See military plane over Key Peninsula on Sunday night? Here's what it was
A military plane that residents spotted flying over the Key Peninsula's Palmer Lake area Sunday night was returning from an overseas mission, according to U.S. Air Force 62nd Airlift Wing spokesperson Joe Kubistek.
The Boeing C-17A Globemaster III was 'on a return mission from the Pacific' and was the only aircraft flying over the area at the time, he told The News Tribune in a phone call Tuesday. A C-17 is a cargo aircraft that 'can execute the strategic delivery of troops and cargo to forward areas, perform tactical airlift and airdrop missions, and transport litters and ambulatory patients,' according to an article from the U.S. Army.
The C-17 arrived at McChord Field at about 9:18 p.m. Sunday after flying in from Hawaii, according to Kubistek. He said it was an 'operational mission' but didn't have further information about the nature of the mission.
'The aircraft was in control of the (Federal Aviation Administration) facility at Sea-Tac and in full compliance with all the rules and regulations the aircraft control required them to fly by,' Kubistek said.
He said the FAA's Seattle center would be able to answer questions about the aircraft's route. The FAA directs aircraft to take specific flying routes based on factors such as weather or other aircraft traffic, according to Kubistek.
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7 hours ago
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‘Something that mattered': 3 Kentucky women on their military service
Growing up, service was a way of life for Dina Parrott. From watching her grandmother make a meal and deliver it to a family coping with the loss of a loved one, to seeing her mom pitch in to help a neighbor down on his luck, Parrott was surrounded by servant leaders. 'My mom and grandmother had me all over the place helping people,' said Parrott, 53, an Air Force veteran. 'They did so much of that, and I remember seeing that, and not thinking it was a big deal. As I got older, I was like, 'Wow.' They elected to help people. And then, as I grew up a little bit more, I started feeling like it was what you were supposed to do.' Without knowing it was happening, that became what Parrott wanted to do with her life. For her, she discovered that service would come in the form of a career with the U.S. Air Force. 'With the military… it's not about just going to war. It's about helping people and making people better,' Parrott said. Women Veterans Recognition Day is observed annually on June 12, commemorating the Women's Armed Service Integration Act of 1948. It is not a separate Veterans Day for women. Instead, in at least 21 states including Kentucky, special attention is paid to women's military contributions. Parrott is one of nearly 2 million female veterans living in the U.S. today — 24,000 of whom are in Kentucky. Since the Revolutionary War, more than 3 million women have served in or with the armed forces, according to the Department of Defense. Veterans like Parrott say it's essential to remember that much has changed for the better for women who serve, because of the sacrifices of those who went before them. Recognizing these female veterans coincides with a time of reflection across Lexington as they city celebrates its 250th birthday with one eye on its rich history and the other on its future as a community and its commitment to public service. After completing a year of college, Parrott's school funds were depleted. She needed a new direction, and wanted a change in her environment. She enlisted in January 1994 and stayed until her retirement in July 2019. 'It was two years before I really understood what (the military) was all about, and I really loved it,' she said. 'It spoke to everything I believed in morally, things I valued.' She enlisted in January 1994 and stayed until her retirement in July 2019. 'I was going to go for four years,' Parrott said. 'I stayed with the Air Force because their No. 1 thing became people first. Literally, this is what they said, 'Put people first and the mission will get done.'' After retiring from active duty, Parrott now serves as the women veterans program administrator for the Kentucky Department of Veterans Affairs. 'When I retired, I went back to school, but then I said to my husband, 'I don't have a purpose,' and I struggled. I had nothing to wake up to,' Parrott said. 'It was missing that itch, that call that somebody needs me.' Parrott was young and wanted to do more with her life, and she said she's found that in the work she does with the VA, especially because she gets to celebrate many who are often overlooked. 'People need to understand that every individual, no matter what race or gender or whatever, has something unique to contribute to a mission, whatever you're doing,' Parrott said. Parrott said historically many groups of people — including minorities and women — have been overlooked or relegated to more 'traditional' roles. 'Women have so much more to offer, we've evolved into seeing that everybody is capable. Not everybody has the same strengths, but that's how you build a good team,' she said. Parrott pointed to the accomplishments that continue to be brought to light about women's roles in the military, including those of the Hello Girls, a group of World War I female telephone operators and about the World War II-era 6888th Central Postal Directory Battalion, highlighted in the 2024 film 'The Six Triple Eight' by Tyler Perry. The battalion included 18 women from Kentucky. The unit has collectively earned a Meritorious Unit Commendation, awarded in 2019, and a Congressional Gold Medal, awarded in 2022. 