cieniuch received the US Legion of Merit from Joint Chiefs Chairman Gen. Martin Dempsey in Washington, D.C., for fostering US-Polish cooperation. (Tucson report by Angela Walz)
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.
