Photo By Staff Sgt. Brandon Shuman | Steel Airmen of the 32nd Aerial Port Squadron participate in the annual Port Dawg...... read more read more
The 32nd Aerial Port Squadron and fellow Steel Airmen from the 911th Airlift Wing gathered under summer skies for the annual Port Dawg Memorial Run at Pittsburgh International Airport Air Reserve Station, Pennsylvania, July 12, 2025.
Each year, aerial port squadrons across the globe lace up and fall in—not for speed, but for memory. The Port Dawg Memorial Run began in 2013 at Kadena Air Base, Japan, in remembrance of Tech. Sgt. Curtis E. Eccleston, who tragically passed away in 2011. Since then, it has become a worldwide tradition among Port Dawgs—those who move the mission behind the scenes—marking not just a run, but a ritual.
For the 32nd APS, the run carries a deeper weight. In 2023, they lost one of their own: Capt. Timothy Shaughnessy, a logistics material management specialist who had served with the unit for nearly five years. His absence—like the others remembered—was felt not only in the ranks, but in the rhythm of daily duty. This run, like the work they do, was carried out in his honor.
Before the first step, aerial porters gathered around Chief Master Sgt. Patrick O’Bryan, 32nd APS senior enlisted leader. He shared the origins of the event, grounding new Airmen in tradition and reminding seasoned Dawgs why they run and what it means to those who earned the name “Port Dawg.” The heat pressed down, but the ceremony continued.
As the formation took shape, a guidon led the way. Six Port Dawgs stepped forward carrying MB-1 tie-down devices—15-inch, solid metal hooks used to secure cargo during airlift operations. During memorial runs, they aren't just gear. They are symbols. Each one representing a fallen member from the wider Port Dawg family.
These tie-downs aren’t pieces of equipment chosen at random. They’re tools every aerial porter knows—heavy, weathered, and essential. For the Airmen who carry them, the MB-1s served as physical reminders of a shared trade. Something tangible. Something that unites them all in purpose and practice.
And that’s what the run is really about. It’s more than remembrance. It’s a spark—one that reignites the pride in their mission and the grit in their work ethic. For many Port Dawgs, this tradition doesn’t just look back; it reconnects them to why they show up, day after day, to load, secure, and move the mission forward.
Senior Airman Mark Fechter, 32nd APS passenger service representative said, “We run to honor those that have passed, to reflect and to give reverence to them.”
And so they did.
With the MB-1s in hand and the names of the fallen in mind, the formation moved. No speakers. No slogans. Just the sound of running shoes on pavement and steel tapping against steel. The Port Dawgs may move cargo every day, but on this day, they moved something heavier: the weight of legacy, and the memory of those who no longer run beside them.
Those honored this year:
• Christian Vega, veteran of the 60th APS, Travis AFB
• Senior Airman Christopher Wagner, 721st APS, Ramstein AB, Germany
• Master Sgt. Mark Nicholson, 46th APS, Dover AFB
• Tech. Sgt. Kathryn Glance, 81st APS, Joint Base Charleston
• Master Sgt. Ed Thompson, retired
• Capt. Timothy Shaughnessy, 32nd APS, Pittsburgh IAP ARS
| Date Taken: | 07.12.2025 |
| Date Posted: | 07.14.2025 12:18 |
| Story ID: | 542640 |
| Location: | PITTSBURGH INTERNATIONAL AIRPORT AIR RESERVE STATION, PENNSYLVANIA, US |
| Web Views: | 36 |
| Downloads: | 0 |
This work, They moved more than cargo: 32nd APS runs to remember, by SSgt Brandon Shuman, identified by DVIDS, must comply with the restrictions shown on https://www.dvidshub.net/about/copyright.
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