The four airmen USAF announced in December 2005 as the recipients of the 2005 Lance P. Sijan Air Force Leadership Award came to Washington, D.C., this week to participate in a Pentagon ceremony, officiated by Lt. Gen. Arthur J. Lichte, the Air Force assistance vice chief of staff and director of staff. The honorees were Lt. Col. Gerald Ven Dange from the Defense Contract Management Agency West in Redondo Beach, Calif.; Capt. William Dains from Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio; MSgt. Ramon Colon-Lopez from Kirtland AFB, N.M.; and SrA. Grailin Blamer from Ft. Lewis, Wash.
The roles and missions executed by Air Force warriors are essential to the nation’s security. Yet after three decades of constant demand and minimal replenishment, our Air Force is too small and too old. It needs to be rebuilt. The Trump administration and Congress must fund that modernization to ensure…