Christmas Tree Lighting

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Holly Engler, a Vandenberg Air Force Base Family Child Care provider, serves freshly popped popcorn during a Christmas tree lighting ceremony held Monday, Dec. 5, 2011, in base housing. The tree was handpicked by the children of the VAFB FCC program and donated to the VAFB community in honor of deployed service members and their families. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Tech Sgt. Scottie T. McCord)

Vandenberg Hosts Operation Kids Christmas

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --Tech. Sgt. David Jones hugs Jasmine, age 7 from the Santa Ynez Valley, goodbye after the festivities of Operation Kids Christmas at the Pacific Coast Club here Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. OKC is an annual event, organized and run by a private organization, in which approximately 200 local children are brought on base and given the opportunity to play games, meet Santa and enjoy the companionship of volunteer military members. (U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Levi Riendeau)

Vandenberg Hosts Operation Kids Christmas

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --A local magician performs magic in front of a crowd of children from the local community during Operation Kids Christmas at the Pacific Coast Club here Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. OKC is an annual event, organized and run by a private organization, in which approximately 200 local children are brought on base and given the opportunity to play games, meet Santa and enjoy the companionship of volunteer military members. (U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Levi Riendeau)

Vandenberg Hosts Operation Kids Christmas

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Staff Sgt. Joscelyn Harris shows off various patches and items from her career while waiting for the next event during Operation Kids Christmas at the Pacific Coast Club here Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. OKC is an annual event, organized and run by a private organization, in which approximately 200 local children are brought on base and given the opportunity to play games, meet Santa and enjoy the companionship of volunteer military members. (U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Levi Riendeau)

Vandenberg Hosts Operation Kids Christmas

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Capt. Sabrina Gonzalez gets the children ready for Santa Claus's arrival during Operation Kids Christmas at the Pacific Coast Club here Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. OKC is an annual event, organized and run by a private organization, in which approximately 200 local children are brought on base and given the opportunity to play games, meet Santa and enjoy the companionship of volunteer military members. (U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Levi Riendeau)

Vandenberg Hosts Operation Kids Christmas

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Lt. Col. Michael Kamorski hands out backpacks full of goodies to local community children during Operation Kids Christmas at the Pacific Coast Club here Saturday, Dec. 3, 2011. OKC is an annual event, organized and run by a private organization, in which approximately 200 local children are brought on base and given the opportunity to play games, meet Santa and enjoy the companionship of volunteer military members. (U.S. Air Force/Staff Sgt. Levi Riendeau)

Hawks ready for weekend’s basketball matches

CAMP PENDLETON, Calif. - Phillip Gellentien, a 30th Force Support Squadron graphic designer and Vandenberg Hawk team member, battles for the game ball with a Camp Pendleton varsity team member during tipoff at a league game here Saturday, Nov. 5, 2011. (Courtesy photo)

Local community donates holiday trees to Vandenberg Airmen

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Saying a few words of appreciation, Chief Master Sgt. Suzanne Talbert, 30th Space Wing command chief, speaks to a crowd of people at the Santa Barbara Bank and Trust in Lompoc during a ceremony in which holiday trees were donated to Vandenberg Airmen Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. Donations by the local community contributed to the Trees for Troops program which provides holiday trees to active U.S. military families around the world. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Steve Bauer)

Local community donates holiday trees to Vandenberg Airmen

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Airman 1st Class Oliver Preciado, a 30th Security Forces Squadron member, holds his 4-year-old daughter, Arlette, at the Santa Barbara Bank and Trust in Lompoc Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. Donations by the local community contributed to the Trees for Troops program which provides holiday trees to active U.S. military families around the world. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Steve Bauer)

30th OG superintendent promoted to chief

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Chief Master Sgt. Matthew Lusson, the 30th Operations Group superintendent, speaks to guests during his promotion ceremony here Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. The rank of chief master sergeant is limited by federal law to only one percent of the Air Force enlisted force. (U.S. Air Force photo/Jerry E. Clemens, Jr.)

Team V decorates for the holidays

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Vandenberg Airmen work to decorate the giant holiday tree at the intersection of California Boulevard and Utah Avenue here Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. Team Vandenberg personnel and their families are invited to attend the tree-lighting ceremony Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, at 4 p.m. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. John Peters)

Team V decorates for the holidays

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Colorful glass bulbs adorn the lawn while Team V Airmen decorate the tree in front of building 11777 here Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. Team Vandenberg personnel and their families are invited to attend the tree-lighting ceremony Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, at 4 p.m. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. John Peters)

Team V decorates for the holidays

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Capt. Charles Skrovan of the 1st Air and Space Test Squadron assembles lighted holiday figurines here Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. Team Vandenberg personnel and their families are invited to attend the tree-lighting ceremony in front of building 11777 Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, at 4 p.m. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. John Peters)

