Montana Veterans Memorial in Great Falls: It’s a beautiful place. If you haven’t visited yet – you should. This is the first Veterans Day since 1986 that I am not in the Air Force. It’s strange – now that I am no longer serving, I feel even more gratitude towards those who do. Does that make sense? Any other vets feel the same way?
Doing some more searching about the return of the Missileer Badge (aka the “Pocket Rocket”) and I stumbled across the Missile Forums. Among the highlights: rumors of the return of the badge began circulating back in February; quite a bit of discussion about the subject. I wonder if civilians understand the passion often displayed about such military-specific topics as badges and ribbons and medals. And there’s a thread started by a newly-minted missileer who learned in January out that...
I’m sure most of you know about the Air Force Secretary and Chief of Staff being fired this week (or resigning, to be polite). To some observers, this is a direct result of the nuclear incidents over the last two years, particularly the one at Malmstrom’s “sister” installation, Minot Air Force Base. There’s much more analysis to the story, of course, but it appears that part of the fallout (get it?) includes bringing back the “Missile Badge,” a source...
Memorial Day is an occasion for us to honor those who have died while serving in the United States military, and while certainly not every person listed at the Montana Veterans Memorial is (a) dead, or (b) died while serving, it is nevertheless only natural to focus on such a location on this day. And if you visit the memorial today, please note: “May 26, 2008 A very special Memorial Day ceremony will be held at Montana Veterans Memorial...
The highlight for many people this weekend will be the Malmstrom Open House and Air Show, featuring the return of the Canadian Snowbirds aerial demonstration team. Welcome back, Snowbirds. You’ve been in our collective thoughts since last year, and it is great to have you back in Great Falls to amaze and thrill our community. On a more terrestrial note, don’t forget that the annual “Spay-ghetti” dinner will be held tomorrow night to raise money for The Animal Foundation’s...
Good news from Malmstrom Air Force Base! I’m sure most of you know about military competitions: intra-service contests to determine the best of the best. In the Air Force world of Space Operations and Intercontinental Ballistic Missiles (ICBM), the competition is known as Guardian Challenge. Read The Whole Thing >>> Guardian Challenge, the only space and missile competition in the Air Force, celebrates its 35th anniversary this year. It began in 1967 as the Strategic Air Command missile combat...
A few tidbits about Malmstrom Air Force Base: first, the 2nd Avenue North gate (formerly the “main” gate) will be closed on Thursday, Friday, and Saturday (May 8-10) due to construction. The normally closed gate behind First Liberty Federal Credit Union will be open to inbound traffic from 6:30-8:00 am, and to outbound traffic from 4:00-5:00 pm on Thursday and Friday. As far as I know, the 10th Avenue North gate will be open for business as usual during...
