ttystikk
Well-Known Member
I wonder how Qatar's airlift is working out?I logged back on last night just to post this, and I got sidetracked. 70th anniversary of the end of the Berlin Airlift.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48243177
I wonder how Qatar's airlift is working out?I logged back on last night just to post this, and I got sidetracked. 70th anniversary of the end of the Berlin Airlift.
https://www.bbc.com/news/world-europe-48243177
OMG they went BACK to pinks. That's why the girl is grinning, isn't it? Hey @doublejj how do you look in pink?You forgot the new uniform design: contemporary WW2
edit: class A
There's SMA Dan Dailey again
Former U.S. senator Robert Dole was promoted to the honorary rank of colonel in a ceremony presided over by Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark Milley, at the World War II Memorial on the National Mall, May 16, 2019. At right is Sgt. Maj. of the Army Daniel A. Dailey.
"Former Sen. Bob Dole was promoted from Army captain to the honorary rank of colonel during a ceremony Thursday at the World War II Memorial in Washington, becoming the third and only living recipient of such an honor in the service’s 244-year history.
Dole, 95, enlisted in the early years of U.S. involvement of WWII and was commissioned as a second lieutenant before shipping off with the 10th Mountain Division to Italy. There he was shot in the back by a German machine gun while he attempted to rescue an injured radioman during an assault on an enemy position. He spent years recovering in a military hospital, Army Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Milley said during the ceremony attended by family members, military officials and dignitaries, as well veterans visiting the memorial as part of an Honor Flight.
Dole last wore the Army uniform in 1948 but continued to serve out of uniform for the next seven decades, Milley said. Dole, a recipient of two Purple Hearts who was twice awarded the Bronze Star Medal with Valor, never regained full use of his right arm.
Only two other Army officers have ever received an honorary promotion of any kind, Milley said. They are President George Washington, who was made honorary General of the Armies of the United States on the country’s bicentennial in 1976; and American explorer and governor William Clark, who was posthumously promoted from lieutenant to colonel in 2001 by Clinton. Clark joined Meriwether Lewis on an expedition to the Pacific Ocean in the early 1800s."
What years was that? I was in 85’ to 95’. No push-up, no sit-ups, just show up once a year with a cigarette in your hand and run the mile and a half. That was then though.I don't know what they do now but when I was in our pt test were the same standard as the army.
98-2002.What years was that? I was in 85’ to 95’. No push-up, no sit-ups, just show up once a year with a cigarette in your hand and run the mile and a half. That was then though.
Yeah I know. My second to youngest son is a Ssgt in the Air Force, he’s a linguist, fluent in Turkish and Korean.98-2002.
I was in a joint army/af unit. That may have been why.
All of the AF have increased thier fitness test requirements to the same as the army. The AF also increased thier basic training time as well.
That's cool. They pay extra for the more languages.Yeah I know. My second to youngest son is a Ssgt in the Air Force, he’s a linguist, fluent in Turkish and Korean.
Yep.That's cool. They pay extra for the more languages.
Alaska Airlines employees care for fallen service members on their final trips
Veterans who give their lives for their country are entitled to a final salute from a military honor guard when they’re laid to rest.
But before they arrive at the cemetery, there is another group of caretakers made up of airline workers, who watch over fallen service members and their families as they take their last trip.
Airlines hurried to stay on-time during a busy morning at Sea-Tac Airport last Saturday. But at Gate C9, everything slowed down.
“With your permission, we’ll proceed,” an airline employee said to Susan Woods as she stood under an Alaska Airlines jet.
Woods nodded, and a ceremony began. She was there to send off her husband of 37 years, Sergeant Major James “Tony” Woods, an Army veteran who fought in Vietnam and retired in Olympia.
Sergeant Major Woods was a Silver Star recipient who died in April. He asked to be laid to rest at Arlington National Cemetery.
A Puget Sound Honor Flight happened to be heading to Washington, D.C. on Saturday, carrying dozens of vets to visit monuments and memorials.
With just a few days notice, Alaska Airlines activated a company-wide program designed to ensure military families like the Woods’ are treated with the utmost respect. As soon as the airline gets the call to transport a fallen service member’s remains, a brigade of employees and volunteers, many of them veterans, mobilizes to provide a final, dignified journey.
Daniel Brosch is an Alaska Airlines maintenance trainer based out of Los Angeles who helped create the Alaska Airlines Fallen Soldier Program.
“It doesn’t matter whether you’re the cook or whether you’re the pilot, or what your rank was, everybody gets the same treatment,” Brosch explained.
In 2011, he and other workers approached their managers with a concern: The company needed to show more respect when transporting military members who died.
“Unfortunately, all air carriers were handling the remains of fallen veterans like cargo. No longer is that the case with Alaska Airlines and other airlines,” Brosch said.
