Flight Line Air Force Association Chapter 105

2019-1 Tucson, Arizona January 2019

Chapter Officers

President Wally Saeger

wsaegero6@gmail.com

Vice President Mark Koechle

Mark.koechle@gmail.com

Secretary Vickie Jo Ryder

ryderf16@yahoo.com

Treasurer Marie A. Lankford marihan53@cox.net

VP Aerospace Education

VP CyberPatriot Wally Saeger

wsaegero6@gmail.com

VP Government Relations Joseph Cuffari

jcuffari@az.gov

VP Leadership Develop. Cal Payne

cdpayne44@yahoo.com

VP Membership Vickie Jo Ryder

ryderf16@yahoo.com

VP Veterans Affairs Bill Goodall

bgoodall@mac.com

VP Military Liaison Kevin Long

kevin.long41@gmail.com

VP Programs / Communication Marie A. Lankford marihan53@cox.net

VP Community Partners

Dave Carrell dave.carrell@cfafranchisee.com

VP Community Outreach

Heidi Goldman heidigoldman1@gmail.com

VP Aerospace Education

(ROTC) Cadet Dylan Brummett dbrummett21@email.arizona.edu

VP Awards

Larry Herndon larry.herndon@us.af.mil

VP AFA Golf Fundraiser

Scott Van Valkenburg svanvalkenburg@cenpatico.com

VP Public Affairs / Newsletter

Dick Roberts rrrgv@aol.com

From the Prez -

Welcome to 2019. Hope everyone had a

wonderful Holiday Season to end 2018

and you are looking forward to a great

2019. Before we look into the future,

let’s look at a recap of the last three

months of 2018 which were eventful to

say the least.

Our last scheduled chapter meeting for 2018 was held October 26 where we re-ceived a briefing on the 214th Attack Group. Originally the group commander was scheduled to do the presentation but when a last minute scheduling conflict arose, the group superintendent CMSgt Chris Black ably filled in. Learn more about the 214th in the article elsewhere in this newsletter.

We also helped chapter member Major Sandra Spoon, stationed at the Phoenix Military Entrance Processing Station, raise money for their private morale or-ganization by sponsoring their annual Haunted House. Although no one from Tucson made the trip to participate, the word on the street that everyone had a great time and helped raise $405 to sup-port morale activities.

In November, several chapter members participated in the annual Dorm Thanks-giving Bash which was expanded this year to include the Army troops deployed to DMAFB in support of potential border security operations. During the event which saw sunny skies but windy condi-tions, almost 500 Air Force and Army personnel were fed.

Our final formal chapter activity was the Annual Christmas Party and Awards cere-mony jointly hosted with the Daedalians Old Pueblo Flight 12 and the Red River Valley Fighter Pilots Association on De-cember 6 at Club Ironwood. During the event, we presented a $750 scholarship check to Cadet Caroline Leidy of the Uni-versity of Arizona AFROTC Det 020.

Other activities that we were a part of

were two CMSgt Carl E. Beck Airman Leadership School graduations where we presented the Distinguished Graduate Awards and offered each of the award win-ners a complimentary 1-year eMembership. We again had several members help set up, cook and serve at the BBQ on October 5th recognizing the integration of the 563d Res-cue Group into the 355th Fighter Wing. The group added over 1,200 airmen to the wing.

Chapter leadership also attended the quar-terly Desert Lightning Team Awards cere-mony in October where the AFA “Spirit” award was presented to the unit judged to have the most spirit during the ceremony.

To support our 2019 activities, your Executive Committee approved the budget shown on page 8. The budget has been submitted for approval by AFA National.

Looking forward to the future, we will have a presentation from the Tucson Cus-toms and Border Protection office at our January 25th meeting. While we won’t have a meeting in February, we again plan to visit the Heritage Flight Training and Certifica-tion Course on March 1st on the DMAFB flight line and of course we’ll follow that with an information booth promoting the AFA at the “Thunder and Lightning over Arizona” Air Show, March 23-24 at DMAFB featuring the USAF Thunderbirds and numerous aerial demonstrations and ground displays.

