Feature Search

  • 18th Air Force visits McConnell

    Major General Corey Martin, 18th Air Force commander, and Chief Master Sergeant Tom Blount, 18th Air Force command chief, visited Team McConnell on September 26-28, 2023. The 18th Air Force leadership spent three days visiting and conversing with Airmen about the projects they are currently working

  • Airman uses psychology work to help other Airmen, community

    MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan.— One McConnell boom operator has made it her mission to improve the mental health of her fellow Airmen and members of the local community.Tech. Sgt. Chelsey Thornhill is a 350th Air Refueling Squadron boom operator currently acting as 22nd Air Refueling Wing Complaints

  • Hitting the right notes: Singing boom operator inspires others

    MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan.— Growing up in a poverty-stricken, single-parent family, he used singing as a kind of therapy.Airman 1st Class Julian Awari, 349th Air Refueling Squadron boom operator, was only 6 when he first realized he had a talent for singing, and it was a hobby he would stick

  • Heart to heart: Air Force steps up to help Airman’s family

    MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan.— Five days after their baby was born in 2011, they realized something was wrong. When they took her back to the hospital, they found out they were in for a long, rough road ahead.“They quickly rushed us over to the neonatal intensive care unit, and we met with a

  • New training equipment increases MWD readiness

    MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan.— The 22nd Security Forces Squadron military working dog kennel recently received an upgrade to its obstacle course to help ensure readiness and installation security. The obstacle course, or confidence course, is meant to mimic obstacles that the handler and dog will

  • Airman puts MX skills to use on motocross track

    MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. – He ran the motorcycle through a five-foot pool of water, wrecking the bike; everything he had worked for all his life seemed to be over. Staff Sgt. Thomas Tangedal, 22nd Maintenance Squadron aircraft metal technology journeyman, was completing a practice run on a

  • Family reunites after four years apart

    MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan.— Four years — that’s how long he waited.Airman 1st Class Messan Atayi, 22nd Logistics Readiness Squadron Individual Protective Equipment journeyman, moved to the United States from Togolese Republic, Africa, in 2013, leaving behind his pregnant wife. He met his

  • A chief’s foundation: Faith, family, mentorship

    MCCONNELL AIR FORCE BASE, Kan. – Thirty feet up in the air, clinging to a utility pole, was a brand-new Airman crying out for help. He was panicked and insistent that he was going to fall.An instructor stared up at him from the ground and sighed. This was the sergeant’s first day as a technical