Community leaders learn about AF, AF Reserve missions during tour

  • Published
  • By Maj. Marnee A.C. Losurdo
  • 403rd Wing Public Affairs
KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Thirty-four civic leaders from Mississippi joined 403rd Wing leaders on a community relations tour, commonly referred to as a Civic Leader Tour, May 14-15 to MacDill Air Force Base, Homestead Air Reserve Base, and the National Hurricane Center in Florida.

Civic leader tours are a way for members of the Biloxi and Gulf Coast community to see other bases and learn about their missions.

"This tour is an opportunity for you to learn about the Air Force and Air Force Reserve Command and what its 67,000 Citizen Airmen accomplish daily in support of our country and then to take that information and share what you have learned with others in this community," said Col. Frank L. Amodeo, 403rd Wing commander, May 14 before the tour left Keesler. "Many of you are employers of reservists and play an important role because the Air Force Reserve cannot accomplish the mission as successfully as we do without your support."

The tour began at the Roberts Maintenance Facility where civic leaders were briefed on the missions of the 403rd Wing, 81st Training Wing, and 81st Medical Group and how critical care air transport teams transport and care for wounded service members on aircraft such as the C-130, C-17 and KC-135. CCAT teams are composed of a doctor, intensive care nurse and respiratory therapist and frequently work with aeromedical evacuation crews, which consist of a medical director, flight nurse and three aeromedical evacuation technicians. AE crews routinely move critically ill or injured troops after they've been stabilized or received damage-control surgery.

After the briefing, the group went to one of the 403rd Wing's C-130 to see the CCATTs equipment first-hand. The wing routinely supports aeromedical evacuation training and real-world missions.

"I learned a great deal more about the overall and extended missions at Keesler AFB," said Hank Rogers, City of D'Iberville floodplain administrator. "The 81st (MDG) medical evacuation presentation brought me to tears when I heard the young doctor speak. What a great humanitarian effort these young people put forth. It made me proud."

After the static display, the group boarded a WC-130J and took off for MacDill AFB. During the flight, the group observed the 53rd Weather Reconnaissance Squadron "Hurricane Hunter" aircrew conduct their training and release dropsondes, an expendable parachute-borne sensor that collects temperature, wind speed, wind direction, humidity, and surface pressure data. The civic leaders learned how the information is transmitted to the NHC to assist them with their forecast models.

At MacDill, the group visited the Air Force Reserve's 927th Air Refueling Wing. They were greeted by the wing commander, Col. Randal L. Bright, who educated the audience about the wing's mission and the aircraft it flies, the KC-135 Stratotanker, which provides in-flight air refueling, cargo and passenger airlift and aeromedical evacuation. The group was briefed on the 927th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron mission, received an unclassified intelligence briefing about ISIS, and saw a KC-135 static display.

The next day, the tour stopped at Homestead Air Reserve Base where the civic leaders visited the Air Force Reserve's 482nd Fighter Wing, which flies F-16s, and the Florida Air National Guard's Alert Facility and saw their F-15s take off during a training mission. Later that afternoon they visited the National Hurricane Center in Miami where the group was educated about how the "Hurricane Hunters" provide critical data to assist the NHC with their forecast models.

Mark V. Glorioso, NASA Shared Services Center executive director, Stennis Space Center, and 403d Mission Support Group honorary commander, said the tour was an amazing and educational experience. 

"I enjoyed learning about the Air Force mission," he said. "The flight was an experience of a lifetime," he said. "I enjoyed watching the crew launch the dropsonde and learning about all the weather information it measures and collects, the tour of the National Hurricane Center, F-15s scrambling, the briefings; it was all informative. It was a first-class operation from the first welcome to the last goodbye."

Tom Wicks, Peoples Bank assistant vice president of trust, said he was impressed by what he saw during the trip.

"It makes me proud that we have such a great military," he said. "I also have a profound and renewed respect for Citizen Airmen.  The reservists play a most important role in our defense."