Mullen Delivers Pep Talk to Air Force Falcon Football Team

By John J. Kruzel 
American Forces Press Service

FORT WORTH, Texas : Doing his best Knute Rockne impression, the nation's top military officer yesterday delivered a pep talk here to members of the U.S. Air Force Academy's Falcons football team ahead of their bowl game today against the University of Houston.


College football prognosticators of the matchup, which pits Air Force's No. 1 passing defense against Houston's top-ranked passing offense, give Houston a slight edge. But Navy Adm. Mike Mullen, the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, told the Air Force footballers to consider their achievements thus far.

"You are an exclusive group that gets to go to college, go to a bowl game and represent your institution [and country] as you will tomorrow. You are an extraordinarily capable and motivated group," Mullen said during dinner with the Air Force squad.

As the team digested their beef sirloin, salmon filet and potato dinner at the Omni Hotel, Mullen touched on themes of national service that extend beyond the Falcons' season and the world of sports in general.

The Chairman shared an anecdote about meeting a former Falcon's center who had planned to conclude his Air Force service after his stint at the academy and once his mandatory service obligation was complete. But that player, now an Air Force captain who Mullen met during his recent trip to Iraq and Afghanistan, decided to take another look at the military as a career, he said.

"He said, 'I got commissioned, and it's probably something I'm going to do for a career,'" Mullen said, recalling his conversation with the young airman in Afghanistan. He added that it's not uncommon for troops to attend a service academy for one reason, and then remain in the military for another.

Mullen himself was one such case. "I actually made the decision to go to the service academy without a long-term vision," the admiral said of his decision to attend the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Md. "Initially I was only going to be there two years ... of course, it worked out a little differently."

Falcons' Head Coach Troy Calhoun, a 1989 graduate of the Air Force Academy at Colorado Springs, Colo., thanked Mullen for making an appearance before the team.

"Admiral, thank you for taking time out to get with our guys," Calhoun said. "More than anything else, we're grateful for your tremendous leadership."

As a token of thanks for his appearance at today's Armed Forces Bowl game, where the Air Force team will play a rematch of last year's defeat at the hands of Houston, Falcons' defensive lineman Ben Garland shared the team spirit with Mullen.

"From all of us on the Air Force Falcons, as a token of our appreciation, we wanted to give you this for coming to talk to us," said Garland, a hulking nose tackle, who gave Mullen a hat featuring the Falcons' logo, which the admiral donned to the pleasure of the players.

"Good luck!" Mullen said. "Go kill 'em tomorrow."

Mullen also passed out coins featuring his Chairman's logo as team members swarmed him, shaking hands.

The admiral identified the team's 15 seniors, expressing praise for their leadership.

"The team gets here because it's well led," Mullen said. "It's not just coaching; a lot of that has to do with leadership 'within the wing.'" 

U.S. Air Force Medical Personnel Train Iraqi Counterparts

By Air Force Airman 1st Class Allison Boehm  Special to American Forces Press Service JOINT BASE BALAD, Iraq : Members of the U.S. Air Force Theater Hospital here are training Iraqi defense ministry medical personnel as part of the new American-Iraqi Air Medical Evacuation and Medical Provider Training Course. The training enables Iraqis to study burn care as well as to observe and practice proper medical evacuation techniques. Classes are scheduled every two weeks. Topics vary to achieve the goal of helping the Iraqi Ministry of Defense strengthen its military medical program. "The ultimate goal of this military-military medical capacity-building program is to help establish an Iraqi military air medical evacuation program with trained flight surgeons, flight nurses and medevac technicians," said Air Force Capt. Elizabeth Hoettels, a 332nd Expeditionary Medical Group civil-military operations officer. The training program was requested by the Iraqi Ministry of Defense surgeon general. It supports the overall effort to responsibly drawdown U.S. forces from Iraq. The two-day course began Dec. 21, 2009, at the al-Muthana Military Hospital, where four Iraqi medical evacuation technicians loaded a patient with a simulated fractured leg bone. The group of medical professionals traveled to the U.S. military hospital at Balad. At Joint Base Balad's hospital, the Iraqis received educational briefings and took part in some hands-on medical training. Eleven Iraqi medical personnel observed real burn victims and watched as an occupational therapist demonstrated how to properly splint a burn fracture. The purpose of the training program is to enable Iraqi military health care providers to obtain "medical sovereignty," said Air Force Col. Andy Marchiando, commander of the 332nd Aerospace Medicine Squadron. The Iraqis will be able to take the information they learn "and carry it on once we leave," Marchiando said. (Air Force Airman 1st Class Allison Boehm serves with 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs.)

Face of Defense: Civilian Turns Computer Parts into Artwork

By Air Force Capt. Larry van der Oord
Special to American Forces Press Service

SOUTHWEST ASIA :  A civilian administrator working for the Air Force here transforms worn out computer parts into unique works of art.

When computer hard drives go bad, airmen from the 386th Expeditionary Communications Squadron here typically remove all of the pertinent data and send them to the local disposal unit for destruction. However, Miguel Rivera has been using some old hard drives and other discarded computer parts to create a collection of distinctive sculptures. So far he has constructed two different cars, a motorcycle and a robot. "I just started making them just a few months ago," said Rivera, who has worked with the squadron for the past five years. "We had a growing pile of hard drives just lying around the shop," Rivera explained. "One day I decided to take one apart, since I'd never looked at the 'guts' up close before. That's pretty much how it all started." His first sculpture, a car-like vehicle, was built over one full weekend from standard 3.5-inch hard drives. It took a total of 33 hard drives to make. "The first one wasn't really difficult to put together, since I didn't have to modify much other than the cover," Rivera said. "Everything else just screwed on." Rivera's second sculpture was another miniature car. His third piece of art, a motorcycle, was a bit more difficult to construct. "I just couldn't get parts to mix well at first to reflect the look I wanted," Rivera said. "It took many hours of taking apart pieces and putting them back together to get it right." Rivera's favorite sculpture is the robot he built. "In fact, I'm not sure I can out-do this one," Rivera said of his robot sculpture. "Building it went surprisingly smooth; it took me about two full weeks to make." Rivera's creations are displayed on his office desk. And, his handiwork is drawing outside attention. All four sculptures were recently featured on "Wired" magazine's Web site. Rivera "applies the same creativity in solving communication challenges as he applies in creating his very unique sculptures," said Air Force Maj. Roy Rockwell, 386th ECS commander. Meanwhile, Rivera is working on a fifth sculpture and plans to unveil his "Hard-drive Helicopter" within the next few weeks. (Air Force Capt. Larry van der Oord serves with 386th Air Expeditionary Wing Public Affairs.)