The bosses listened, and today the Alaska Airlines Fallen Soldier Program includes special protocols and equipment stationed in an expanding list of cities, like Phoenix.
During a recent ceremony there, Brosch and his team handed over a custom-made cart, bearing the seals of the different military branches, specifically for carrying flag-draped caskets.
Ten of the carts are on standby at airports across the country, and that’s the just one layer of the Fallen Soldier Program.
The airline just rolled out a second “Honoring Those Who Serve” jet, which it re-routes sometimes at a moment’s notice to carry veterans and their families.
“That’s a lot of work,” Brosch said. “They have to shift the schedule around. It’s no simple task, but they do it every single time, and if they don’t, it’s because it’s almost impossible to do.”
An airline escort always stays with the fallen service member while in their care. Baggage handlers and maintenance workers, trained on Defense Department protocol, become pallbearers.
“The level of respect and honor and kindness that was shown to our family, we have no words for it,” said Julia Schmidtke, an Alaska flight attendant from Tacoma.
Schmidtke understands how much the program means to families in a fog of grief. Her son, Army Specialist Hunter Schmidtke, 25, died last year, and her airline colleagues stood at attention at Sea-Tac to bring him home.
“It heals you,” Schmidtke said. “It heals you as you go through the hardest time you could ever imagine.”
Employees who participate in the Fallen Soldier Program do so on their own time, and they want to do more. They have a goal of building a fallen soldier cart for every airport Alaska Airlines serves. The equipment represents a rare part of the ultra-competitive industry where rivalry is set aside.
Although Alaska Airlines made the carts, any airline can use them. American Airlines also has a fleet of custom carts solely for fallen heroes.
Delta Air Lines has an Honor Guard made up of hundreds of employees who’ve escorted more than 5,000 servicemen and women around the world, the company said.
Back in Seattle, it’s the moment they’ve so carefully planned. Alaska Airlines employees gently guided Sergeant Major Woods’ casket onto a conveyor belt and into the belly of the 737.
“I’ll see you soon, dear,” Susan Woods said as her husband’s casket passed by.
She will join him at Arlington National Cemetery for a ceremony in June. For a few minutes, a corner of Sea-Tac stood still, and the honors came early.
“He got more than he asked for here,” Susan Woods said. “A lot more.”
https://www.msn.com/en-us/travel/news/alaska-airlines-employees-care-for-fallen-service-members-on-their-final-trips/ar-AABK1fm
Respect and condolences for your lossThey were there in San Jose when my son was returned to us.
I'm not sure of the airline (I was quite a mess) but the respect he/we received was stellar.
The plane was stopped short of the gate, Airport Fire Suppression Equipment w/flags draped, there must of been 25-30 people removing and placing the casket into the hearse for the ride to Monterey. The distraction may have kept me from going completely bonkers.
The outpouring from the Coast Guard has left my me in awe, at least 50 service men at the service with representation flying in from Washington as well.
It is with much gratitude that I make this post.
Thanks GWN and the employees of Alaska Air
Hugs brother....They were there in San Jose when my son was returned to us.
I'm not sure of the airline (I was quite a mess) but the respect he/we received was stellar.
The plane was stopped short of the gate, Airport Fire Suppression Equipment w/flags draped, there must of been 25-30 people removing and placing the casket into the hearse for the ride to Monterey. The distraction may have kept me from going completely bonkers.
The outpouring from the Coast Guard has left my me in awe, at least 50 service men at the service with representation flying in from Washington as well.
It is with much gratitude that I make this post.
Thanks GWN and the employees of Alaska Air
Thanks, right back at you.Hugs brother....
Condolences.They were there in San Jose when my son was returned to us.
I'm not sure of the airline (I was quite a mess) but the respect he/we received was stellar.
The plane was stopped short of the gate, Airport Fire Suppression Equipment w/flags draped, there must of been 25-30 people removing and placing the casket into the hearse for the ride to Monterey. The distraction may have kept me from going completely bonkers.
The outpouring from the Coast Guard has left my me in awe, at least 50 service men at the service with representation flying in from Washington as well.
It is with much gratitude that I make this post.
Thanks GWN and the employees of Alaska Air
I had no idea - I apologize if I stirred memories of bad times.They were there in San Jose when my son was returned to us.
I'm not sure of the airline (I was quite a mess) but the respect he/we received was stellar.
The plane was stopped short of the gate, Airport Fire Suppression Equipment w/flags draped, there must of been 25-30 people removing and placing the casket into the hearse for the ride to Monterey. The distraction may have kept me from going completely bonkers.
The outpouring from the Coast Guard has left my me in awe, at least 50 service men at the service with representation flying in from Washington as well.
It is with much gratitude that I make this post.
Thanks GWN and the employees of Alaska Air