Page 1 - Nellis AFB Bullseye 10-9-15

Vol. 65 No. 40
Nellis Airman ‘LEAPs’ into language program
By Senior Airman Mikaley Kline
99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — She
speaks Russian, Bulgarian and English
while possessing master’s degrees in eco-
nomics, law, business administration as
well as international relations.
She’s worked as a teacher and a border
patrol agent at one of the busiest check-
points in Bulgaria before immigrating to
the United States to eventually begin a
career as an American Airman.
Capt. Reni Angelova, 99th Medical
Group practice manager, stumbled upon
the Language Enabled Airman Program
when she went in to take an annual test to
maintain her foreign language proficiency.
“I speak a few languages and had to go
in because I was due for (Defense Language
Proficiency Test) testing,” said Angelova.
“I was sitting in the waiting area when
someone asked whether I was there to
test for LEAP. I turned around and asked
‘What is LEAP?”
LEAP is managed by the Air Force Cul-
ture and Language Center to help sustain,
enhance and utilize the existing language
and talent skills possessed by Airmen. The
goal of LEAP is to develop a group of Air-
men with different specialties and careers
who have the ability to communicate in
one or more foreign languages.
Public health exercise tests Nellis’ crisis response
By Airman 1st Class Jake Carter
99th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
NELLIS AIR FORCE BASE, Nev. — The
99th Medical Group conducted a public
health exercise here with local partners in Sept. 29 through 30 and was coordinated
the Clark County area which tested each
participant in how they would respond to
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Capt. Reni Angelova, 99th Medical
Group practice manager, poses
for a picture outside of the Mike
O’Callaghan Federal Medical Center
on Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., Oct. 7.
Angelova speaks Russian, Bulgarian
and English while possessing
master’s degrees in economics,
law, business administration as well
as international relations. She has
worked as a teacher and a border
patrol agent at one of the busiest
checkpoints in Bulgaria before
immigrating to the United States.
She recently served in the Office of
Defense Coordination in Bulgaria as
an interpreter under the Language
Enabled Airman Program.
“The idea is to help maintain language
skills and refresh them every so often so
that you are up to date with changes in
the language and culture,” said Angelova.
“Also, so that you will have a good cultural
awareness if you have to go back to the
region in which you speak the language.
You will be ready to go help any Air Force
mission or any military mission which re-
quires you to go to support that particular
skill set.”
Upon learning of the LEAP opportu-
nity, Angelova researched the program
contracting or deal with individuals who
contracted aerosolized tularemia, a serious
infection disease which can be used as a
biological warfare agent.
The exercise, which was conducted from
and conducted by Nevada state public
health officials, began in the Las Vegas
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U.S. Air Force photo by Staff Sgt. Siuta B. Ika me with the great news; I was selected for
and decided to apply since the next board
was around the corner.
“I asked permission from my squad-
ron commander, Lt. Col. Coleman, and
he said ‘Absolutely, yes,’” said Angelova.
“The board requires submission of your
last three (Officer Performance Reports),
along with an endorsement from the
squadron commander. The board selec-
tion process takes into consideration your
language skill set, as well as your overall
performance as an Airman. A few months
later, my squadron commander surprised
community before spreading to Nellis Air
Force Base.
“This was a city-wide exercise con-
ducted to see the capabilities of the city in
response to a city-wide epidemic. The goal
of the exercise was to evaluate the response
from the public health officials and hospi-
tals,” said Capt. Huette Wong, 99th Medi-
Techs
Keep air traffic,
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12 & 13
October 9, 2015
the LEAP program.”
To help maintain language skills, par-
ticipants go through two phases; phase I
is an online class and phase II is a Lan-
guage Intensive Training Event. The LITE
includes a three to four week TDY in the
country where the language is spoken in
a natural environment, with opportuni-
ties to take a class in a local school, teach,
involve in a humanitarian mission, or
support U.S Embassy mission – all geared
towards refreshing the language skills and
cultural awareness.
“I thought about teaching or taking a
class but I have already done both,” said
Angelova. “I decided to call the U.S. Em-
bassy in Bulgaria and see if they’d like a
month of linguist support under LEAP.
The answer was ‘Yes, by all means – we can
always use additional support.’”
Upon arrival in Bulgaria, Angelova was
assigned to the Office of Defense Coordi-
nation which reports to the U.S. military
attaché in Bulgaria.
“I had the opportunity to work with the
U.S. Army in support of the largest NATO
airdrop operation since the end of the
Cold War,” said Angelova. “The Airdrop
mission included several nations and was
conducted simultaneously on the territory
of a few NATO member countries.
____________See LEAP, on page 3
cal Support Squadron satellite pharmacy
chief. “They needed to identify the disease
and then take the correct steps to ensure
disease containment. The exercise utilized
base resources and city/state resources to
contain the epidemic. Our specific part
_______ See EXERCISE, on page 3
CONTENTS
Commentary ............................ 2
News ........................................ 3-9
Sports ......................................... 11
Health & Wellness .............. 15