Lt. Gen. Jan-Marc Jouas, 7th Air Force commander, accepted South Korea’s Presidential Unit Citation from South Korean President Park Geun-hye during a ceremony at Seoul Air Base. At the Oct. 1 ceremony, Park recognized 7th AF for longstanding achievement in operational readiness and force employment, states a 7th AF release from Oct. 3. Park also honored South Korean military units at the event. Jouas, who as 7th AF commander oversees Air Force units on the Korean Peninsula, said he accepted the citation on behalf of all the members of the number air force. “They, along with all the members of our combined and joint airpower team, made this recognition possible,” he said. The South Korean citation is outside of normal Defense Department decoration channels due to its rarity, so 7th AF is working with the Air Force Personnel Center to determine the criteria for proper wear of the award, according to the release. This is the first time since 2011 that a US unit has received the South Korean citation. The Army’s 2nd Infantry Division was the previous US recipient. (Osan report by TSgt. Thomas J. Doscher)
On Oct. 22, the Air Force Association's Mitchell Institute for Aerospace Studies will host a Nuclear Deterrence Forum featuring Henry Sokolski, executive director of the Nonproliferation Policy Education Center. The think tank will post event video on its website and YouTube page after the live event. Register here.