Nov. 4, 2020 LEAP Spotlight: Capt Panupong Phongpitakvises LF Cooperation Afloat Readiness and Training (CARAT) is an annual exercise consisting of a series of bilateral training evolutions between the U.S. and several Southeast Asian countries, in which U.S. Marines and Sailors train cross-culturally with service members of these nations.
July 22, 2020 LEAP Spotlight: Maj Theodore Shillig Maj Theodore Shillig is a 62E (Developmental Engineer) who has been a Japanese LEAP scholar since 2011. He began his language training during a two-year immersion in Japan. During this time, the focus was solely on learning to speak.
June 25, 2020 LEAP Spotlight: 2nd Lt Katherine Scheibner Meet the Air Force Culture and Language Center’s (AFCLC) first United States Space Force (USSF) scholar 2nd Lieutenant Katherine Scheibner.
June 24, 2020 LEAP Spotlight: Capt Thien Duong Recently, an overseas unit lost an Airman of Vietnamese heritage. Due to the proximity of the Airman’s family, Barksdale AFB Mortuary Affairs was responsible for assisting the family through the ordeal.
March 26, 2020 ‘Mahalo LEAP’ If you were to ask the Air Force Culture and Language Center’s Director, Mr. Howard Ward what would be one of his top three ingredients to making a great LEAP scholar, one guaranteed answer would be energy and Major Charlynne “Char” McGinnis has plenty of it.
Aug. 27, 2019 LEAP scholar shares his journey from humble beginnings in Korea to Air Force flight nurse Air Force Major Michael Yim remembers his early days in the United States vividly. At just 15, his family relocated from their home in Korea to Virginia. It was a long journey that came with some harsh realities for the Korean-born teenager now living in the U.S.“I just remember getting here and
Aug. 12, 2019 Storyteller—Life is an opportunity—don’t waste it “Hey, your mom drank poison, and they are taking her to the hospital.” Those were the words Staff Sgt. Gopal Pudasaini, 21st Medical Operations Squadron family health clinic patient advocate, heard as he was in the middle of a school exam in a small village near Kathmandu, the capital of
Sept. 4, 2018 The role language and culture played in the dramatic Thai cave rescue When the final child was pulled from the cave in Thailand, the crowd cheered, and the rescuers let out a deep sigh of relief. It was a non-verbal cue that was clear in every language: this terrifying ordeal was over.
Aug. 1, 2018 Get to know: Air Force Times’ Airman of the Year and LEAP Scholar Capt Gluck Air Force Captain Julian Gluck has a few copies of the Air Force Times at his home that he has been giving to family. The newspapers and a large wooden American flag serve as keepsakes for the B-52 long-range bomber pilot who has been named the publication’s Airman of the Year. At just 27-years-old,
June 29, 2018 Weather and Culture: The forecast for a great Air Force partnership U.S. Air Force Staff Sergeant Zachary Kelly’s model data, meteorology abilities, and geography skills are some of the most important tools in the Air Force forecaster’s armory. For four years, his weather knowledge served as a guiding light for pilots at Yokota Air Base in Japan. Combining his
