By Katie Lange Defense Media Activity: When Everything Went Wrong, This F-16 Pilot Did Everything Right
Imagine you’re an F-16 pilot, and your plane goes into catastrophic failure minutes after takeoff, right over heavily populated Washington, D.C. That’s a nightmare scenario one D.C. Air National Guard pilot went through last spring – one that ended with the best possible outcome and earned him an unexpected award.
Capt. Jonathan Morgan was honored in early December with the Flying Safety Award and the Meritorious Service Medal.
Where All the Trouble Began
So what caused that kind of catastrophic failure? An investigation revealed that when the engine was assembled, a small ring and pin were forgotten.
“I’m not kidding – [the pin] couldn’t have been more than 2 inches long,” Morgan said.
By Air Force Senior Airman Christopher Maldonado 20th Fighter Wing: Face of Defense: Airman Launches Professional Boxing Career
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C., Dec. 15, 2017 — A Florida native, Air Force Tech. Sgt. Andre Penn, serving with the 20th Civil Engineer Squadron here, has been preparing for more than a decade to achieve his dream of becoming a professional boxer.
By Eric Durr New York National Guard: Guardsmen on Firewatch In California Skies
SYRACUSE, N.Y., Dec. 15, 2017 — Nine members of the New York Air National Guard’s 174th Attack Wing have deployed to assist the California Air National Guard’s 163rd Attack Wing in flying the MQ-9 Reaper remotely piloted aircraft that have been helping local authorities fight the massive Thomas Fire in Southern California.
