Photo By Airman 1st Class Nyanda Walker-Potts | A line of MB-1 devices, which are specialized equipment used to tie down aircraft...... read more read more
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For those who work as air transportation specialists, also called Port Dawgs, the month of May is a time to gather and pay tribute to fallen members of their career field. Port Dawgs from the 20th Logistics Readiness Squadron and Air Forces Central (AFCENT) A4, along with Airmen from the 20th Mission Support Group, upheld this year’s tradition here on May 22, 2025.
The tradition originated at Kadena Air Base, Japan, in 2013 in honor of Technical Sgt. Kurtis E. Eccleston, an air transportation specialist assigned there who tragically passed away in 2011. His teammates at Kadena began the tradition, and the Port Dawg community has held a ceremony and memorial run every year since across the Air Force.
The ceremony began with opening remarks, given by Chief Master Sgt. Javier Orozco, AFCENT A4 Distributions Branch Chief.
“It is surreal to me as I look back to when I first joined,” Orozco said. “I remember my recruiter mentioning the job to me and telling me, ‘you can’t understand what it means to be a Port Dawg until you work with them and become one.”
Following the remarks, Master Sgt. Timothy Anderson, AFCENT A4 aerial port operations non-commissioned officer-in-charge, gave background on the history behind the day’s event, and called the names of fallen Airmen from the past year as participants took turns linking an MB-1 device, a type of aircraft cargo tie-down equipment, onto a chain. There was one device attached to the chain for each fallen Port Dawg.
This year, there were nine devices linked in memory of the following Airmen:
Tech. Sgt. Kathryn Glance
Staff Sgt. Abbey Berg
Staff Sgt. Edgar Guadarrama
Staff Sgt. Reuel James
Staff Sgt. Quazay Jones
Staff Sgt. Koy Sauer
Staff Sgt. Jacob Spletzer
Staff Sgt. Manville Stalcup
Senior Airman Christopher Wagner
After the ceremony, the group completed a 2.2 mile run in their honor.
“Thank you for being here.” Orozco finished. “It’s always great to see so much support from our Port Dawg community. I look forward to seeing everyone next year. POOOOOORT DAAAAWGS!”
| Date Taken: | 05.30.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 06.06.2025 12:07 |
| Story ID: | 499852 |
| Location: | SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, SOUTH CAROLINA, US |
| Web Views: | 29 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, Honoring the Fallen: Shaw AFB Port Dawg Run, by A1C Nyanda Walker-Potts, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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