Page A5
July 03, 2002
Portland Airman Tests Skills of Combat Pilots in NATO Exercise
enced pilots. T eam s o f aggres
sors from N ellis A ir Force Base,
located outside o f Las Vegas,
serve as rea listic ad v e rsaries
against the young pilots and pro
vide them training intended to save
their lives in the early stages o f
real combat.
" T h e re ’s a g o o d ch an ce that
ev e ry o n e H ying here is g o in g to
see com bat during O peration E n
d u rin g F reedom — I w as sent
back to N orth A m erica ju s t to
prep are th em ," Boss said. "N o t
Air Force S taff Sgt. Derrick
D. Boss (left), a flight
operations manager from
Portland, double checks a
fighter p ilot's qualifications
in support o f a NATO
exercise in Canada.
Airmen and aircraft (right)
scurry during a NA TO air drill
in Canada. The ground
crew 's goal was to launch
1 00 aircraft twice a day for
six weeks straight.
P hotos by D errick C. G oode
Grant High grad prepares fighters
for 'Operation Enduring Freedom'
B y J ohn D eny
F or the P ortland O bserver
W hen the son o f a Portland
couple w alks onto his drivew ay in
this sm all tow n tucked into the
m iddle o f now here on the high
plains o f central C anada, it seem s
like the entire tow n com es out to
greet him.
For A ir Force Staff Sgt. Derrick
D. Boss, son o f Phillip and Marilyn
Boss o f northeast Portland, his
drivew ay is actually a 12.000-foot
runw ay, and the com m otion that
draw s the locals to him is an an
n u al N A T O e x e rc ise du b b ed
‘M aple Flag.’
Boss was one o f more than 4,000
pilots, maintenance crew members
and support specialists from the
U.S., Canada, Germany, England,
France, Sweden and Singapore who
recently converged on this Cold
Lake, Alberta, air base to test the
skills o f new pilots in a combat
environm ent, simulating their first
10 hours o f flying sorties over en
emy territory.
Boss is a flight operations m an
ager w ho is norm ally stationed in
Japan w ith a front-line flying o ut
fit know n as the 67th Fighter
Squadron ‘Fighting C o ck s.’
“I ensure people are current
and qualified before each m ission
to ensure overall crew safety. My
flight operations section is the
first and last stop for all aircrew
people before they fly am issio n ,”
explained the 1996 graduate of
G rant H igh S chool.
A m erican fighter units from as
far aw ay as Japan and Italy co n
verge on this rem ote air base to
insert their new er fighter pilots
into form ations with m ore expert-
from A4
Jordan: You and I may never
see the end o f it (racism) but that
still doesn’t take us off the hook.
Continue to do all you can to
eliminate any form o f racism.
There will be an end, perhaps four
or five generations from now.
Y ug en : C harles, I suppose in
the short term , the race dilem m a
places your idea o f legacy in
jeopardy?
“Smoking doesn’t work
in Oregon.”
I rem ember walking out o f our conference
room and my eyes were literally stinging. My
boss smoked, so everybody felt they had a
right to light up whenever they felt like it.
That was before the Oregon Smokefree
Workplace Law.
Because now smoking doesn't work in Oregon.
And I’m breathing a lot easier.
If you’ve got questions,
please contact us:
Information About The Law
• Toll-free 1-866-621-6107
• www.healthoregon.org/tobacco
• Your county health department
Oregon Tobacco Quitline
• 1-877-27O-STOP
• 1-877-2N0-FUME (Spanish)
• TTY: 1-877-777-6534
Charles Jordan Speaks
continued
too m any p eo p le ca n say they
do w hat 1 d o .”
T he U.S. hosts, norm ally sta
tio n ed n ear L as V eg as, have
tagged high-priced resort hotel
names suchas "Luxor,’ ‘Excalibur,’
and Bellagio’ to accom modations
that range from rundow n barracks
to large cargo containers.
Boss and his fellow airm en are
out to prove th ey ’re the best at
w hat th ey do. A nd, for now ,
th ey ’ve got the ‘co o lest’ drive
way in town.
Jordan: For m e legacy is a
process, a healing w e have to
start, and som ew here dow n the
road this place could becom e
heaven on earth. Legacy isn ’t a
product, it’s a process. Legacy
is w hen your grandson can say
’ M y papa helped lay the foun
dation. my uncle helped build
the w alls. Now its up to you and
I to put the ro o f on the bu ild in g .’
So that is w hat 1 try to do: R ede
If you have a disability and need the
material in an alternate format, call
503-731-4273 (TTY: 503-731-4031).
SMOKEFREE WORKPLACES. IT’S OREGON LAW.
fine legacy.
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