Taking the ove
rall title at Air Mobility Command’s 2009 Rodeo is the 62nd Airlift Wing at McChord AFB, Wash. The week-long event featured an international field—100 teams, including those from seven foreign countries—competing in air and ground skills categories. Participating in the event for the first time were service flight attendants, who had to handle such tasks as preparing passengers for a crash landing following an in-flight emergency. (Rodeo report by A1C Amber Kelly-Herard) First time competitors from the Malaysian Air Force, which sent observers to two previous competitions, unfortunately discovered a crack in their aircraft, but they still participated in many ground events and picked up a valuable lesson watching “other teams place safety above all else,” said Maj. Mohd Anuar Bin Ahmad. (Rodeo report by TSgt. Steve Wilkins) Among the top 16 awards presented, the 62nd AW at McChord and the 60th Air Mobility Wing at Travis AFB, Calif., took three each. Rodeo umpires named McChord best air mobility team overall and best airdrop and best C-17 teams. The Travis teams took best C-5, best KC-10, and best air-land teams. The 19th AW from Little Rock AFB, Ark., took two top awards, best aerial port and best C-130/C-160 teams. (Complete list of award winners) (Click here for more Rodeo coverage on the AMC Web site)
A provision in the fiscal 2025 defense policy bill will require the Defense Department to include the military occupational specialty of service members who die by suicide in its annual report on suicide deaths, though it remains to be seen how much data the department will actually disclose.