Less than a month later will be our annual fund-raising golf tournament, April 13 at the Haven Golf Course in Green Valley.

And we are always looking for volunteers to fill other positions on the executive com-mittee or to help organize and conduct chap-ter activities. Everything we do as a chapter is intended to help support our airmen and their families.

Remember EDUCATE, ADVOCATE and SUPPORT.

Wally Saeger, President

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Tucson Chapter’s October Meeting

CMSgt Christopher Black CMSgt Chris Black is the 214th Attach Group Superin-tendent, Arizona Air National Guard, Davis-Monthan AFB. He is the senior enlisted advisor to the group commander on

mission effectiveness, professional, development readiness, training, utiliza-tion, health, morale and welfare of 239 enlisted Airman in 37 Air Force Special-ties in the group. The group provides superior persistent armed intelligence

surveillance and Reconnaissance for long-term pattern-of-life and short –term “eyes on” and incident Awareness and Assessment capabilities to support and defend national regional and state interests. The 214th Domestic Mission is Observation and Security in support of the Govenor’s objectives for border security, law enforcement, and search and rescue. The 214th ATKG flies the RC-26 with 10 personnel as a

manned ISR platform to counter drugs, disaster relief, and fire sup-port. With 350 personnel at DMAFB/Ft. Huachuca, the 214th flies the

MQ-9 Reaper for airborne combat support to combatant com-manders for Intelligence , Surveil-lance, and Reconnaissance for force protection, force and convoy overwatch and close-air support/precision strike. The 214th is owned by the 162nd Wing and reports to ACC for train-ing and mission readiness. All aircraft are owned by SECAF for all missions.

Know your Tucson Chapter 105 Officers V. P. Leadership Development—Cal Payne

Cal Payne joined the Army in January 1951 and served as a Physical Therapy Tech until 1954. Following a BS in Science

and high school teaching he graduated from the Officer Training School in 1960 and served to January 1988 when he retired as a Lt Col. His primary duties were as a missile operations and maintenance officer. His sec-ondary duty, following a graduate degree in radiation biology at the University of Utah, was at the Air Force Academy as Asso-ciate Professor, in charge of the Biological Science and premed programs. Following

retirement he served 18 years as a Senior Lecturer in the Univer-sity of Arizona College of Public Health. He is a member of the ELKS Veterans Committee and is our VP for Leadership Devel-opment.

Davis-Monthan AFB Thanksgiving Dorm Bash

Every year the Tucson Military Affairs Committee, also known as the MAC, organizes a Thanksgiving Dorm Bash for the dorm residents the week before Thanksgiving so this year it took place on Tuesday, November 13. The MAC solicits donations from many organizations and businesses to serve and feed dorm resi-dents and this year, deployed Army troops staying in tents on

DMAFB and here to assist Customs and Border Protection.

To feed almost 500 hungry Airmen and Soldiers takes a lot of food and volunteers to serve it. There were over 75 volunteers there to set up, serve and cleanup for the 2 hours that troops came through the line. It’s notable that the Tucson Roadrunners sent a contin-gent from their front office to help serve and take pictures with anyone who wanted one. Our own

chapter member, Dave Carrell, brought several of his employees and food to eat from his Chick-fil-A fran-chise on Grant and Kolb.

To help supply food and utensils your chapter donated almost $400 to buy 3 spiral hams, 24 pumpkin pies, 40 boxes of Stovetop Stuffing (prepared by Joan Saeger), 1,000 each plastic knives, forks and spoons, and 500 dessert plates. The Vail Safeway manager donated $25 to help buy the stuffing mix.

Marie Lankford and Vicki Jo Ryder were there for the setup and Wally Saeger stayed to keep the stuffing warm and ready for when it was needed on the serving line. A great time was had by all and NO ONE went away hungry.

Marie Lankford and Wally Saeger enjoy the sunny but windy weather during the DMAFB Thanksgiving Dorm Bash.

Volunteers on the right line the table to serve the hungry

troops during the DMAFB Thanksgiving Dorm Bash held Tuesday, November 13 on the activity square in between the dorms. Army troops deployed to DM were also invited to participate.