'Back in the day, none of those women who served were recognized as a veteran for the service they did in the military,' Parrott said. 'There were sought out and brought in, and then overlooked.' Today, Parrott works to right some of those historical deficiencies, and she's hoping to set people straight for the future. 'The reason my program exists is to acknowledge women who have served,' she said. 'If I go to my VA here and my husband goes with me, the volunteers right away are shaking his hand saying, 'Thank you for your service.' I get so angry.' Parrott's husband has never been in the military, and he's quick to correct those who assume he's the veteran, she said. 'He'll give me my props and say, 'No, no, that's all her.' When a woman walks into the VA, she's thought of as anything but a veteran. 'We're trying to bring light to some of these issues, trying to make sure that women are acknowledged,' Parrott said. One major initiative is the Military Women's Memorial Register. An interactive database of records, the register asks women, or their loved ones if the veteran is deceased, to provide information about the service completed. 'It lives on forever, so that no woman's story is ever forgotten again,' Parrott said. Parrott remembers a photo she sent home to her family. On a wall on base were photos of various squadron leaders, including Parrott. 'I remember taking a picture of all these men up here, saying what squadron they're with, and you know they are this leader and that leader. And here's my little face, this little Black girl,' she said. 'I sent it to my mom, and she cried. She cried when she saw that and she said, 'How are you up there?' 'And I said, 'Mom, we have come a long way. We can do this stuff. We just need the opportunity.'' Participation in the ROTC program in high school set Alex Lamb on her path to the military. But years before that, Lamb, now 57, had an inkling there was some type of service in her future. Lamb's mom worked at the police department and Lamb herself was involved in Girl Scouts in her hometown of Gainesville, Florida. Popular period movies of the 1980s like Top Gun and An Officer and a Gentleman further embedded that military mindset into Lamb. Still, Lamb's mother Wanda didn't immediately embrace the idea of her only child heading off to enlist. She went to college for a few months, but tuition and fees were hard to afford, so her mom gave her blessing to enlist. Lamb served from 1989 to 1993. 'I got on the bus that night, and I was wearing jeans and a University of Florida T-shirt, you know like an 18-year-old would wear,' she said. Upon arrival at the U.S. Navy Training Center in Orlando, Florida, Lamb said she quickly understood the weight of her decision. 'You get off the bus, and it's dark. They take you all into a room and you raise your right hand and swear (service) to the country,' Lamb said. Uniform sizing came next. Among other things, Lamb recalled the nondescript nature of the items: plain white underwear and stiff, ill-fitting boots. Nothing personal. Her comfortable jeans and T-shirt were gone, and days later showed up back at her parent's home. Navy personnel mailed Lamb's clothes back to her mother. When she saw the contents, Lamb's mom was shocked. 'She said, 'Honey, I felt like you died,'' Lamb said. 'My mom said that broke her heart. I'll never forget her telling me that.' After apprentice training school, where recruits would be exposed from everything to plumbing and electrical career pathways, to carpentry and machining, Lamb landed in a role as an electrician. But she'd been hoping for something a little more. 'I love water and diving and all that. I wanted to be in search and rescue,' she said. Back then, Lamb said she and other women were discouraged from pursuing those roles. What's more, she said that even in the jobs where women were assigned, the placements generated some not-so-friendly ribbing from their male colleagues. 'They would make bets on who would make it and who wouldn't,' she said. 'You always had to watch your back. No matter how long you were in an assignment, you had to watch your back. And then, when you worked hard — really hard — you never got the credit for it.' The Lexington woman recalled a conversation she overheard when working on a dock. 'After watching me work, a shipyard worker once said, in front of his employees, 'I'll take her and leave you three behind,'' Lamb said. 'That's just how you had to work, to prove yourself. But I hope it paved the way for men to think twice.' The pressure women felt during their active-duty years continues to be a challenge for female service members today, according to a 2021 study in the Journal of Trauma and Dissociation. Women veterans interviewed by researchers revealed that they, among other challenges, were subjected to gender-based discrimination, and continued to feel marginalized in the male-dominated military service environment. Carla Baker experienced that marginalization first-hand during her tour with the Navy. Baker, 54, went through boot camp in Orlando, Florida. Upon graduation, she was assigned to the Naval Construction Battalion Center in Gulfport, Mississippi. 'I was a Seabee. I was in at a time when women were still not allowed to go into combat units,' Baker said. She was active duty from 1989-1995, and tried to re-enlist twice, but health complications prevented it. The Navy was a career path chosen from a default position. At the recruiting center, Baker wanted to know what would get her out of her hometown of Harrodsburg, Kentucky, the fastest. 