HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. – “History makes you smart, heritage makes you proud.”
This idea is what fueled four members of the 492d Special Operations Support Squadron, during a recent, off-duty volunteer event at the Air Commando Association headquarters building in Navarre, FL on July 21st.
The ACA headquarters building was built by former Air Commandos more than 20 years ago.
“A bunch of Air Commandos from the 492d [SOW] going up there and continuing on, it’s really nice to have a touch of that heritage, because that makes you proud of where you’ve been,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Daniel Everett, the volunteer group lead. “This is a powerful heritage, so let’s not mess it up.”
The Air Commandos left an impression through their work.
“To have a group of young [Air Commandos] come and just do whatever needed to be done — they were professional, they were courteous, they worked beyond expectations — it’s just a really nice way of looking at the force and our future Air Commandos,” said Jeanette Elliot, ACA Media Coordinator. “They’re just as good as the older generation!”
The impact of the Air Commandos’ work goes beyond heritage and renovations.
“It means a lot, because most of our board members are in their 60’s and, in my case, 70’s, so we don’t like climbing, cutting down branches on trees, or being on a ladder,” said Chief Master Sgt. (ret) Wayne Norrad, President and CEO of the ACA. “What more can I say? We are very appreciative.”
The projects that the Air Commandos completed included cutting tree branches, cleaning the exterior of the building, and repairing and painting inoperable doors.
“We’ve had other folks help with things, but not to this extent,” said Elliot. “The amount of work that got done in a short amount of time would have taken us days to accomplish, maybe weeks.”
What was the number of Air Commandos required to accomplish this amount of work?
“It was myself and three other folks,” said Maj. Everett. “John Lampe, [U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt.] Jeremy Myers, and [U.S. Air Force Tech. Sgt.] Nick Bowater. We’re a small [group], but we have a lot of heavy hitters.”
| Date Taken: | 09.01.2020 |
| Date Posted: | 09.02.2020 16:15 |
| Story ID: | 377350 |
| Location: | FLORIDA, US |
| Web Views: | 26 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Current Air Commandos Upkeep Building with “Powerful Heritage”, by SSgt Caleb Pavao, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