AFA Chapter Teacher of the Year Nominations

We’re soliciting nominations for our AFA Chapter Teacher of the Year for 2019. We need nominations by April 1st so we have time to review the nominations and select a teacher from grades K-8 and one from 9-12 to submit to AFA Na-tional as our chapter TOYs. We will also select one of these teachers to submit to the Arizona AFA for consideration as the Arizona State Teacher of the Year.

If you know of a teacher in grades K-12 that is actively teaching in the area of STEM (Science, Technology, Engi-neering or Math), please have them contact me by email (wsaeger@afatucson105.org), so I can work with them on the nomination package they need to submit.

The nomination includes:

1. A form that we fill out based upon some basic information

2. A letter of recommendation from a school official (principal or higher)

3. A one page narrative from the teacher describing what they do to promote STEM education with their students and notable success stories

4. An optional three pages of newspaper articles, other docu-ments, and/or photos that include the teacher with students completing STEM activities (ensure students in photos have media release permission for use).

Please have them contact me at their earliest opportunity so they can submit their package by April 1, 2019.

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AFA Launches a New Cyber Security Initiative CyberGenerations

As part of AFA’s continuing efforts to promote cyber secu-rity, AFA is launching a new initiative called CyberGenera-tions, a Senior Citizens’ Cyber Safety Initiative. And your chapter has been selected to help test and refine this initia-tive. Based upon our target rich environment of resident retirees and “snow birds”, chapter leadership volunteered to be a test chapter and we were selected.

CyberGenerations is an expansion of the already successful CyberPatriot program which consists of:

The National Youth Cyber Defense Competition where middle and high school students compete in a virtu-al competition to identify vulnerabilities and secure computers in a virtual operating system.

The Elementary School Cyber Education Initiative is a set of three interactive computer games that teach students in grades K-6 about personal safety and cyber threats.

AFA Cyber Camps engage novice and advanced stu-dents that want to learn more about cybersecurity during the summer months. Organizations pur-chase 20 hours of curriculum and host camps in their area during designated camp sessions.

The Cyber Education Literature Series introduces even younger children to cyber safety. “Sarah the Cyber Hero” is the first book of its kind to address the dangers of cyber threats and what students can do to be prepared.

CyberGenerations consists of four modules designed to pro-vide an introduction to and basic understanding of Password Management, Common Internet Threats, Internet Scams and Fraud, and Social Media Safety. It has been carefully craft-ed to address the cybersecurity needs of our nation’s senior citizens.

When we work out the details of when and where, you’ll be among the first to know so you can decide if you want to participate. We’ll be looking for individuals that not only want to learn but that will be able to provide honest feed-back so we can help improve the course for future attendees.

CyberPatriot XI Finishes First Two Rounds

The first two rounds of CyberPatriot XI are complete and teams are readying for the State round that will take place January 11-13, 2019. Tucson area had six teams (3 Open, 2 All-Service and 1 Middle School) and Yuma had three teams (2 All-Service and 1 Middle School) competing in the first rounds. We had two other area High School teams register but didn’t compete. In total, there were 11 teams registered to compete in our AOR.

For comparison, there were a total of 6,387 teams registered nationally (3,293 Open, 1,851 All-Service and 1,243 Middle School) and 51 teams registered in Arizona (17 Open, 19 All-Service, and 15 Middle School).

The first two rounds are used to classify teams into Platinum, Gold and Silver within their respective divisions of Open, All-Service and Middle Schools. The teams will then com-pete within their respective class of Platinum, Gold and Sil-ver within their division of Open, All-Service and Middle School for subsequent rounds such as the upcoming state round. The classification into Platinum, Gold and Silver is so that teams of similar ability are competing against like teams. The degree of difficulty for each level is different with Platinum being the most difficult. Only teams in the Platinum level can quality for the National Championship which takes place in Baltimore MD, April 7-11, 2019. The top 12 teams in the Open division, 13 teams in the All-Service and 3 teams in the Middle School will advance from the Semi-Finals round, February 1-3, 2019 for an all-expense paid trip. All rounds except the Finals in Baltimore are con-ducted on-line so the teams stay at home.

