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  • 53rd Wing celebrates 70th birthday

    Reveling in its rich history, the 53rd Wing celebrated its 70th birthday Feb. 3.The wing, established in 1940 and activated at MacDill Field, Fla., on Jan. 15, 1941, trained fighter pilots in the P-35 and P-40 aircraft and later flew P-39 patrols in defense of the Panama Canal. Through the years,

  • Staff sergeant snags Sijan

    Explosive Ordinance technician Staff Sgt. Michael Pereira had a memorable 2010. He deployed, was honored with a Bronze Star,  earned an Army Commendation medal and was featured on the Air Force Recruiting Service "Everyday Sci Fi" series. Continuing the trend, 2011 brought another memorable moment

  • 53rd helps Guard fighter prep for alert missions at Tyndall

    U.S.-based alert pilots train to shoot down enemy aircraft over American soil. They run exercise scenarios on a constant basis, preparing for that call to scramble. But all the dry runs in the world can't prepare a pilot for that moment when a live missile is released from the jet. That's why

  • 33rd Fighter Wing flies first training sortie

    The 33rd Fighter Wing flew their first training flight here Jan. 18 one and a half years after the unit first stood up.Lt. Col. John Wilbourne, 58th Fighter Squadron commander, led Maj. Matthew Renbarger, deputy of operations, on an area orientation flight to familiarize the new instructor pilot

  • 53rd pilot helps honor Airmen's ultimate sacrifice

    Jan. 14 was a day that the Dennany and Tucci families waited 42 years for, the day when their Airmen were laid to rest.Col. James E. Dennany and Maj. Robert L. Tucci were remembered in a memorial service at Dallas-Fort worth National Cemetery. F-16 Fighting Falcon and F-4 Phantom pilots were among

  • F-16s bring 'battle rhythm' to JSF wing

    After 17 months of silence, the 33rd Fighter Wing flight line finally roared back to life Jan. 13. The 33rd Fighter Wing received four F-16s from the 56th Fighter Wing at Luke AFB, Ariz.  The jets will help establish a "battle rhythm," as the wing stands up the first Joint Training Center for the

  • Eglin MLK event reflects change and diversity

    96th Air Base Wing commander, Col. Sal Nodjomian summed up this year's Martin Luther King, Jr. program in one word...inspirational.This year's event, held Jan. 12, was filled with diversity, the very thing Dr. King preached to the masses.Eglin's honor guard opened the scene, followed by live

  • Restoration officials go “Heavy Metal”

    Eglin Environmental Restoration officials are turning into real heavy metal artists - literally. The Restoration Branch is shredding their way through 50,000 practice bombs and, so far, has recycled more than one million pounds of metal from the BDU 33's and Mark 106's.The effort is part of the Air

  • F-4 continues long-time service to Air Force with new mission

    The 82nd Aerial Target Squadron here is replacing the use of Lear jets for their banner tow missions with the F-4 Phantom, creating an air-to-air target that aircrews in training can safely evaluate, develop and test their weapons systems. "We developed the idea to use the F-4 for the banner tow