Mochi mashing

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Col. Mike Keltz (right) and a Japanese airman take turns using wooden mallets to pound sticky rice into mochi, a Japanese rice cake traditionally made and eaten during New Year's festivities. Colonel Keltz is the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing commander. American and Japanese airmen work together at a forward-deployed location here. (U.S. Air Force photo by Capt. Aaron Burgstein)

Crew chief for a day

BAGRAM AIR BASE, Afghanistan -- Staff Sgt. Franklin Newbery (left) teaches Col. Derrick Hoxie III how to take oil and fluid samples from an A-10 Thunderbolt II here Dec. 25. The colonel was participating in the 455th Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron's Crew Chief for a Day program. The program offers deployed Airmen of all Air Force specialties a chance to experience what it is like to work on fighter jets. "What better way is there to spend Christmas Day while on deployment than with the maintainers out on the flightline?" said Colonel Hoxie, the 455th Air Expeditionary Wing deputy commander. "I learned that we have a very professional team of maintainers out there, and the experience only reaffirmed what I have thought all along." Sergeant Newbery is a crew chief deployed from Spangdahlem Air Base, Germany, supporting Operation Enduring Freedom. Colonel Hoxie is deployed from the 552nd Air Control Wing at Tinker Air Force Base, Okla. (U.S Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Jennifer Lindsey)

AF File Photo

BALAD AIR BASE, Iraq – Army Brig. Gen. Yves Fontaine, commander of the 1st Corps Support Command, and Col. Blair E. Hansen, 332nd Air Expeditionary Wing commander, read a plaque which dedicates the base stadium to Airman 1st Class Antoine J. Holt, who died in April during an attack on the base. (Air Force photo by Tech. Sgt. Robert Jensen)

Vipers on the prowl

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Airman 1st Class Brian Corso, 386th Expeditionary Security Forces Squadron Viper Flight, observes the surrounding area to ensure there are no threats to aircraft landing and taking off here. The 386th ESFS is responsible for defending the 386th Air Expeditionary Wing's base from attack. (U.S. Air Force photo by Senior Airman Nicole Spence)

Pre-flight inspections

SOUTHWEST ASIA -- Tech. Sgt. Bryan Quinn conducts a pre-flight inspection on a C-130 Hercules prior to taking off from here Dec. 4. The C-130s are supporting both operations Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom. Sergeant Quinn is a loadmaster with the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo)

Need a lift?

SOUTHWEST ASIA - A maintenance specialist from the 379th Air Expeditionary Wing waits to tow a C-130 Hercules at a forward deployed location here Dec. 4. The C-130s are supporting both operations Iraqi Freedom and Enduring Freedom. (U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Shane A. Cuomo)