University High School from Tucson placed one team in the Platinum division and two in the Gold division; there were a total of five Platinum and eight Gold division High School teams in Arizona. The CAP Neotoma Composite Squadron from Tucson finished in the Gold division; there was one other CAP squadron in the Gold division and a total of eight All-Service teams made Gold in Arizona.

Unfortunately, we don’t know the team numbers for the rest of the teams that competed in our chapter’s AOR so can’t determine how well they did.

We wish all of the teams good luck in the next round and may they continue to learn and strengthen their cybersecurity

skills.

“A Little Bit of History”

Fairchild AC-119

The Fairchild AC-119G Shadow and AC-119K Stinger were twin-engine piston-powered gunships developed by the United States during the Vietnam War. They replaced the Douglas AC-47 Spooky and operated alongside the early versions of the AC-130 Spectre gunship.

By late 1967, the idea of the fixed-wing gunship had been proven so successful, the United States Air Force was having a difficult time keeping up with demand. The newer AC-130s that had been created under Project Gunship II were effec-tive, but were being mostly used for armed reconnaissance and interdic-tion of the Ho Chi Minh Trail. Fur-thermore, the C-130 airframe was in active service as a transport, vital to the war effort in Southeast Asia. The Air Force desperately needed a new gunship to replace the vulnera-ble and underpowered AC-47 in the close air support role, as well as supplementing the AC-130 in attacking targets on the Ho Chi Minh Trail.

The Fairchild C-119 Flying Boxcar presented an obvious choice, having been phased out of front-line service in favor of the C-123 and C-130, and with the stock of available airframes in U.S. Air Force Reserve being sufficient. In February 1968, under the USAF program Project Gunship III, 26 C-119Gs were converted to AC-119G standard, initially taking on the name "Creep", but later as-signed the callsign "Shadow".

In addition, Fairchild-Hiller, which was contracted for all the con-versions, converted another 26 C-119Gs into AC-119Ks, primarily for the "truck hunter" role over the Ho Chi Minh Trail. These aircraft were called "Stingers" primarily in reference to the two M61 Vulcan 20-mm cannons they carried in addition to the AC-119G's four GAU-2/A miniguns. The AC-119K could be visually distinguished by the addition of two General Electric J85 turbojet engines in underwing pods. The conversions were completed at Fairchild-Hiller's facility in St. Augustine, Florida.

The AC-119K, designed to hit trucks on the Ho Chi Minh Trail, was more advanced. Included in the conversion was the AN/APN-147 Doppler navigation radar, AN/AAD-4 forward looking infrared, AN/APQ-133 side-looking beacon tracking radar and AN/APQ-136 search radar.

The armament scheme for both aircraft was simpler than that of the AC-130. The AC-119G had a total of four GAU-2A/A miniguns in SUU-11A/A pods, all on mounts similar to those used on early AC-47s. Like late-model AC-47s, these were soon changed to the pur-pose-built MXU-470/A minigun modules. The AC-119K, needing a more powerful and longer range "punch" to take out vehicles, fea-tured two M61 20-mm cannons in addition to the four miniguns of the AC-119G 4

SAVE THE DATE

The 2019 Tucson Chapter 105’s Golf Tourna-ment will be held at the Haven Golf Course in Green Valley on Saturday, April 13, 2019. See

registration form on page 6.

2018 Christmas Party and Awards Dinner

Our chapter co-hosted the Christmas Party and Annual Awards Dinner with the Daedalians Old Pueblo Flight 12 and the Red River Valley Fight Pilots Association on December

6th at Club Ironwood. During the dinner, we presented Cadet Caroline Leidy from AFROTC Det 020 at the University of Arizona with a schol-arship check for $750. Cadet Leidy is a senior who will graduate next spring before joining the Air Force as a personnel officer.

During the Awards Dinner, the Daedalians presented their scholar-

ship awards to the ROTC cadets from the Army, Navy and Air Force that will be pursuing aviation careers in their respective services. Represent-ing their respective services were Cadet Joshua Smith, Midshipman

Kenniss Pannell, and Cadet Austin Rivera.

