The Nati
onal Aviation Hall of Fame on July 18 enshrined three USAF airmen among the four names selected for its class of 2009. The USAF inductees are: the late Brig. Gen. Jimmy Stewart, World War II bomber pilot and one of the early officers of the Air Force Association, as well as Academy Award winning actor; ret. Col. Eileen Collins, USAF test pilot and the first woman to command a space shuttle; and the late Lt. Col. Edward White III, who died in the 1967 Apollo I fire on the launch pad at Kennedy Space Center, Fla. NAHF also inducted Russell Meyer Jr., former chairman and CEO of Cessna Aircraft Company. (NAHF release)
F-35As from the Vermont Air National Guard have deployed to Puerto Rico in recent days, continuing a major buildup of U.S. Air Force assets in Latin America aimed at combating drug trafficking and pressuring the regime of Venezuelan leader Nicolas Maduro.

