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About The nugget. (Sisters, Or.) 1994-current | View Entire Issue (Oct. 5, 2016)
16 Wednesday, October 5, 2016 The Nugget Newspaper, Sisters, Oregon Tales from a Sisters Naturalist by Jim Anderson Meeting the challenge Last month, Col. Ross Anderson — my kid — and his staff were among hun- dreds of U.S. Air Force indi- viduals, groups and civilians who were recognized for meeting the challenges of their tasks as members of our nation’s Total Force at the Air Force Association’s annual Air Space Cyber Conference held in the Gaylord National Convention Center Washington, D.C. It was heart-moving, sitting there at the confer- ence—with hundreds of Air Force airmen all around us— witnessing the achievements of 69 men and women, both military and civilian, who were receiving awards for getting the job done for the good of the service, their teammates, themselves and for Mankind. Each award provided everyone in attendance with a more focused look at how our Air Force accomplishes a lot more than protecting our backsides. One moving example was Air Force nurse Captain Jessica Rameriz from Mountain Home AFB, Idaho. She received the Juanita Redmond Award for developing new ways to help soon-to-be mothers bring their little ones into the world a little more easily and successfully. Sure, she signed up pri- marily to heal sick and wounded USAF military personnel, but she went so much further to meet the challenges of her responsibil- ities to her military personnel … and their wives. As each individual and group came up on the stage to receive their award for their achievements, the announcer provided the audi- ence with a short but concise account of what he/she/they had done to merit the special recognition. A highlight came when the moderator of the event introduced 101-year old Lt. Col. Richard Cole, last sur- viving member of the famous 1942 Doolittle Raiders. Lt. Col. Cole was Lt. Col. Jimmy Doolittle’s co-pilot, who led 16 B-25 Mitchell bombers on the mission to bomb Japan that changed the nation’s morale following the devastating attack on Pearl Harbor in 1941. The AFA asked Lt. Col. Cole to give a name to the new USAF stealth bomber, and without hesitation he said, “Raider.” Little did I know, way back in the ’60s, when I was staff naturalist for the Oregon Museum of Science and Industry (OMSI) that the old Cub I used for checking golden eagle nests through- out Central Oregon would hook Ross and his older brother, Dean, into becoming F-16 pilots. Neither of them could reach the rudder ped- als, but oh my, did they enjoy the actions that followed their pushing and pulling the control stick! In 1995, Ross got the job of his dreams and started fly- ing the F-16C. He became an F-16 instructor pilot in the 78th Fighter Squadron at Shaw AFB in SC. By 2001 he was the F-16 operations officer for the 302 Fighter Squadron at Luke AFB in AZ, and in 2006 became the 944th operations support flight commander at Luke, and was greeted by his num- ber-two son, Tyler. Ross has been deployed eight times for combat. Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Kuwait, Turkey and SISTERS HABITAT FOR HUMANITY Thrift Store The SPOOKS were out and changed the store to SPOOK LANb. Come see! 541-549-1740 ReStore photo courtesy usaF Col. ross anderson and his staff of the 926th reserve air force Wing receiving the air force association’s “Outstanding reserve unit award.” Iraq. Today, it’s hard for him to point out one specific deployment as particularly special, though flying over Afghanistan from Kuwait in October 2001 was pretty remarkable. It was during that deployment where he earned the Distinguished Flying Cross. After returning to the states Ross was sent to Nellis AFB in Nevada, where he took over the newly formed 926th Wing, which distin- guished itself by outstanding achievements from 1 January 2015 to 31 December 2015. During this period, Ross’ Wing achieved an unprec- edented degree of Total Force Integration within the United States Air Force Warfare Center and Twelfth Air Force. As the most mission- diverse wing in the Air Force Reserve Command, members JOINT PAIN? Quick and affordable relief. AuDo accidenDs, workman’s comp. accepDed. Three SisDers ChiropracDic & Pain ManagemenD Dr. Inice Gough, DC | 541.549.3583 — Since 1997 — Variety • Quality • Price Range Buy local from Sweeney Plumbing and save the trip to Bend! 7:30 am-4 pm Mon.-Fri. 541-549-4349 260 N. Pine St., Sisters Licensed Bonded / Insured CCB#87587 Questions? 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He’ll be the first to tell you, he’s the luckiest man in the world. In his words, “It’s been a wonderful and wild ride.” Low-Cost Dog & Cat 75 ALL % LIGHTS OFF 141 W. Main Ave., Sisters of the 926th engaged in round-the-clock, non-stop remotely piloted aircraft multi-theater combat opera- tions resulting in 178 enemy killed in action; provided integral support for and suc- cessful accomplishment of 10 combatant command exercises and more than 40 joint/coalition strikes. The 926th trained more than 242,000 warfighters worldwide; performed opera- tional testing in air, space and cyberspace domains support- ing Air Combat Command an d Ai r F o rce S p ace Command; provided all test directors for the entirety of fighter aircraft (A-10, F-15, F-15E, F-16, F-22, F-35) at Nellis Air Force Base, and are the sole cyber opera- tional test organization for & S U P P LY Hosted by Sisters Feed & Supply and Sunshine Vet Services 102 E. Main Ave. | 541-549-4151