The Daedalians also recognized their Pilot of the Year, Cap-tain Sergio Lozano, 55th Electronic Combat Group, DMAFB. Captain Lozano is an instructor pilot and current operations flight commander. While deployed to Afghanistan with the 41st Expeditionary Electronic Combat Squadron, he and is nine member crew, flew 43 combat sorties totaling 261 com-bat hours against the Islamic State and the Taliban.

YOUR AIR FORCE – DID YOU KNOW?

PACAF: Pacific Air Forces, headquartered at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii, is one of nine U.S. Air Force major commands and the air component of U.S. Pacific Com-

mand. PACAF's primary mission is to provide ready air and space power to promote U.S. interests in the Indo-Asia-

Pacific region. PACAF consists of 46,000 members, includ-ing active duty, Air National Guard, Reserve, and civilians.

PACAF's area of responsibility is home to 60 percent of the world's population in 36 nations spread across 53 percent of the Earth's surface and 16 time zones, with more than 1,000

languages.

USAFE-AFAFRICA: As the air component for both U.S. European Command (USEUCOM) and U.S. Africa Com-

mand (USAFRICOM), USAFE-AFAFRICA executes Air Force, EUCOM, and AFRICOM missions with forward-

based airpower and infrastructure to conduct and enable thea-ter and global operations. USAFE directs air operations in a theater spanning three continents, covering more than 19 mil-

lion square miles, containing 104 independent states, and pos-sessing more than a quarter of the world's population and

more than a quarter of the world's gross domestic product (GDP).

Chapter president Wally Saeger presents AFROTC Cadet Caroline Leidy with her citation and $750 scholarship check on

behalf of Chapter 105

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Community Partner Program For more than 40 years, businesses have been joining the Air Force Association to support both AFA National and local AFA chap-ters. Becoming a Community Partner is a great way to get your business involved with your local Air Force Community. Community Partners are partnership businesses that want to assist both AFA National and the local AFA chapters by becoming involved in Community efforts to support the United States Air Force. By forming a partnership with your local AFA chapter, your business will help AFA fulfill their mission to promote a dominant Unit-ed States Air Force and a strong national defense. Any business or organization can become a CP and have two options for member-ship: Category One (CP I) $90.00 annually- Business can designate one person to receive AFA Membership and enjoy all benefits thereof. Category Two (CP II) $180.00 annually- Business can designate two people to receive AFA Membership and enjoy all benefits thereof. Not only does a Community Partner receive all the benefits of an AFA membership, such as a variety of product and service dis-counts, insurance programs, and much more, but the partner will also receive the following upon joining AFA: Date Medallion Wooden Plaque 8”x5” “Our Business Supports Our Troops" Window Decal If your business is interested in becoming a Community Partner, you should first contact your local chapter.

For questions or for more information on the program, please contact: Dave Carrell, carrelldav@aol.com, (520) 305-4407 Have your business become a part of a great cause and show your patrons that you support our Air Force!

A & E Specialty Marketing Chick-fil-A La Posada Lodge & Casitas Elliott M. Klahr Matt Hountz Juan Loo, Sales & Catering Mgr P. O. Box 4423 3605 E. Broadway Blvd 5900 N. Oracle Rd Rio Rico, AZ 85648 Tucson, AZ 85716 Tucson, AZ 85704 520-281-1369 (P) 520-321-4232 520-887-4800 (P) 520-980-0515 (C) 520-293-7543 (F) emklahr@aespecialtymkt.com Ciruli Brothers ascendcollection.com 5 Calle Cristina Chick-fil-A Rio Rico, AZ 85648 Jackson Oil Company Dave Carrell 520-281-1456 Robert Ferretti 6675 E. Grant Rd. 623-217-8005 Tucson, AZ 85715 Vantage West Credit Union 520-305-4407 Cindy Brainer Radisson Suites Tucson P.O. Box 15115 Valerie Friend, General Manager Tucson, AZ 85708 6555 E. Speedway Blvd Chick-fil-A 520-298-7882 Tucson, AZ 85710 Jim Paine 800-888-7882 520-721-7100 Ext.7600 (P) 4885 N. Oracle Rd. Vantagewest.org 520-722-6146 (F) Tucson, AZ 85705 Valerie.friend@prismhotels.com 520-408-2456

