PAGE 2 Convention Continued from page 1


and the Mercedes by less than six inches!


to the Ramada Inn for accom- modations,


This year we transitioned the


hospitality


room, registration and our fish fry and BBQ. By all accounts, everyone was pleased with that move. The Ramada staff was very helpful and we have already booked it for next year. Bob White, Felix ‘Sam’


am aware of. Dave Freeman and Bob White


Sambogna, Dave Freeman and some very able bodied folks from the base delivered the tents and set up the chairs and tables. The Ray Bourque fish fry was up to its usual five star standard and we send out a big thanks to all of his great as- sistants. We also cannot thank Mr Dave Krebs enough for donating the excellent fish. On Saturday morning, we had our annual Heritage Semi- nar in the Empire room of the Ramada. The breakfast buffet was excellent and our guest speakers, Gen Norty Schwartz (Ret), and Mr Kurt Muse both gave very enlightening and educational presentations. Thanks to Dave Mobley for moderating this event. We are really pleased with how these seminars are expanding and we will endeavor to continue to develop and make this a star attraction of the convention. The educational opportunities these present cannot be dupli- cated at any other event that I


Saturday evening took us to the Emerald Coast Conven- tion Center for the highlight of our weekend. We had over 550 attendees at our banquet and presented a large number of awards to some outstanding AFSOC airmen. We also host- ed and identified the 8th SOS CV-22 crews that were the winners of this year’s MacKay trophy. The awards were made more meaningful as AFSOC Commander, Lt Gen Heithold, and Gen Schwartz made the presentations. Thanks again to both of them. As has become traditional we had a great per- formance by Niceville High School’s Opus One. This year was also exceptional in the fact that we were honored with the presence of two members of the original 1st Air Comman- do Group, Bill Cole and Patt Meara. We proudly presented them with certificates of ap- preciation. And culminating the evening was the induction of five great Air Commandos into the Air Commando Hall of Fame: Col John Alvarez, Chief Randy Anderson, Col Craig Brotchie, Col Al Gree- nup and Col Gene Ronsick. More on their individual ac- complishments will be pre- sented in a future Air Com- mando Journal. This year the presentations were made even more special as Congressman Miller joined Generals Sec- ord and Wooley on the stage to make the presentations and presented each with a letter from Congress. We were also delighted to induct Lt Col Bill Cole as an honorary member. This was a good op as we had coordinated with his daughter and Wes Fields, his escort of- ficer in advance, but Col Cole was totally surprised. Though he had recently celebrated his 99th birthday, he insisted on receiving the award on stage and gave a great impromptu


acceptance speech. There


are innumerable


folks that had a hand in the success of the evening but a special shout out to JD Walker 1st SOW DS, Rhonda Gritsav- age and others from 1st SOW protocol for VIP signage and assistance with sign-in, Hurl-


was one of the best I have ever heard and Chief Dixon has agreed to allow us to publish the transcript in an upcoming Air Commando Journal. Les Matheson and his bag pipers were great as always and we also had a very nice rendition of the national anthem by the Naval JrROTC from Navarre. We finished out the week- end with our annual BBQ and raffle drawing back at the Ra- mada. This year PJ Widener did the honors with his own homemade BBQ which was very tasty and saved the as- sociation a great deal of cash. Give him a pat on the back when you see him. There were several


other SrA Ashley Cole


burt Honor Guard, SrA Ashley Cole for her superb rendition of the national anthem, Jim Connors and Jim Ifland for delivering the story boards, as well as Sarah Poole for orches- trating the team that placed the great decorations. Sunday morning took us to the Hurlburt Air Park for our annual memorial. the


best


memory. Gordo Scott gets the


credit


attended for


choreograph-


ing a great and elegant event. Chaplain Houge has become a stalwart regular and we had a


in folks that as-


sisted with serving and clean up after we closed down with the drawings. The raffle win- ners are noted in another part of this NL.


It was recent


Before I close out I bet- ter mention that Pat Barnett had a very successful week- end with the Commando Store grossing nearly $3,000. I also have to highlight Harry Bright who comes in every year and provides assistance in a host of ways. I know that I have surely forgotten someone that helped out, please forgive that unintended oversight.


Lastly, as you all know we only have two paid em- ployees, Jeanette Moore and Shannon Pressley. The week prior and the week of the Con- vention are extremely hectic with last minute enrollments, phones ringing off the hook, and a long laundry list


of CMSgt Bruce Dixon


very meaningful talk by Chief Bruce Dixon, the 24 SOW Command Chief. I thought it


things that have to be coordi- nated and finalized all at the last minute. Both are not only superb employees but are ex- tremely passionate about sup- porting this organization and our Air Commandos. I can tell you for sure that without their dedicated


never pull this off.


ACA QUARTERLY MEMBERSHIP NEWSLETTER


WINTER 2014


efforts we could


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