"HOT SHOTS" CUT FIRE LINE IN COLORADO SPRINGS, COLORADO AREA.

FROM:  U.S. AIR FORCE
Stop line
Firefighters from the Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif., Hot Shots cut a fire line in the Mount Saint Francois area of Colorado Springs, Colo., while helping to battle several fires in Waldo Canyon on June 28, 2012. Currently, more than 90 firefighters from the U.S. Air Force Academy, along with assets from Air Force Space Command; F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyo.; Fort Carson, Colo.; and the local community continue to fight the Waldo Canyon fire. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Jeremy Lock)

PRESIDENT OBAMA CONGRATULATES AIR FORCE ACADEMY GRADUATING CLASS

(U.S. Air Force graphic, photo/Mike Kaplan) 
FROM:  AMERICAN FORCES PRESS SERVICE
Obama Congratulates U.S. Air Force Academy Graduates
By Army Sgt. 1st Class Tyrone C. Marshall Jr.
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON, May 23, 2012 - President Barack Obama addressed the U.S. Air Force Academy's graduating Class of 2012 today, reminding them of the Air Force's critical role and congratulating them as they prepare to build on a new era of American leadership.
"It's great to be back at a school that has produced so many of the airmen I've known as president," Obama said on the school's campus in Colorado Springs, Colo. "Every day I rely on outstanding academy graduates who serve at the White House."

The president noted "great" airmen serving the country such as Brig. Gen. Marshall B. Webb, who is prominently featured in the photo of White House's Situation Room taken the day Osama bin Laden was killed in Pakistan by Navy SEALs.

Obama also pointed out that he presented the Commander-in-Chief's Trophy to the academy's Fighting Falcons football team for a second straight year, and record 18th time, and highlighted the service of academy graduates serving aboard Air Force One, such as his pilot, Air Force Col. Scott Turner.

Obama said this visit to the Air Force Academy, his second, brought the class full circle as the cadets were preparing to go to Jacks Valley, a wooded training area on the academy's grounds, for field training in 2008.

"So I was proud to be here when you began this journey, and I thought I'd come back and help you celebrate at the end," he said.

"You survived. In you, we see the values of integrity and service and excellence that will define your lives," Obama said. "And I know you couldn't have made it without the love and support of your moms and dads and brothers and sisters and grandmas, grandpas, aunts, uncles, cousins."

Four years ago when the cadets entered the academy was a time of "extraordinary challenge for our nation," Obama said.

"Our forces were engaged in two wars," he said. "Al-Qaida, which had attacked us on 9/11, was entrenched in their safe havens. Many of our alliances were strained, and our standing in the world had suffered."

The U.S. economy at that time was "in the worst recession since the Great Depression," Obama continued. "Around the world, and here at home, there were those that questioned whether the United States still had the capacity for global leadership."

Today, the cadets are stepping forward into a "different world," the president said.
"You are the first class in nine years that will graduate into a world where there are no Americans fighting in Iraq," he said. "For the first time in your lives, and thanks to Air Force personnel who did their part, Osama bin Laden is no longer a threat to our country."
"We've put al-Qaida on the path to defeat, and you are the first graduates since 9/11 who can clearly see how we'll end the war in Afghanistan," Obama added.

The president said all of this means the 180,000 troops serving in Iraq and Afghanistan four years ago now number less than half of that figure.

"As more Afghans step up, more of our troops will come home, while achieving the objective that led us to war in the first place, and that is defeating al-Qaida and denying them safe haven," Obama said. "So we aren't just ending these wars; we are doing so in a way that makes us safer and stronger."
The president also commended the graduating class for two achievements at "one of the most demanding academic institutions in America."

This year, the academy boasts "the largest number of graduates ever to go directly on to graduate school [and] the largest number of female graduates in academy history," Obama noted. "You will follow in the footsteps of General Janet Wolfenbarger, who I was proud to nominate as the first female four-star general in Air Force history."

Obama said the cadets are joining "the finest, most capable military the world has ever known [and] no other nation even comes close."

Though the war in Afghanistan is drawing to a close, Obama cautioned the cadets that there are still terrorists in the world who seek to kill Americans.

