Lt. Col. Dean C. Phillips Jr. received a Bronze Star for meritorious service as operations officer and site commander for the Coalition Military Assistance Training Team, New Al Muthana AB, Iraq. Phillips, who is chief of the Joint Strike Fighter Engines Division, Aeronautical Systems Center, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio, directed the construction of the air base, which is the first Iraqi Air Force facility, and provided oversight for training Iraqi officers.
The crash of a T-38 trainer jet this May—which caused a weekslong pause in flights across the fleet—was caused by an improperly installed pin for one of the jet’s horizontal stabilizers, according to a new accident report released Oct. 30. When the pin disengaged midflight, it created the slightest amount…