Military

Veterans of NASA's Project Mercury have landed in Cape Canaveral this weekend to celebrate 50 years of
orbital flight.

This Monday will mark the golden anniversary of John Glenn's momentous circling of the globe.

More than 100 men and women who helped launch Glenn and the other Mercury 7 astronauts gathered at Kennedy Space Center on Saturday. They traveled by the busloads to Launch Complex 14.  That's the pad from which Glenn rocketed away on Feb. 20, 1962, to become the first American in orbit.

A new fleet of cargo planes at a U.S. Air Force base in Ohio allows reservists who fly overseas to transport
wounded troops to medical treatment centers.

The Dayton Daily News reports Sunday that nine C-17 Globemaster III cargo planes replace the C-5A Galaxy planes flown by the Air Force Reserve 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base. Unlike the C-5As, the new planes allow for aeromedical missions.

Col. Stephen Goeman, the wing's commander, says the new fleet, like the old, also will be used to carry troops, armored vehicles, drones, meals and other items.

The unit flies two or three missions a week. The number is expected to double as training is completed over the next year for many of the wing's 2,300 air crew members.

The Air Force is trying to determine whether blood samples can be used to measure trust in a million-dollar
research project at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in western Ohio.

Research psychologist James Christensen tells the Dayton Daily News the effort isn't aimed at building a "trust-o-meter." But he says finding a way to objectively measure trustworthiness could help in assigning workers to sensitive jobs or missions.

Study participants go through set scenarios with a trusted partner and then with a stranger and are tested on keeping a secret. The researchers monitor the participants' heart and brain activity and blood levels of the hormone oxytocin, which has been associated with trustworthiness.

The director of a local VA medical center rocked last year by allegations of improper dental-clinic hygiene says any lingering patient-care concerns have been addressed and improvements made.

The director says Dayton Veterans Affairs Medical Center received a "clean slate" on issues identified by the VA's inspector general's office. An inspector general's spokeswoman would not comment Monday.

An investigation found a clinic dentist wasn't regularly changing latex gloves or properly sterilizing equipment. The dentist denies the allegations.

Officials are trying to determine whether there's a link between three veterans testing positive for hepatitis and the care they received at the clinic.

President Obama has nominated a graduate of Beavercreek high school to become the Air Force’s first female four star general. Lieutenant General Janet Wolfenbarger would serve as commander of the Air Force Material Command at Wright Patterson Air Force Base. According to Air Force Spokesman Matthew Stine, Wolfenbarger would succeed Donald Hoffman, who plans to retire this year. The Senate must first approve the confirmation.

Wolfenbarger currently works in the Pentagon as the military deputy in the Office of the Assistant Secretary of the Air Force for Acquisition. She’s responsible for research and development of its aircraft and weapons programs.