Tampa Honorary Commanders take to the sky, visit other bases

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Jennie Chamberlin
  • 927th Air Refueling Wing
MacDill Air Force Base, Fla. --  More than 20 civic and military leaders from Tampa participated in an honorary commander's tour of two bases March 19 and 20.

The Honorary Commanders program partners local civic leaders with military organizations from the 927th Air Refueling Wing and the 6th Air Mobility Wing in order to foster relationships between MacDill Airmen and Tampa citizens.

The tour, sponsored by the 927th Air Refueling Wing, took the group from MacDill Air Force Base (AFB) to Barksdale AFB in Shreveport, La. and Dyess AFB in Abilene, Texas. The honorary commanders flew via KC-135 Stratotanker to each location and watched as the crew of the KC-135 refueled a B-52 Stratofortress and a B-1 Lancer on different legs of the trip.

At each base, honorary commanders learned about and toured several aircraft, including the B-52 and A-10 Thunderbolt II at Barksdale and the B-1 and C-130 Hercules at Dyess. Honorary commanders were able to speak with operators and maintainers from each plane to learn about their respective missions.

While the aircraft were awe-inspiring, the expertise of the Airmen they met most inspired the visiting civilians.

"I was impressed by the professionalism and training of the men and women of the Air Force, the way they handle themselves and their jobs and the pride they have in serving their country," said 927th Operations Group Honorary Commander Alan Denham, Regional Manager for Tampa Electric.

Honorary Commander Teresa Foss, Military Affairs Chairperson for the South Tampa Chamber of Commerce, said she appreciated the Airmen's willingness to share about their work. She said talking with the Airmen gave her more insight into how many people it takes to accomplish a mission.

"The in-depthness of the tours we went on showed how everyone has to work together to make things happen," she said. "It's a lean process. Everyone has a role to play and if any one person fails it affects the outcome of the whole mission."

Each host city also offered an opportunity for Tampa leaders to meet with local civic leaders . Denham said he appreciated the chance to exchange ideas about community and military partnership with leaders from the two cities.

"I was very impressed by the hospitality from Abilene and Shreveport," he said. "I'd love to bring some things they do back to MacDill. We're always looking for ways to make our programs better."

Colonel David Pavey, 927th ARW Commander, said the hands-on aspect of the tour is what is most enlightening to civic leaders.

"With the shrinking of the U.S. military it is important more now than ever that our civic leader have a good understanding of how we operate. By them traveling on our aircraft and seeing the core of our nuclear mission, civic leaders can gain a greater understanding of how their Air Force works - after all, it is theirs.

As an honorary commander, Foss said she's grateful for the opportunity to learn about what the military does on a daily basis.

"I'm extremely thankful to be an honorary commander. It's a rare opportunity to be invited on tours and not something that everyone gets to see. If more Americans had the opportunity to come on base and see how the military works together with its different support groups they'd have a greater appreciation for what they do. "