Tucson Chapter’s Community Partners

Tucson Appliance Company Chris Edwards

4229 E. Speedway Blvd Tucson, AZ 85712-4523

Chick-fil-A Brian White 3943 W. Ina Road Tucson, AZ 85741 (520) 744-6269

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Air Force Association—Tucson Chapter 105

Annual Golf Tournament

Haven Golf Course—Green Valley

Saturday, April 13, 2019

8 AM Registration, 9 AM Shotgun/Scramble Lunch following golf Cost: $70, includes

lunch

$10 for lunch onlyRegistration Form Individual players are welcome and will be matched with a foursome

Name: ________________________________Phone: ____________

Name: ________________________________Phone: ____________

Name: ________________________________ Phone: ____________

Name: ________________________________ Phone: ____________

Registration Fees:

$70 per player or $260 for a foursome, if registered prior to March 16th.

$80 per player or $300 for a foursome, if registered after March 16th.

Registration deadline: April 6, 2019

All registrations include lunch following the tournament.

For lunch only, cost is $10.

Amount enclosed: $___________

Please make out checks to: AFA Tucson 105

Mail to: Dick Roberts, Chair, 1319 W. Mariquita St., Green Valley, AZ 85622

For tournament information: 520-648-5749, rrrgv@aol.com

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DoD STARBASE

The mission of DoD STARBASE is to expose our nation’s youth to the technological environments and positive civil-

ian and military role models found on active, guard and reserve mili-tary bases and installations, nurture a winning network of collaborators and build mutual loyalty within the communities by providing 25 hours of hands-on instruction and activi-ties that meet or exceed the national standards. The DoD STARBASE Program first originated in Detroit, Michigan

as Project STARS in 1991. The curriculum, designed by Barbara Koscak and Rick Simms, focused on exposing at-risk youth, (4-6 grade) to innovative hands-on activities in science, technology and mathematics based on the physics of flight. Under the guidance of Brig. Gen. David Arendts, 127th wing com-mander at Selfridge Air Na-tional Guard Base, students were invited to Selfridge to par-ticipate and witness the application of scientific concepts in

a “real world” setting. National Guard personnel demonstrated the use of science, mathematics, engineering, and technology in their fields of expertise and served as role models to the at-tending students. Since it’s in-ception, STARBASE has grown to over 60 sites across the nation

reaching out to the communities that surround the host in-stallation. STARBASE Arizona continues to host 5th grade students from across the city of Tucson. It is estimated that since it originated here at Davis-Monthan Air Forces Base in 2006, the program has seen nearly 11,000 students. Fifth graders come to STARBASE once a week for five weeks for a total of 25 hours of explora-tory instruction in the fields of science, technology, engineer-ing and math. At the end of their time with STARBASE, they have engaged with engi-neering, robotics, physics, chemistry, 3D computer-aided design software, geocaching and much more! STARBASE Arizona is always looking for volunteers to help with our program. Whether it be briefing students on your Air Force career and how you may use science, technology, engineer-ing and math, or helping out with the ever popular rocket launch event, we welcome any and all willing to help out with our students. Please contact Mikelle Cronk at cronkm@vailschooldistrict.org if you are interested in more information about the program, or volunteering.

