Gen.
Duncan McNabb, vice chief of staff, presented the 2007 Lance P. Sijan Air Force Leadership Award to four airmen during a ceremony Aug. 20 at the Pentagon, the service said in a release Aug. 22. The recipients are: Lt. Col. Laura A. Soule, commander of the 37th Security Forces Squadron at Lackland AFB, Tex.; Capt. Stewart J. Parker, special tactics officer assigned to the 21st Special Tactics Squadron at Pope AFB, N.C.; now retired MSgt. William F. Facio, former operations superintendent for the 99th Security Forces Squadron at Nellis AFB, Nev.; and TSgt. Joshua D. King, explosive ordnance disposal team leader with the 366th Civil Engineer Squadron at Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. Both Facio and King are Bronze Star Medal recipients. King also holds the Army Combat Action Medal. “This nation is so well served [by all of you], and I am honored to stand here among you,” McNabb said. The Sijan award is named after the first Air Force Academy graduate to receive the Medal of Honor. It recognizes airmen who demonstrated outstanding leadership while assigned to an organization at the wing level and below. The Air Force announced these airmen as the winners last December.
Adm. Samuel Paparo doesn't view 2027 as the inevitable date of a Chinese invasion of Taiwan, and he thinks the U.S. can steer clear of war with Beijing caused by the People's Republic "playing chicken" on the high seas.