Wright-Patt observes Air Force's 67th anniversary, centennial of WW I

  • Published
  • By Amy Rollins
  • Skywrighter Staff
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Oh. --  Wright-Patterson Air Force Base observed the Air Force's 67th anniversary and the centennial anniversary of the start of World War I during the National Prisoner of War/ Missing in Action Recognition Day celebration Sept. 26 at the Air Force Institute of Technology's Kenney Hall.

Dr. Thomas Crouch, senior curator, National Air and Space Museum of the Smithsonian Institution, was the featured speaker. A Dayton native, Crouch is considered one of the most distinguished early aviation historians in the country. The event was hosted by Col. Shaun Hick, chief, Enterprise Applications and Integration Division, Program Executive Office for Business and Enterprise Systems.

"Over the past few years, our organization hosted this event to promote our Air Force heritage by recognizing our warfighters, celebrating our Air Force anniversary and commemorating National POW/MIA Recognition Day. This year's event continues that tradition," Hicks said. Since WWI, "we matured from an infant air service to the most powerful Air Force in the world," he said, adding that Crouch's presentation illustrated "how our Air Force evolved from fabric-covered machines to today's high-tech systems."

Before the featured discussion, veteran representatives from each major   conflict of the past century were introduced and included:

› Mary Muller, daughter of WWI aviator from Dayton, Lt. Stephen Thompson. Thompson holds the distinction of being the first man in U.S. military service to shoot down an enemy aircraft, on Feb. 5, 1918.

› Andrew Stanley, World War II master sergeant, gunner and prisoner of war; and veteran of Korea and Vietnam wars. Stanley, 94, was a gunner on a B-17 called "War Eagle." On his ninth mission, his airplane was shot down over Bremen, Germany, in 1943. He was subsequently captured and spent 19 months in a German stalag as a prisoner of war.

› Staff Sgt. Jason Benedict, C-17 loadmaster, 445th Airlift Wing at Wright-Patterson AFB, representing Iraq II and Afghanistan. As loadmaster, Benedict airlifted 2.4 million pounds of cargo to Afghanistan, Bahrain, Djibouti, Kuwait and Kyrgyzstan in support of Operation Enduring Freedom. He also flew numerous aeromedical evacuation, drug interdiction   and presidential support missions.

› Col. Bryan Davis and Capt. Scott Anderson, current warfighters. Davis is commander of 178th Operations Group, conducting Predator operations from Springfield home base. Anderson performed network penetration testing as a member of the National Security Agency Blue Team and is a cyber warfare instructor at the AFIT Center for Cyberspace Research.

› AFROTC Cadet Micah Ian Brant, representing the future of the Air Force. Brant is a senior majoring in business management. He has an aspiration of becoming an F-22 pilot.

The additional representatives were:

› Donald Porter, Korean War master sergeant, F-86 mechanic and crew chief, and Vietnam War veteran.

› Ron Schloemer, Vietnam War colonel and F-4 Phantom pilot with 4,000-plus flight hours.

› Scott Siglar, Cold War-era captain and Minuteman missile launch control officer.

› Thomas Bell, Iraq I colonel, F-117 pilot and   tester of stealth technology.

Crouch presented a briefing on the evolution of U.S. airpower from WWI to the present. He singled out the Wright brothers and McCook and Wright fields and said, "Dayton was a real hub of aerial activity during World War I." McCook Field, in particular, was "the place where the cutting edge of aviation was taking place."

He also was quick to credit the acquisition activity that outfitted the early aviators.

"They were wielding tools conceived, contracted for and sometimes developed here," he said.

Other aviation aspects he explored included forgotten heroes of airpower, aerial navigation, development of the B-52, the era of "smart weaponry," stealth technology and drones.

Following Crouch's remarks, a traditional POW/ MIA Honor Table Ceremony and an Air Force anniversary cake cutting were conducted. The anniversary cake-cutting ceremony is a tradition that brings together the senior and junior members of the Air Force. Col. Scott Fike, division chief, Directorate of Logistics, Air Force Materiel Command, represented the senior member, while Airman Basic Alesa Moreno, customer support apprentice, 88 Force Support Squadron, served as the junior member of the Wright-Patterson AFB community.

Narrator Airman 1st Class Nicholas Walker, Administration Support, Air Force Life Cycle Management Center, Business and Enterprise Systems Directorate, served as narrator.