563rd RQG realigns to the 355th FW

TUCSON, AZ, USA 10.10.2018 Story by Airman 1st Class Frankie Moore 355th Fighter Wing Public AffairsSubscribe The 563rd Rescue Group, a geographically-separated unit out of Moody Air Force Base, Georgia, was realigned from the 23rd Wing to Davis-Monthan AFB’s 355th Fighter Wing Oct. 1, 2018. The realignment brought all rescue squadrons and mainte-nance units that fall under the 563rd RQG, to include other geographically-separated assets located at Nellis AFB, Neva-da, under the supervision of the 355th FW. “This realignment gives us unity of command over a team that we’ve been working with for years,” said Col. Mike Drowley, 355th FW commander. “This brings us closer to a ‘One base, One boss’ concept which better helps us take care of assets on the installation.” Thanks to this consolidation, the Air Force now has two installations with mirroring and equal capabilities. Both ba-ses are now home to HC-130, HH-60 Pave Hawk and para-rescue squadrons that provide combat search and rescue sup-port and A-10 Thunderbolt II fighter squadrons that provide close air support. “This increase provides a strategic advantage for CSAR operations in the future.” said Col. Jason Pifer, 563rd Rescue Group commander. Since its activation at Davis-Monthan AFB in 2003, the 563rd RQG has worked diligently with the 355th FW do, in part, to their closely related operations. “The rescue community and the A-10 community have a very synergistic mission,” Drowley said. “Having them as part of our family now allows us to better care for them as an Airman team and provide them with whatever they need to get their job done more efficiently.” As a result of their previous and ongoing working relation-ship, the 355th FW and 563rd RQG realignment will have very little affect on missions here. “Because the 563rd has been a mission partner for so long, their incorporation will not have a tremendous impact on our day-to-day activities,” Drowley said. “This just helps give us better insight on how to help prioritize resources in order to provide a greater benefit to their operations.” With this realignment, the 355th FW has increased its capa-bilities by integrating with a team that possesses a like mis-sion set and can now provide greater support to troops down-range. “Now that this transition is official, everyone is looking forward to moving out and executing future operations to-gether,” Drowley said. “We’ve always had a close relation-ship with this group and this consolidation is going to take everything to the next level.”

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JOIN AFA

Air Force Association Tucson Chapter 105

P. O. Box 15057 Tucson, AZ 85708

Air Force Association Means Americans for Air Power

Upcoming Events

Look for future “field trips” to different squadrons on base; if you have something specific you want to see please let us know! There are MANY events supporting our local Airmen listed below and more to come! As a Chapter, we try to attend all that we can. If you are interested in representing our AFA Chapter at any of these, please in-form Wally Saeger (wsaeger@afatucson105.org) and he will coordinate it. You just have to show up and enjoy these traditional military ceremonies and gatherings. First come, first served!!

January 2019 -7th: Chapter Executive Committee Meeting, 1200, 355th Ops Group Conference Room (all welcome!) -25th: Chapter Luncheon Meeting: Speaker TBD from Customs and Border Protection, Tucson Office February 2019 -4th: Chapter Executive Committee Meeting, 1200, 355th Ops Group Conference Room (all welcome!) -No monthly meeting due to Heritage Flight Training and Certification Course in March March 2019 - 1st: Heritage Flight Training and Certification Course, Base Operations, DMAFB Flight Line

- 4th: Chapter Executive Committee Meeting, 1200, 355th Ops Group Conference Room (all welcome!) - 23-24: “Thunder and Lightning Over Arizona” Air Show (Thunderbirds), DMAFB SAVE THESE DATES: - Apr 1st: Chapter Executive Committee Meeting, 1200, 355th Ops Group Conference Room (all welcome!) - Apr 13th: Annual AFA Chapter 105 Golf Tournament, The Haven GC, Green Valley - May 6th: Chapter Executive Committee Meeting, 1200, 355th Ops Group Conference Room (all welcome!) - May 17th: Chapter Monthly Luncheon, Speaker TBD - Jun 3rd: Chapter Executive Committee Meeting, 1200, 355th Ops Group Conference Room (all welcome!) - Jun: SW Region Conference hosted by New Mexico - Jun 28th: Chapter Monthly Meeting-TBD

AFA’s Mission

Our Mission is to promote a dominant USAF and a strong national defense and to honor airmen and our AF heritage. To accomplish this we:

Educate the public on the critical need for unmatched aerospace power and a technically superior workforce to ensure US national security,

Advocate for aerospace power and STEM education, and

Support the total Air Force Family and promote aerospace education.