Team V decorates for the holidays

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Vandenberg Airmen began decorating for the holiday season here Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. Team Vandenberg personnel and their families are invited to attend the tree-lighting ceremony Tuesday, Dec. 6, 2011, at 4 p.m. in front of building 11777. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. John Peters)

Future firefighters train at Vandenberg

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – A student firefighter from Allen Hancock College Fire Academy puts out a car fire during training at the Turner Bell Fire Training Campus here Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. . Allen Hancock College students trained at Vandenberg to help build the required skills while their Public Safety Complex, which will incorporate skill training facilities, is under construction. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Levi Riendeau)

Future firefighters train at Vandenberg

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – A student firefighter from Allen Hancock College Fire Academy puts out a dumpster fire during training at the Turner Bell Fire Training Campus here Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. . Allen Hancock College students trained at Vandenberg to help build the required skills while their Public Safety Complex, which will incorporate skill training facilities, is under construction. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Levi Riendeau)

Vandenberg members get Street Smart

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Jeremy Cadorette, an Orlando, Fla., firefighter, demonstrates to the audience how trauma center doctors would use a large bore needle to determine internal bleeding in an accident victim during a safety presentation here Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. The Street Smart presentation is part of a national program created by Florida Stay Alive From Education in 1988 to help reduce the occurrence of drinking and driving. (U.S. Air Force photo/Jerry E. Clemens, Jr.)

Vandenberg members get Street Smart

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Scott Neusch, an Orlando, Fla., firefighter, demonstrates to the audience how he would use a laryngoscope to intubate an accident victim during a safety presentation here Wednesday, Nov. 30, 2011. The Street Smart presentation is part of a national program created by Florida Stay Alive From Education in 1988 to help reduce the occurrence of drinking and driving. (U.S. Air Force photo/Jerry E. Clemens, Jr.)

MDG collects holiday letters for 'wounded warriors'

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Maj. Dawn Hinckley, a 30th Medical Group health care integrator, stands outside of her office, Room 323, 30th MDG clinic, where she has set up a table to collect holiday cards from Team V members to send to injured service members at Walter Reed National Medical Center, Bethesda, Md. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Steve Bauer)

14th AF command chief tours 30th MDG

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Chief Master Sgt. Dennis L. Vannorsdall, the 14th Air Force command chief, speaks to Airman 1st Class Friederike Benndorf, a 30th Medical Operations Squadron bioenvironmental engineer, about the mission and duties of the bioenvironmental engineering element at the medical clinic here Monday, Nov. 28, 2011. Vannorsdall was touring the 30th Medical Group as part of a base integration tour for his recent arrival as top enlisted member of the 14th Air Force. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Levi Riendeau)

U.S., Kyrgyz officials participate in joint EOD, CBRNE exercise

Staff Sgt. Igor Pogrebnyak (middle) translates Senior Airman Nate Gunty’s explanation of a ADM-300 radiological detection machine to Cholpon Chekirova during an information exchange at the Transit Center at Manas, Kyrgyzstan, Nov. 22, 2011. Chekirova is a member of the Kyrgyz Ministry of Emergency Services. Pogrebnyak is a Theater Security Cooperation linguist deployed from Creech Air Force Base, Nev. Gunty is a 376th Expeditionary Civil Engineer Squadron chemical, biological, radiological, nuclear and high-yield explosives response specialist deployed from Vandenberg Air Force Base, Calif. (U.S. Air Force photo/Tech. Sgt. Tammie Moore)

Wing commander, family serve Thanksgiving Day dinner at Breakers

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Col. Richard Boltz, 30th Space Wing commander, carves a turkey roast for a Thanksgiving Day dinner at Breakers Dining Facility here Thursday, Nov. 24, 2011. Breakers was open to all military members and idenfication card holders for a Thanksgiving Day celebration. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Levi Riendeau)

Avian vs. predator

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Col. Richard Boltz, 30th Space Wing commander, helps feed a hawk at the landfill here Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. The hawk belongs to a falconer who uses the predator birds to prevent animals, like seagulls and other birds, from removing the refuse to other areas of the base and helps keep landfill workers safe. While the hawks are intimidating to many of the small animals in the area, they still have to be careful for local territorial predators. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Levi Riendeau)

Avian vs. predator

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Craig Golden, a falconer from Safari Depredation Company, demonstrates how his falcon, Maverick, hunts prey at the base landfill here Wednesday, Nov. 23, 2011. The falconer helps prevent animals, like seagulls and other birds, from removing the refuse to other areas of the base and helps keep landfill workers safe. While the falcons are intimidating to many of the small animals in the area, they still have to be careful for local territorial predators. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Levi Riendeau)