Recognizing the spirit of courage, comradeship, and cooperation exemplified by Medal of Honor recipient CMSgt. Richard Etchberger, the Air Force Senior Noncommissioned Officer Academy at Maxwell AFB, Ala., has established the Etchberger Team Award. The award’s medallion features an image of Etchberger and the MOH on the obverse, and, on the reverse, a depiction of the secret radar site where he was killed saving comrades in Laos in 1968. “Chief Etchberger was part of a team, a team he volunteered with . . . fought beside and died saving,” said MSgt. Tommy Holmes, addressing academy graduates of Class 11-B, Flight 17, the award’s first recipients, on March 11, 43 years to the day that Etchberger gave his life. The CMSgt. Richard Etchberger Team Award is equivalent to the Levitow Award that recognizes honor graduates of USAF’s Airman Leadership Schools. (Maxwell report by Kelly Deichert) (For more, read Etchberger, Medal of Honor from Air Force Magazine’s 2010 archive.)
The Next-Generation Air Dominance Fighter is Air Combat Command’s top priority, because without it, the Air Force can’t provide the control of the air the whole military depends on to operate, Air Combat Command chief Gen. Mark D. Kelly said. He also named a replacement for the E-3 AWACS, new…