Page 5 - Aerotech News and Review, May 13, 2022

REAPER, FROM 4
niques and procedures, the 163rd is once again trailblazing the enterprise for future warfighters.
“The 163rd is leading the way when it comes to innovation, not just on the flight line, but also in the future of what the U.S. Air Force is going to be,” said MCA Lead Master Sgt. Timothy. “Ul- timately, the goal is for our MCA Team of maintainers/refuelers/ weapons loaders to forward deploy and meet the MQ-9’s expedi- tionary needs and rejoin the fight. We have unlocked the key to refueling and rearming an MQ-9 so we can safely and expediently compete in the future fight. This is a bigger part of the mission — it contributes to something bigger which means our Airmen need to ensure they know their jobs more so now, than ever before.”
Since Arnold’s prediction over 100 years ago, the 163rd Attack Wing was the first Air National Guard unit to take on a Remotely Piloted Aircraft, the first to become a fully functional ANG Flying Training Unit, the first to integrate Active Duty Aircrew/Maintain-
Airmen from the 163rd Attack Wing, out of March Air Reserve Base, Calif., load inert training weapons to an MQ-9 Reaper
at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., May 4 ,2022. The aircraft conducted an Agile Combat Employment (ACE) to
a Forward Operating Site (FOS), flying from March Air Reserve Base to Edwards Air Force Base.
ers from an Air Education and Training Command active associate unit, and now the first ANG unit to execute a sortie in the ACE construct to a FOS utilizing the MQ-9’s ATLC features and MCA teams.
After the successful mission, Maj. Shanna added, “Now, the 163rd ATKW has an extremely small footprint with streamlined processes and the ability to forward operate quickly and efficient- ly. Like any other aviation asset in our U.S. Air Force inventory, the MQ-9 Reaper is accelerating change and the 163d ATKW again leads the way.”
Since the inception of the Air Force, our airmen have embodied the concept of innovation. The DNA set forth by Gen Hap Arnold is imbued in everything we do. General Brown pushes that rich tradition and legacy, challenging our airmen to accelerate change. The 163rd Attack Wing has and will continue to accelerate that change ensuring that we never lose.
VIETNAM, from 3
“My dad told stories about the war, and his friend who was serving in the same area as the U.S. 1st Marine Division,” Nguyen recounted.
During that combat operation, his father said his friend gazed on a village in the valley below and told him, “After this mission I will marry a girl down there.” With tears in his eyes, Nguyen’s father shared that his friend was killed.
“He did not make it back alive,” Nguyen said. “He did not get to marry the girl he loved.”
Nguyen, wearing his blue officer’s uniform with its many rows of ribbons, spoke haltingly.
“My father made the brave decision to risk all our lives rather than be subjected to living under the communists,” he said.
So, the Nguyen family followed the journey of 1.2 mil- lion other Vietnamese who left their homeland in the face of daunting danger.
“Freedom is like oxygen, when you have it you don’t think about it much, but when you miss it, you will do whatever it takes to regain it.,” he said. “In May of 1995, I graduated from the University of Colorado and was commissioned a second lieutenant in the U.S. Air Force, and that is the rest of the story of how I became Colonel Nguyen today.”
The ravages of war, as he experienced it in Vietnam and later as an American officer, involve “unimaginable cruelty and suffering,” he said. But, he added, the experience affords the opportunity for “bravery and acts of kindness.” Amid war, remembering kindness is key to sustaining humanity.
For the daughter of Bang Ngo, the United States as her ad- opted homeland is an interchangeable term she learned from her father, as he undertook to master English in the Ameri- can idiom. The terms father Ngo used with equal facility, she said, were “Jackpot!” and “Potluck!” She offered her father’s linguistic journey as a jumping off point for gentle humor.
Addressing her fellow Americans, Brittanie Ngo said, “Be- cause of your sacrifices, I hit the ‘Potluck!’”
Air Force photograph by Giancarlo Casem
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