'Enlisting was a spur of the moment decision,' Baker said. 'I was just ready for something different. I was in such a small town, there wasn't much to offer. And I had no desire at that point to go to college, so I took the plunge.' Wanting the fastest route helped Baker land on the construction mechanic pathway, despite the recruiter's encouragement that Baker pursue 'typical female jobs' like a personnel specialist (formerly personnelman) or a hospital corpsman. The choice turned out to be fortuitous, because in time Baker was asked if she wanted to be part of an underwater construction team, or transfer to Camp David. She chose the latter. 'The first time I ever saw my daddy cry, was when I told him I had enlisted. He had wanted to go into the service, he tried every branch, but he was deaf in one ear, so that kept him out. And then mama, she told me, 'Well Carla, you never know. You might meet the president.' She would eventually meet six presidents. 'I met all the way back to (Richard) Nixon,' Baker said. Baker was on site for the former Russian president Boris Yeltsin's trip to Camp David. And when Barbara Bush broke her ankle while sledding, it was Baker who accompanied the First Lady to the hospital. Baker, who today serves as the commander of the American Legion Douglas Laws Post 52 in Harrodsburg, said she encourages any young person who she thinks would succeed in the military to pursue enlistment. 'When I talk to anybody about the military, I say it is so easy to take a civilian, put them through boot camp and turn them into a military person,' Baker said. 'But once you're a military person, you're not coming back to civilian. I'm not the same person I was when I joined up.' She wouldn't trade her service years for anything. But that doesn't mean everything was always smooth sailing. 'We did the same job that men did, and we had to work harder than the men to be taken seriously… We were signing petitions saying that we wanted the same rights as the men who served… We fought tooth and nail for everything that we have gotten.' She recalled a story from June 2022, when Honor Flight Kentucky hosted 135 women, including Baker, on the first female-only Honor Flight. There was a younger woman on the flight who kept trying to speak with Baker, but the logistics of the day kept them apart. Finally, as the day was winding down, the two women spoke. Baker said the young woman was eager to learn about the elder veteran's service. Baker was quick to tell her she never served in combat or combat-facing battalions. 'I said, 'Hon, I was in during a time when women were not allowed to go to combat.' Of course, I told her we signed petitions and spoke out about deserving the same rights (as men). She gave me tears because she gave me the biggest hug and she thanked me.' She said, 'If you had not done what you did, I could not have done what I did.'' Baker said all she wanted then is all she wants now — to be taken seriously for her role, protecting and serving her country. 'America is free because of sacrifices made by individuals willing to stand up for our freedoms. I loved the Navy; I loved everything about it,' Baker said. 'It was the feeling like you were doing something worthwhile and something that mattered,' she said. 'There's nothing I could do now that would ever compare to what I did when I was basically a kid. There's nothing that will ever live up to the experiences that I had in the Navy.'
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All 6 killed after plane crashes into ocean near San Diego
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a day ago
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Unique WWII bomber ride experience offered in Urbana for limited time
Previous aviation coverage above. DAYTON, Ohio (WDTN) – Have you ever wanted to ride in a WWII TBM Avenger torpedo bomber aircraft? The Capital Wing of the Commemorative Air Force (CAF) will offer warbird rides at Grimes Field on Monday, June 23 and Tuesday, June 24. The airport is located on Route 68 at 1636 N. Main St., Urbana. 'We're thrilled to be returning to one of the significant airports in aviation history and offering warbird rides in the largest single-engine bomber of WWII,' said Pete Ballard, Capital Wing Warbird Rides Coordinator. MAP: Miami Valley county fairs 2025 The Doris Mae is one of the few warbirds that two people can fly in alongside the pilot. There will be a limited number of tickets available for this experience. All riders must be 12+ and able to climb in/out of the cockpit unassisted. It is $900 for the observer seat behind the pilot, $450 for the turret seat – or $1,250 for both. To book a spot, click here. 'A warbird ride is a once-in-a-lifetime experience. We tell people not to miss the opportunity when it comes around,' said Ballard. 'Riding in the TBM Avenger engages all your senses: sight, sound, smell, and touch. You become a part of the warbird. You experience living history.' For people visiting Grimes Field to observe the aircraft, there are also three aviation museums nearby. The Champaign Aviation Museum, where a B-17 bomber is being restored. Grimes Flying Lab Foundation and the Ohio Restoration Wing of the Mid-America Flight Museum. The National Museum of the United States Air Force is located in Dayton, just 30 miles from Grimes Field. To see the Capital Wing TBM Avenger in action, including engine start, wing unfold and taking off, click here. Flights not sold in advance will be available on a walk-up basis at the airport. Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
