Luke officer selected to Thunderbirds

Officials of the Air Force Air Demonstration Squadron, commonly known as the Thunderbirds, announced incoming officer selections for the 2009 demonstration season June 2. Capt. Jamie Rempel, 56th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron officer in charge from Luke Air Force Base will join the team as the

Luke's command chief says goodbye

Chief Master Sgt. Mitch Stippel, 56th Fighter Wing command chief, leaves Luke Tuesday to be the 435th Air Base Wing command chief at Ramstein Air Base, Germany. Chief Stippel recently reflected on his time spent here at Luke and what it meant to him. "My time at Luke was amazingly fast paced," said

CCIP helps Luke stay on top of training

The 310th Aircraft Maintenance Unit sends its last F-16 to be fitted with the new common configuration implementation program (WHEN?) making Luke aircraft more lethal and survivable for training and combat operations. Started in 2001, CCIP is a comprehensive $2 billion upgrade effort designed to

Honorary chief

CAP members fill gap at Luke

Richard Frazier is a busy man. Not only has he spent the last 22 years as a member of the Civil Air Patrol, but he dedicated 25 years to the Coast Guard Auxiliary, another all-volunteer organization. Now, Mr. Frazier is providing his services to Luke AFB as the first participant in the Volunteer

Luke keeps readiness skills sharp through exercise

Exercise Crown Talon 0802, not only tested Luke's first responders May 15, but also tested the ability to survive and operate in an area of responsibility of Luke deployers. During the exercise, members of the 56th Fighter Wing Inspector General office evaluated Luke's ability to respond to

Sons of German pilot visit father's crash site

It was a trip that began no differently than any other in 1973 for Capt. Karl-Heinz Hoeflich, a young Luftwaffe pilot. He picked up his flight bag, said "auf wiedersehn" to his family and left Germany to attend the F-104 advanced bomber course at Luke. Thirty-five years later, it seems like only

Luke rises to flood exercise occasion

Luke participated in a valley-wide natural disaster flood exercise May 6 that incorporated most of the Metropolitan Phoenix area emergency operations centers. This type of exercise was created to establish connections between local civilian emergency responders and Luke's EOC. The following scenario

"Panthers" welcome new commander

Luke Thunderbolts, friends and family members of the "Panthers" gathered to support the 63rd Fighter Squadron change of command ceremony here May 12. Lt. Col. Jeffrey Lovelace, 63rd Fighter Squadron commander, relinquished command to Lt. Col. Jack Maixner, 56th Fighter Wing chief of safety. Colonel

MSG welcomes new commander

"One constant in our Air Force is certain - when a great leader leaves, somehow we always find an equally talented officer to take their place," said Brig. Gen. Tom Jones, 56th Fighter Wing commander. Seats began to fill with Thunderbolts from the 56th Security Forces, Services, Contracting,