"This has been a long time coming," echoed throughout the crowd of current and past members.
Surrounded by cargo pallets, Airmen stand at attention in Hangar 592. Their rows create a formation - something that would have been impossible two years ago.
Representing closure for all those past and present, the unit flag was encased making way for the unfurling of a new flag to represent rebirth during the 49th Aerial Port Squadron re-designation ceremony April 7 here.
Although the 49th APS dates its lineage to 1973, it was originally constituted as the 49th Aerial Port Squadron, but was deactivated in 1992. A decade later, it was re-designated as the 49th Aerial Port Flight at Grissom.
"This re-designation is going to impact the base primarily by having more people, and it will be another opportunity for this base to shine in an even larger role," said Lt. Col. Christopher Beckley, 49th APS commander. "As an aerial port squadron in the Reserve, we exist to deploy. We are here to answer our nation's call - to deploy overseas and staff those places around the world where all of our Airmen are located so that when those planes arrive, there's an aerial port function there to unload them and take care of the people and service the jets. It's another opportunity for Grissom to shine for the Air Force and do great things for the United States."
Taking care of the unit for nearly 20 years, when Senior Master Sgt. Laurie Latchaw, 49th APS senior Air Reserve technician, first joined the flight, it consisted of seven Airmen.
In 2016, the flight had grown to nearly 40 Airmen.
Today, the 49th APS is a true squadron with over 120 Airmen.
"This is a milestone in my career because I started the unit from a flight and before I retire I will also be able to say I was part of it becoming a squadron," Latchaw said. "This was definitely a team effort; it didn't happen overnight and it took a lot of people and a lot of good things to make this unit come together."
"Laurie isn't going to have to do this all by herself anymore," said Col. Scott Russell, 434th Mission Support Group commander.
"This has been a long time coming," said Senior Master Sgt. Kevin Connelly, 49th APS superintendent. "It's something we've been working towards for over three years now - and we're very excited."
According to Connelly, the re-designation is part of a command-alignment within the Air Force Reserve Command.
"We were the last flight that the AFRC had in their inventory up until Feb. 28, making us the last unit to make the transfer over to squadron status," he said.
The 49th APS continues to provide world class support to local and global missions; sustaining, enabling and protecting service members and Air Force capabilities.
The 434th ARW is the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command. The Citizen Airmen from the Hoosier Wing routinely deploy around the world in support of the Air Force mission.
Stay connected with the 434th ARW on Facebook and Twitter.
| Date Taken: | 04.25.2018 |
| Date Posted: | 07.24.2018 09:40 |
| Story ID: | 285462 |
| Location: | GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, INDIANA, US |
| Web Views: | 57 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Grissom 'Port Dawgs' upgrade to 49th Aerial Port Squadron, by 1st Lt. Katrina Heikkinen, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
