Edwards AFB, Calif. overview

A pilot's view of Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. -- main base area -- located on the edge of Rogers Dry Lake. (U.S. Air Force photo)

A B-1B launches

A mission-bound B-1B Lancer lifts off from the runway of an air base in Southwest Asia Dec.29. The B-1B is a multi-role, long-range bomber capable of flying intercontinental missions without refueling. It can perform a variety of missions, including that of carrying conventional weapons for theater operations. (U. S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Douglas Olsen)

50 years of medical excellence

Retired Lt. Gen. (Dr.) Paul Myers speaks at the Wilford Hall Medical Center's 50th Anniversary Ceremony Nov. 16. at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas (US Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Ruth Stanley)

50 years of medical excellence

Wilford Hall Medical Center officials commemorated 50 years as the Air Force's medical flagship Nov. 16 in a ceremony at Lackland Air Force Base, Texas. The nine-story, 150-bed hospital began as a small station hospital and was later downgraded to an infirmary. (Courtesy photo)

"Eight Ball Esquire"

Airmen from the 13th Bombardment Squadron stand in front of the B-25D Mitchell "Eight Ball Esquire" in 1942. On Dec. 20, 1942 after leaving Port Moresby, New Guinea, the aircraft lost its left engine and ditched into the bay. The crew made it to the beach. Two of them walked and swam to Cooktown, Australia, and notified authorities about the rest of the crew. They were rescued two days after the crash by boat with no losses. In December 2006, divers discovered wreckage, but verification that the aircraft is the "Eight Ball Esquire" is still pending. (Courtesy photo)

XB-1A bomber

An XB-1A bomber from the 13th Bombardment Squadron in 1918. The 13th BS became known as "The Devil's Own Grim Reapers," because of the emblem on the unit's aircraft, a skeleton with a yellow scythe against a dark blue field. A modified version of this emblem, known as "Oscar" is still the official 13th BS emblem today. (Courtesy photo)

Oscar-01 Launch Control Facility

(Left to right) Senior Airmen David Wade and Eugene Clark and Staff Sgt. Kevin Gorney, missile maintenance crewmen, perform an electrical check on an LGM-30F Minuteman III intercontinental ballistic missile in its silo Jan. 1, 1980. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Bob Wickley)

Alert facility bedroom

A bedroom inside a Minuteman II launch control facility in 1982. The facility was manned by 10 people with two individuals assigned as crew downstairs. The remaining eight included the facility manager who was usually the ranking enlisted person on site. (U.S. Air Force photo)

509th Bomb Wing shield

509th Bomb Wing shield (U.S. Air Force illustration)

Col. Garrett Harencak, 509th Bomb Wing commander

Col. Garrett Harencak is the current 509th Bomb Wing commander. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Operation Desert Storm

F-16A Fighting Falcons and F-15C and F-15E Eagles fly over burning oil fields during Desert Storm. Operation Desert Storm began Jan. 17, 1991. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Fernando Serna)

F-22 performs first drop of small diameter bomb

An F-22 Raptor drops a small diameter bomb from its weapons bay during a test mission Sept. 5 over Edwards Air Force Base, Calif. The test marks the first airborne separation of a small diameter bomb from the internal weapons bay of an F-22. (U.S. Air Force photo/Darin Russell)

Brig. Gen. Craig Franklin

Brig. Gen. Craig A. Franklin, 31st Fighter Wing commander. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Air Force celebrates 60th anniversary

Secretary of Defense Robert Gates, Air Force Chief of Staff General T. Michael Mosely and Secretary of the Air Force Michael W. Wynne observe events from the stage at the Air Force 60th anniversary celebration in the Pentagon courtyard Sept. 18. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Monique Randolph)

Air Force celebrates 60th anniversary

Capt. Joshua Hawkins walks through the formation as the Air Force Honor Guard Drill Team members perform at the Air Force 60th anniversary celebration in the Pentagon courtyard Sept. 18. Captain Hawkins is the Air Force Honor Guard Drill Team commander. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Master Sgt. Matthew Proietti)

Heritage to Horizons: Air Force documents history through art

This 1963 painting by artist Keith Ferris, entitled "Sunset Refueling at 30,000 Feet," featuring a B-52 Stratofortress and a KC-135R Stratotanker, was the third painting Mr. Ferris donated to the Air Force Art Program. Mr. Ferris has officially been an aviation artist since the year the Air Force became a service in 1947, and has been one of the longest participating artists in the program since it began in 1950. (U.S. Air Force photo)

Operation Allied Force

A weapons technician prepares an F-16 Fighting Falcon at Aviano Air Base, Italy, for the next sortie in support of NATO Operation Allied Force, March 27, 1999. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Mitch Fuqua)

Operation Allied Force

A weapons technician prepares an F-16 Fighting Falcon at Aviano Air Base, Italy, for the next sortie in support of NATO Operation Allied Force, March 27, 1999. (U.S. photo/Senior Airman Mitch Fuqua)

31st Fighter Wing security forces

Airmen from the 31st Security Forces Squadron at Aviano Air Base, Italy, group together outside the base's guardmount building. (Courtesy photo)

Air war over Bosnia

Capt. Scott O'Grady talks to Airmen from the 31st Fighter Wing at Aviano Air Base, Italy, about his experience after evading capture in 1995. Capt. O'Grady, with the 555th Fighter Squadron at Aviano, ejected from his F-16 over Bosnia, after his aircraft was hit by a rocket from the Bosnian Serb Army. He eluded capture by Serbian forces for five days before being picked up by a U.S. Marine Corps rescue helicopter. (Courtesy photo)

Top enlisted visits Vietnam

The Air Force's first Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force, Paul Airey, [fifth from right] chats with Airmen Nov. 2, 1968 at the Noncommissioned Officers Club at Tuy Hoa Air Base, South Vietnam. The 31st Tactical Fighter Wing was the host unit at Tuy Hoa. (Courtesy photo)

Operation Iraqi Freedom

1st Lt. Roseline Salazar and Staff Sgt. Philip Krug work on a tail fin assembly before assembling a joint direct attack munition at Balad Air Base, Iraq, Oct. 9, 2005. Both Airmen are assigned to the 322nd Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron and deployed from Aviano Air Base, Italy. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Shannon Kluge)

F-100F Super Sabre

A F-100 Super Sabre sits on the flightline at Homestead Air Force Base, Fla. The Super Sabre transferred to Aviano Air Base, Itlay, in 1994. (Courtesy photo)

F-100D Super Sabre

A F-100D Super Sabre, assigned to the 31st Fighter Wing, is ready for flight on the Toul Air Base, France, flightline in the summer of 1959. (Courtesy photo)