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  • Earn it: The TSgt. Elias Aponte story of redemption

    From his earliest days as an Airman atbasic training, TSgt. Elias Aponte said things didn’t come easy.“Earn it!” TSgt. Aponte recalled whathis drill sergeant would shout. “That’s all he ever said to us.”Looking back through the long lens oftime, the Security Forces Squadron sergeant said his life

  • Ivy-Leaguer seeks adventure in Reserve

    When asked what he had accomplished last summer, SSgt. JoseGutierrez said he traveled to Ecuador to conduct his independent researchproject for his studies at Yale University. The bioenvironmental technician --assigned to the 439th Aerospace Medicine Squadron -- downplayed thesignificance of his

  • Air Force historian preserves Navy story

    Not many people get to live their dreams. Westover's wing historian, MSgt. Joseph Gluckert, is one of the lucky ones.He's manned the 439th Airlift Wing history office since 2006. MSgt. Gluckert was recently given the opportunity to take the helm of the same role as a civilian -- at the Portsmouth

  • Ironman Tri-athlete Kicks Off Westover Strong Campaign

    A local Ironman competitor and mother of three children told reservists on the January A UTA about her successful style of athleticism and time management.Michelle Fitzell is a physical therapist at Bay State Hospital in Springfield. This past August, she completed her first Ironman competition in

  • WINGMEN: AF firefighters are life-long friends

    It's rare that two life-long friends can say they've traveled all around the country and the world in the military - together. But that's the case with SrA. Jason Barnett and SrA. Andrew Nelson. The two wingmen grew up together in the Nutmeg State, attended and graduated from Connecticut colleges

  • Retired APS chief: POW in Iranian Revolution

    Guests at CMSgt. Henry Lojkuc's (pronounced "Lo-check") recent retirement ceremony would never guess the unassuming and deferential aerial porter was ever a player in world affairs. But for one month in 1979, he was a prisoner of war in Tehran during the Iranian Revolution.It's Valentine's Day,

  • As a wingman, look for signals of distress

    Last spring, I attended the funeral of a friend, classmate and fellow veteran.His passing marked the second time in 2013 that a family friend had committed suicide.His troubles were many, and he hid them well. We spoke often and had many "war stories" to tell each other. I'd seen him at least weekly

  • Outliers: The Story of Success

    Yes, Malcolm Gladwell's bestseller Outliers: The Story of Success is on the Chief of Staff's 2013 reading list. Wait! Come back. Gladwell's ability to sift through a mountain of data and come away with life-changing insights makes the book fascinating.Outliers examines how successful people--pilots,

  • Patriot Wing's vice commander was born, raised in Pioneer Valley

    When Col. Jeffrey F. Hancock joined the military in 1985, he fulfilled a boyhood dream: When he was 8 years old, he climbed a tree in Ludlow to watch an airplane take off from Westover.After nearly three decades in the military, and rising to the second highest position at Westover, Col. Hancock is

  • 60-MPH Wind and Hail Buffet Patriot Express players

    As I'm scraping out thick mud caked to the bottom of my boots I hear,  "Well that definitely doesn't look good at all." Canvassing the mud-spattered site here, my jaw dropped. The 50-foot antenna mast, which serves as the primary communication for air to ground transmissions for the Hard-sided