SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. — Leaders from across the 375th Air Mobility Wing stepped into a virtual reality-inspired test phase Jan. 12 for a new training effort targeted to help airmen feel more comfortable about engaging with others to prevent suicide.

Contractors ripped up the Vance kiddie pool beginning Jan. 4 as part of a planned $248,000 renovation that should be complete before April.

Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training Class 21-04 and T-1 students from Class 21-05 will graduate in a ceremony, 10 a.m. Friday at the Vance Air Force Base Auditorium.

Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training Class 21-03 will graduate 29 junior officers in a 10 a.m. ceremony today at the Vance Air Force Base Auditorium.

Vance Helping Hands, an independent, airman-led volunteer group from Vance Air Force Base, will be handing out hygiene kits for homeless people and those in need, 6 p.m. Saturday at Salvation Army of Enid, 518 N. Independence.

Vance Helping Hands, an independent, airman-led volunteer group from Vance Air Force Base, will be handing out hygiene kits for homeless people and those in need, 6 p.m. Saturday at Salvation Army of Enid, 518 N. Independence.

VANCE AIR FORCE BASE — Two Vance Airmen have demonstrated their passion for serving by volunteering and supporting the city of Enid.

The memo, signed by Col. Timothy Danielson, commander of the 71st Flying Training Wing at Vance, applies to all military personnel assigned to Vance, even when they are off-base and on leave, and to government service civilian employees while on base.

Items can be dropped off at any of the Vance flying training squadrons, at the base clinic or the exchange.

MOODY AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. (AFNS) — The 81st Fighter Squadron, a geographically separated unit assigned to the 14th Flying Training Wing at Columbus Air Force Base, Miss., graduated its last class of Afghan A-29 Super Tucano student pilots on Nov. 13 at Moody AFB.

Enid Police Department and Enid Fire Department are teaming up with Oklahoma Department of Human Services to brighten Christmas for children in the foster-care system.

Youth and Family Services of North Central Oklahoma will begin its annual Project Santa program on Sunday, and is seeking local churches, nonprofits and civic groups to support the drive to brighten Christmas for area kids in need.

In the spring of 1943, just days after graduating from high school, 18-year-old Dwight Jeter, of Enid, joined more than 16 million other Americans in answering the call to serve in World War II.

VANCE AIR FORCE BASE — “When I initially found out I had cancer, I didn’t fully comprehend how serious it was,” said 1st Lt. Jason Mavrogeorge, a squadron executive officer and instructor pilot for the 8th Flying Training Squadron.

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. (AFNS) — Five female fighter pilots tested a modified version of the Advanced Technology Anti-Gravity Suit Oct. 26-30.

HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. (AFNS) -- Air Force Special Operations Command’s guiding principle is that human capital is a competitive advantage. All airmen — officers, enlisted and civilians — must be enabled and empowered to meet the needs of the nation, in an increasingly complex and multipolar world.

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AFNS) -- The ground shakes and you feel the vibration of four propeller engines approaching.

The new director of the Defense Department’s Sexual Assault Prevention and Response Office hit the ground running after being in the field for many years and hearing firsthand service members’ concerns about sexual assault and harassment.

Local organizers of Operation Christmas Child are encouraging churches and families to get their shoe boxes filled now, in anticipation of the annual collection Nov. 16-23.

With temperatures dropping, Dense Mechanical & Dense Comfort Solutions expanded an innovative way to warm up the holidays this year, by providing free heat and air systems to two area families.

Salvation Army of Enid is getting a head start on its Red Kettle bell-ringing campaign, in hopes of raising funds needed to meet increased demand brought on by the COVID-19 pandemic.

MAXWELL AIR FORCE BASE, Ala. -- The Air Force Junior Reserve Officer Training Corps Flight Academy is once again accepting application packages from exceptional student-citizens across the country who want to earn their wings in 2021.

JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND, Texas (AFNS) — The red cockaded woodpecker is making a comeback, thanks to partnership efforts between the Air Force and multiple public and private organizations.

The leader of the Space Force on Tuesday discussed his service’s partnerships and relations with Congress and the Air Force.

U.S. and Indian leaders made more progress today on building what Defense Secretary Dr. Mark T. Esper called “one of the most consequential relationships for the United States in this century.”

FOLEY, Ala. (AP) — A U.S. Navy training plane that took off from Florida crashed Oct. 23 in an Alabama residential neighborhood near the Gulf Coast, killing both people in the plane, authorities said.

“A child who was once scared to face the world now realizes that her words and motions mean so much — she can control a 1,200-pound animal. That is power. That is the first step to each day — each horse, each rider.”