AIRBRIDGE CHAPTER (DOVER AFB, DELAWARE)
Dover’s logistic community has been going through some noticeable changes, similar to our counterparts at Travis, we also have “Kicked the CANN”, a huge accomplishment for the C-5. The Airbridge chapter is no exception when it comes to change; in January we elected all new chapter board members bringing in new blood and fresh ideas. Colonel Willie Cooper (512th MXG CC) kicked off calendar year 2004 as our first guest speaker, he provided us with a look at the foundation of his leadership style. We will remember his creative words on how not to give up your “how to”, in other words, staying on top of your responsibilities so you can keep other people out of your business (timeless advice). We began conducting monthly career briefs from Airbridge Chapter members who have benefited from career broadening or exchange experience. As anyone who has investigated can attest there are so many opportunities available it can be overwhelming tracking down all the facts about each program. So we figured the best place to find quality information about these programs is from individuals who’ve participated in them (so we looked within Dover’s gates). Our first career brief was given by Maj Troy Vokes (512th MOS/CC), he provided insight on his ROTC instructing experience at Cornell University. All in attendance definitely left with a greater understanding of what being an ROTC instructor is all about. It was especially interesting to learn many universities consider ROTC instructors to be staff and they can attend classes at no charge. We now have individuals lining up to share their unique experiences with us. A few examples of future briefs are an exchange tour to the Netherlands, Advanced Maintenance/Munitions Officer School graduate, Air Force Institute of Technology and TDY experiences to Baghdad International Airport. The success of our career briefs have now spawned an interest among LOA members to participate in mentoring our future Air Force members within the Delaware area. We drafted a letter which we’ll be sending out to the Delaware ROTC Detachments requesting the opportunity to share our experiences as logisticians to these future officers. We finished our first fundraiser in April; a Pump-A-Thon at the base gas station. In just a few hours we earned $250, the money will be donated to the LOA Scholarship fund, on behalf of our guest speakers. Upcoming fundraiser opportunities include manning a food booth during our air show on May 16th and hosting a LOA golf tournament in late summer. Overall the Airbridge chapter has a lot going on over the next couple of months. We will remain committed to providing our members with informative forums which provide value added for time spent!