Air Force

This may rank as one of those "Duh" moments, but Loyola coach Charley Toomey confirmed Wednesday morning that sophomore Jack Runkel would start when Eastern College Athletic Conference rival Air Force visits Ridley Athletic Complex Saturday. But Toomey wouldn't go so far as to name Runkel, who made a career-high 12 saves in the No. 8 Greyhounds' 13-8 victory over No. 14 Duke last Saturday, the starter over junior Michael Bonitatibus for the remainder of the season. “We're talking to the guys about weekly competition, and I think the way we played certainly warrants giving Jack the start this weekend,” Toomey said.

As violent protests continued in Afghanistan over the burning of copies of the Muslim holy book by NATO forces, the Pentagon confirmed Monday that a Maryland National Guard major was one of two U.S. military officers shot to death inside a ministry building in the heart of the Afghan capital over the weekend. Maj. Robert J. Marchanti II, 48, a longtime physical-education teacher in the Baltimore County public schools, had been working since September as a mentor to the Afghan National Police, part of the NATO partnering mission at the center of U.S. strategy in the country.

An Air Force squadron commander who grew up in Middle River and graduated from Baltimore County public schools is among those who have applied to be the school system's next superintendent. Timothy T. Tenne, 42, has no experience in education but said he believes the skills he developed in the Air Force will transfer to running a large organization such as the school system. Most recently, Tenne was a leader who helped oversee the NATO Air Operations Center's air mobility in Italy during the conflict in Libya.

Herman G. "Hank" Tillman Jr., a retired Air Force colonel and pilot who flew in World War II, Korea and Vietnam and was one of Maryland's most decorated veterans, died Sunday of liver failure at his Chester home. He was 89. He was born in his immigrant grandparents' Anne Arundel County farmhouse, and later moved with his family to a home at Pontiac Avenue and Sixth Street in Brooklyn. After graduating from Polytechnic Institute in 1940, he attended the Johns Hopkins University at night and worked at Baltimore Gas and Electric Co.'s engineering department during the day. "As a kid, he was fascinated with flying.

For months, the men and women of the 135th Airlift Group have been training on their new C27J Spartan turboprops for their deployment this spring to Afghanistan. Their job: carrying soldiers, equipment and supplies around the war zone as the fighting season resumes. It's a mission for which the Maryland Air National Guard unit has deep experience. In the last decade alone, members have deployed several times to Iraq and Afghanistan, while also responding to the Haiti earthquake, California wildfires and Hurricane Katrina.

Sophomore forward Jade Geif had 21 points and 12rebounds, and junior guard Chey Arvin had seven assists, to lead the Navy women's basketball team past visiting Air Force, 71-59, on Monday. Navy (2-3) led wire to wire, surging in front by as much as as 20 points and leading by 15 at halftime. Air Force (3-4) guard Alicia Leipprandt scored a game-high 26 points, and Dymond James added 13. Navy built its lead, in part, at the free-throw line, where the Mids made 10 of 12 attempts in the first half.

As an Air Force intelligence officer, Sean Lane saw firsthand the communications challenges facing soldiers in Iraq and Afghanistan. Civilians in the United States had better, faster access to data on their smartphones and 3G networks than soldiers did in these dusty, foreign lands, he found. So Lane decided to do something about it. He designed a portable, tactical cellular system that soldiers can use anywhere, without erecting towers and other expensive infrastructure. With only a business plan and a pitch to Pentagon officials, he sold the idea to the Defense Department and kickstarted a new company.

Despite its longest losing streak in nine years and the prospect of its first losing season in that span, the Navy football team is still an attractive commodity to the Big East. From all indications, it appears the feeling is mutual. Though no formal invitations have been offered, the Big East took a significant step toward expansion when the presidents of the league's remaining seven schools voted Tuesday in Philadelphia to add members. According to the Associated Press, the Big East will invite Houston, Southern Methodist and Central Florida for full membership, as well as Navy, Air Force and Boise State — considered the plum catch in this bid for survival — as football-only members.

The U.S. Air Force sent two F-16 jet fighters to intercept a civilian plane that had strayed into restricted air space over Washington, D.C., at about 8:30 p.m. Monday. The military planes, based at Andrews Air Force Base, escorted the smaller craft until the pilot landed at Baltimore-Washington International Thurgood Marshall Airport. The Federal Aviation Administration was unable to communicate with the pilot, the sole occupant of the Beechcraft 58 aircraft, a small, twin-engine plane.

Shortly after Jon Teague returned to his dorm room at the Naval Academy late last Saturday afternoon, the downcast senior placekicker received a text message from one of predecessors inviting him out to dinner. Teague had missed a field goal and had an extra point blocked in overtime of a 35-34 loss to Air Force earlier in the day at Navy-Marine Corps Memorial Stadium, and Matt Harmon knew exactly what his former teammate was going through. Though Harmon had helped beat Air Force by tying a school record with four field goals in a 33-27 win over the Falcons in Colorado Springs as a senior in 2008, he had an extra point blocked against Tulsa in overtime as a sophomore and had what could have been a game-winning field goal blocked late in the fourth quarter against Ball State of a game the Midshipmen lost in overtime when Harmon was a junior.