The Banquet
Finaly, time for words of wisdom. We were all decked out in our finery, looking about as good as we could. It’s not quite mess dress but that was then, and this is now. We were always sharp. Always will be.
Col. Rich Green, former 308 Wing Commander, was our Master of Ceremony. He told some stories we had not heard before. Not even "Upstairs".
We ate a meal reminiscent of the old days in countless lost Officers Open Messes. It was OK. Just like all of those were back in the old days. And we ate it in a room that was specially reserved for us, even though the hotel couldn’t quite spell the word “missile”. I guess that proves our mission to preserve Peace must have been a success.
We had a nice turnout with a lot of people showing up just in time for the banquet. In the back of the room a special table carried items for sale such as pins, decals, CDs, books, and DVDs.
John Womack, former Senior Instructor Crew Commander and author of of the book "Titan Tales", talked about the Early Days, back when we thought we knew what we were doing, but we didn't know what we were doing would really do, since a lot of things did not work the way tech-data said it should work. He also said a word or two about the launch of “Giant Train”, the Titan II he and his crew launched from Vandenberg AFB in California, in 1966.
Col. Charles Simpson, former Chief of Staff, 57th Air Division, and Executive Director of the Association of Air Force Missileers www.afmissileers.org was the speaker of the evening and he showed a PowerPoint presentation of all the missiles in the Air Force other than the Titan II.
Col. John Chambers, who was wing commander of the 390 SMW in Tucson and ALSO the Wing commander of the 308 SMW in Little Rock, helped present some awards, including several nice plaques and couple of bright red piggies, and then Col. Green and Maes help lead the wing in a hog-callin . What’s a hog-callin? It goes kind of like “Ahhhhh, Woooooooooeeee -PIG! Sooooooooooeeeehhhieee! Well, we need a lot of practice in that. For most of us early guys it was the first real squeal we ever heard. I really missed the connection with anything. Apparently it all had to do with something about a local college football team.
There will be another reunion next year in or around Tuscon, Arizona. It will be the 390th SMW reunion, and they have invited us all to come. Where to go to find out? Try here: http://www.308smw.com/contact.html Also the museum in Jacksonville would be another good place to begin. Give Vince Maes a call, or better yet, drop by. Vince can also explain "hog-calling" to you and maybe even show you how it's done.
Col. Rich Green, former 308 Wing Commander, was our Master of Ceremony. He told some stories we had not heard before. Not even "Upstairs".
We ate a meal reminiscent of the old days in countless lost Officers Open Messes. It was OK. Just like all of those were back in the old days. And we ate it in a room that was specially reserved for us, even though the hotel couldn’t quite spell the word “missile”. I guess that proves our mission to preserve Peace must have been a success.
We had a nice turnout with a lot of people showing up just in time for the banquet. In the back of the room a special table carried items for sale such as pins, decals, CDs, books, and DVDs.
John Womack, former Senior Instructor Crew Commander and author of of the book "Titan Tales", talked about the Early Days, back when we thought we knew what we were doing, but we didn't know what we were doing would really do, since a lot of things did not work the way tech-data said it should work. He also said a word or two about the launch of “Giant Train”, the Titan II he and his crew launched from Vandenberg AFB in California, in 1966.
Col. Charles Simpson, former Chief of Staff, 57th Air Division, and Executive Director of the Association of Air Force Missileers www.afmissileers.org was the speaker of the evening and he showed a PowerPoint presentation of all the missiles in the Air Force other than the Titan II.
Col. John Chambers, who was wing commander of the 390 SMW in Tucson and ALSO the Wing commander of the 308 SMW in Little Rock, helped present some awards, including several nice plaques and couple of bright red piggies, and then Col. Green and Maes help lead the wing in a hog-callin . What’s a hog-callin? It goes kind of like “Ahhhhh, Woooooooooeeee -PIG! Sooooooooooeeeehhhieee! Well, we need a lot of practice in that. For most of us early guys it was the first real squeal we ever heard. I really missed the connection with anything. Apparently it all had to do with something about a local college football team.
There will be another reunion next year in or around Tuscon, Arizona. It will be the 390th SMW reunion, and they have invited us all to come. Where to go to find out? Try here: http://www.308smw.com/contact.html Also the museum in Jacksonville would be another good place to begin. Give Vince Maes a call, or better yet, drop by. Vince can also explain "hog-calling" to you and maybe even show you how it's done.
Labels: Missiles
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