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missing-man formation of Hawaii Air National Guard F-22s will overfly Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam on Wednesday, saluting those Americans slain 70 years ago to the day in the Imperial Japanese Navy’s surprise attack on Pearl Harbor. The leadership of Pacific Air Forces and Hickam’s 15th Wing also will join Pearl Harbor veterans in laying a wreath in honor of the dead to mark the anniversary. “Our enemies thought that by this sudden and deliberate raid, they could weaken America. Instead, they only strengthened it,” said Defense Secretary Leon Panetta in a message Tuesday to Pearl Harbor survivors. He continued, “I know you take great pride, as I do, that your legacy lives on in today’s men and women in uniform, who have borne the burden of a decade of war, and who are truly this nation’s next greatest generation.” (Pearl Harbor-Hickam report by SrA. Lauren Main) (See also Obama proclamation.)
Promotions to the Space Force’s second highest enlisted grade, senior master sergeant, have surged to the highest level in the young service’s history, bolstering the senior NCO corps as officials plan to aggressively expand the force and especially the enlisted corps.