Barbarossa Chapter

We started this summer by inducting our new chapter leadership: Major André McMillian, President, Captain Jerry Ruiz, Vice President, 1st Lt Shannon Caleb, Professional Development Officer, 1st Lt Tristah Bowyer, Treasurer and 2nd Lt Brett Hansen, our Information Officer. Our Chapter Leadership is comprised of officers from HQ USAFE, 86 and 435 ABWs, as well as the 723d Air Mobility Squadron (AMC). Our Senior Advisors are Brig Gen Duane Jones, USAFE/A4 and Col Robert Burnett, 86 MXG/CC.

The Barbarossa Chapter is actively working to lay the foundation of future success by strengthening our membership. Currently, we have 40 dedicated members. As USAFE’s largest LOA chapter, we have over 100 LOA eligibles. Our goal is to increase national membership by 20% and chapter membership 30% within the next year. To further develop expeditionary logisticians, our chapter established monthly meetings, which will feature a seasoned loggie as our guest speaker. In addition, we will coordinate quarterly tours, both on and off base, to gain better appreciation for TEAM Ramstein. We are committed to hosting two annual activities, which will serve as our Chapter’s highlights of the year.

Over the past year, we have featured several distinguished guests to include retired Lt Gen Leo Marquez and Maj Gen Michael Collings, commander of Warner Robins Air Logistics Center. One of our members, Captain Kevin Kudrna, also received the 2005 Chapter Distinguished Service Award, which recognizes the three National LOA members who made the greatest contributions in support of their local chapter activities. Our most recent event was a tour of the 200th Theater Distribution Brigade, where we learned about theater level materiel/maintenance management for the Army, Joint, Combined, and Multinational Forces who enable force projection operations for USAREUR, EUCOM and CENTCOM. Our next event on the horizon will be our annual Regional Conference, which includes our renowned golf tournament and a host of guest speakers. We had an exciting year in beautiful Germany and this next year looks even brighter as we focus our efforts towards our members. Auf Wiedersehen!