"And so, guided by our new defense strategy, we'll keep our military and our Air Force fast and flexible and versatile," he said. "We will maintain our military superiority in all areas -- air, land, sea, space and cyber. And we will keep faith with our forces and our military families."

POLARIS WARRIOR COMPETITION

FROM:  U.S. AIR FORCE SPECIAL OPERATIONS COMMAND
A CV-22 Osprey with the 20th Special Operations Wing at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., descends on the Air Force Academy Cadet Area during the Academy's Polaris Warrior event April 28, 2012. Polaris Warrior combined several military training challenges designed to reinforce skills that cadets may need in the field. (U.S. Air Force photo/Raymond McCoy) 
AFSOC headlines 1st USAFA Polaris Warrior 
by Don Branum
Air Force Academy Public Affairs

5/7/2012 - U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- Almost a year of cadet training in military field skills culminated Saturday in what Commandant of Cadets Brig. Gen. Rich Clark called a "boom event."

The Polaris Warrior competition featured 10 events themed around skills cadets may need in deployed environments after they graduate.

"It's a chance for cadets to really show what they've learned, to have their skills tested and to compete, squadron against squadron, in all the skill areas they've been training in," Clark said.

Cadet Squadron 39 took top honors in the competition, which included self-aid and buddy care, mobile operations in urban terrain, combat arms and land navigation. CS 40 and CS 33 took second and third place, respectively.

Two teams each from the commandant's staff, the Dean of Faculty mission element and the 10th Air Base Wing also competed in the Battlefield Airman portion of the event.

Polaris Warrior started with Clark's stated desire to institute more military-style training during the academic year, culminating in a large-scale event, said Maj. John Schroeder, deputy chief of the Cadet Wing Training Division here.

"We tried to build an academic-year plan accordingly," Schroeder said. "We had to make course corrections along the way because this was our first year trying to plan such a large-scale event."

The overall training plan came together in spring of 2011, Schroeder said. Planning for Saturday's challenge began in December. Cadet 1st Class Michael Oakley of Cadet Squadron 30 and Cadet 2nd Class Tyler Stearns of CS 36 became involved a month later as the event's cadet in charge and cadet NCO in charge, respectively.

"We had to make sure every squadron was prepared," said Stearns, a native of Anchorage, Alaska. "We had to make sure they knew what Polaris Warrior was, that they knew about the final event, and most importantly, that they knew how to prepare for the final event."

Six of the events were compulsory. Another four, including a physical training challenge and a "sprint" from the Cadet Area to Falcon Stadium and back, were optional, Stearns said. After each event, squadron cadets in charge called in scores, which Oakley and Stearns tabulated with Schroeder's help.

Polaris Warrior allowed juniors to ease into leadership roles, which they will do to a larger degree as seniors during summer and 2013 academic year, Oakley said.

"Putting second-class cadets in charge is key for preparing them for next year. It gave them the opportunity for trial and error on a smaller scale before they really take charge of their squadrons," he added.

More than 50 Airmen with the 20th Special Operations Squadron at Cannon Air Force Base, N.M., also supported the event, along with six aircraft, including two CV-22 Ospreys and an MC-130 Combat Talon, said Lt. Col. Tony Valerio, the Cadet Wing Training Division director and a 1992 Academy graduate.

"We got remarkable support from Air Force Special Operations Command," Valerio said.

Airmen with the 20th SOS interacted directly with cadets, including a gathering at Arnold Hall the evening of April 25 as well as attendance alongside cadets in classes and at the April 27 noon meal formation. The interaction worked well, said Maj. David Penuela, the squadron's assistant director of operations.

"Integration into the actual Polaris Warrior training events also proved to be a great recruitment tool" for special operations career fields, Penuela said. Cadets' enthusiasm also motivated the AFSOC Airmen who took part.

Valerio said he would like to refine the process of preparing for Polaris Warrior in future years but added that he was "extremely proud of the blood, sweat and tears" that Schroeder and the two cadets invested in coordinating and pulling off the inaugural Polaris Warrior.

"I couldn't be more proud of the job they did and the efforts they put out there," he said.