Longest-serving Air Force Civilian Retires Dorothy Rowe, the longest-serving Air Force civilian, retired after 70 years of service last week, announced service officials. Rowe, 88, served as the financial analysis chief for the 56th Comptroller Squadron at Luke AFB, Ariz. Acting Secretary of the Air Force Eric Fanning presided over the Nov. 5 retirement ceremony, which attracted some 150 people. Dorothys 70 years of service is a remarkable accomplishment, Fanning said. Rowe began working for the government in 1943 as a typist at the Columbus Army Depot in Ohio, according to the Nov. 8 release. In 1953, she transferred to Luke, where she remained for the rest of her Air Force career. Throughout her service, Rowe worked for 40 wing commanders, witnessed the base shift between four major commands, and blazed a trail for women in the financial management field, Fanning said. The energy, passion and spirit that Dorothy brought to her job over the past 70 years will live on in the hundreds of airmen she has impacted, he added. During Fannings visit to the base, he also spoke to about 400 airmen at an all-call and met with senior leadership, according to a separate Nov. 8 release. Afghan Mi-35 Unit Reaches Operational Milestone The Afghan Air Forces Kabul Air Wing can now support a steady state of operations with its Mi-35 attack helicopters, announced NATO Air Training Command-Afghanistan officials. Earlier this month, the final two Mi-35 copilots with the wings 377th Rotary Wing Squadron completed training, meaning the squadron now has six combat-ready crews, states the NATC-As Nov. 6 release. Six crews allow for a steady alert crew and also take into account necessary maintenance and crew rest, while still allowing for constant use of the Mi-35 helicopters, said Capt. Martin Douda, a NATO instructor pilot from the Czech Republic. Each Mi-35 crew comprises an aircraft commander and copilot. The AAF currently has 19 Mi-35 pilots, 12 of whom are already combat-ready, states the release. The NATO instructors intend to bring the remaining seven to that level as well. The AAF uses its Mi-35s for close air support and aerial escort. (Kabul report by Capt. Anastasia Wasem) C-5 Galaxy Goes on Display at the AMC Museum A C-5 Galaxy—serial number 69-0014—went on display Nov. 9 at the Air Mobility Command Museum in Dover, Del., becoming the first C-5 to be retired to a museum, reported the Cape Gazette. The aircraft was transferred from the Tennessee Air National Guards 164th Airlift Wing, though it was assigned to Dover from 1973 to 1977, states the article. In 1974, the same aircraft dropped a live LGM-30 Minuteman missile as part of a series of tests intended to get the Soviets attention. That missile also went on display at the AMC Museum in late January. Museum director Michael Leister told the Daily Report the aircraft arrived at Dover in August and moved to the museum in October. It will be the only C-5 that will be on exhibit for the next 10 years, Leister noted. Portrait Display Highlights Air Force Veterans The Air Force is highlighting 33 veterans for their service and heroism at war in the fourth volume of Veterans in Blue. The portrait-based display, which launched on Nov. 8 and now hangs in the halls of the Pentagon, honors veterans who have helped shaped the Air Force. It includes a range of airmen from former A1C Herb Trimpe who enlisted in 1962 as a weather observer to retired Lt. Gen. Paul Carlton who helped develop a new method for caring for wounded service members while serving as chief of surgery at Wiesbaden, Germany, in 1983. That method resulted in the best survival rates in the history of war, states the Nov. 12 release. Carlton would later become the 17th Surgeon General of the Air Force. Trimpe, on the other hand, is most known for his work at Marvel Comics, where we drew such comics as the Hulk, Wolverine, and G.I. Joe after separating from the Air Force. For decades, airmen have answered the call to serve and protect the nations interests, people, and cherished freedoms that underpin it all, risking their lives for others, and thus, becoming heroes in the eyes of those they protected, according to the release.
Posted on: Wed, 13 Nov 2013 18:47:13 +0000
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