Unit focus: 1st Air and Space Test Squadron

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Staff Sgt. Robert Ritchey, who works in the 1st Air and Space Test Squadron, operates a 50-ton overhead gantry crane used to lift Minotaur IV rocket motors. The motors are processed and put together by the 1st ASTS. Airmen in the 1st ASTS maintenance flight are the only maintainers in the entire Air Force providing capabilities to launch satellites into space by providing the transportation handling for decommissioned intercontinental ballistic missile boosters. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Vanessa Valentine)

Unit Focus: 1st Air and Space Test Squadron

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. - Tech. Sgts. Jose Estampador and Billy Nolan, and Staff Sgts. Neal Paris and Robert Ritchey, all with the 1st Air and Space Test Squadron maintenance flight, examine the Stage 3 assembly of the Minotaur IV Space Launch Vehicle. The Minotaur IV SLV is one of three missions of the 1st ASTS that will provide an additional launch solution for U.S. government-sponsored spacecraft. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Vanessa Valentine)

Donating for a cause

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. – Maj. Santos Munoz, Joint Functional Component Command chief of space operations plans branch, donates a pint of blood June 9 at the Pacific Coast Club’s parking lot here. Major Santos volunteered to give blood because statistics show that blood supply shortages frequently occur during the months of summer. (U.S. Air Force photos/Airman 1st Class Kerelin Molina)

Unit Focus: 533rd Training Squadron

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Using a celestial sphere, Staff Sgt. Dallin Skelton, left, a 533rd Training Squadron student, shows Tech. Sgt. Cory Beebe, a 533rd TRS enlisted Space 100 instructor, a point used to see the apparent path the sun takes through the stars. The 533rd TRS, an original missile squadron and a training detachment at Schriever AFB, Colo., provides initial qualification training for attack warning, space surveillance and counter-drug missions. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Christian Thomas)

Unit Focus: 533rd Training Squadron

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Using a mock emergency scenario, Tech. Sgt. Cody Nolen, a 533rd Training Squadron global positioning system instructor, trains early orbit determination for paused array warning systems using several computer monitors while talking to students on a phone May 28. The 533rd TRS, an original missile squadron and a training detachment at Schriever AFB, Colo., provides initial qualification training for attack warning, space surveillance and counter-drug missions. Sergeant Nolen has been an instructor for a year. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Christian Thomas)

Unit Focus: 533rd Training Squadron

VANDENBERG AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. -- Working as a team, Senior Airman Phillip Martin, left, and Capt. Aron Pertner, 533rd Training Squadron students, learn how to track high priority space objects such as the resulting debris of satellite collissions. The 533rd TRS, an original missile squadron and a training detachment at Schriever AFB, Colo., provides initial qualification training for attack warning, space surveillance and counter-drug missions. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Christian Thomas)