Global Strike Command hosts inaugural Heritage Dinner

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. - Air Force Global Strike Command's Command Chief Master Sergeant Brian Hornback signs the AFGSC heritage book before the inaugural AFGSC Heritage Dinner, an effort to foster pride in the command's heritage and mission. The book holds select accounts of newly established AFGSC traditions since the command's activation. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Corey A. Clements)

Global Strike Command hosts inaugural Heritage Dinner

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. - Colonel James C. Dawkins, 5th Bomb Wing commander, explains his wing's history dating back to the 5th Bombardment Group in 1922 during the inaugural Air Force Global Strike Command Heritage Dinner to foster pride in our nuclear heritage and mission. Wing and numbered Air Force commanders and command chief master sergeants met at Barksdale Air Force Base for a commander's conference, and for the dinner, brought historical artifacts to represent their organizations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Corey A. Clements)

Global Strike Command hosts inaugural Heritage Dinner

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. - The circuit breaker that powered the U.S.'s first operational Minuteman Launch Control Center from 1962 is displayed for the inaugural Air Force Global Strike Command Heritage Dinner to foster pride in our nuclear heritage and mission. Wing and numbered Air Force commanders and command chief master sergeants met at Barksdale Air Force Base for a commanders' conference and for the dinner, brought historical artifacts to represent their organizations. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Corey A. Clements)

Global Strike Command hosts inaugural Heritage Dinner

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. - Airmen volunteers ceremoniously served a seven-course meal during the inaugural Air Force Global Strike Command Heritage Dinner in which every aspect from the decorations and table displays to the distance between the chairs have historical significance to the nuclear enterprise. AFGSC commander, Lt. Gen. James Kowalski, hosted the dinner to foster pride in the nuclear heritage and mission for the command's wing and numbered Air Force commanders and command chief master sergeants that met at Barksdale Air Force Base for a commander's conference. (U.S. Air Force photo by Master Sgt. Corey A. Clements)

Global Strike Command hosts inaugural Heritage Dinner

Published Dec. 7, 2011
By Staff Sgt. Brian Stives
Air Force Global Strike Command Public Affairs

BARKSDALE AIR FORCE BASE, La. -- As each wing commander and command chief from around Air Force Global Strike Command entered Patrick Hall at the Barksdale Air Force Base Club Nov. 30, their eyes darted around the historic, elegant and precisely laid-out room. They were stunned. Some took pictures. Some soaked in the atmosphere. All would soon recognize the significance of the event.

"Welcome to the 2011 Air Force Global Strike Command Heritage Dinner," said Col. Jeffery Lamers, the night's master of ceremonies. "Tonight, we celebrate the proud Air Force heritage and accomplishments of our command, as well as the history to which each of you has contributed - and continues - to contribute to in profound ways."

From the 40- by 8-foot grand table, the width needed for Revolutionary War Soldiers to extend their rifles, to the 38-inch spacing between each chair, which provided the space for Revolutionary War Soldiers' rifles or swords, everything had a place and purpose. The decorations on the table, three white candles of different heights, showed the relationship of self to service to nation. A single tablecloth represented the wrap of unity between the military, government and nation. Heritage devices from 1922 and 1943 were strategically placed at each commander and chief's place setting, demonstrating their wing's rich history.

Even the location of the seven-course dinner held special meaning.

"The reason this room, in particular, was chosen to host this event was because of its heritage here at Barksdale Air Force Base," said Lt. Gen. Jim Kowalski, commander of Air Force Global Strike Command.

Kowalski went on to discuss the heritage with stories about the room's namesake. His stories included 1st Lt. Fredrick Patrick, and his amazing 16-year aviation career before his untimely death in a training flight at Barksdale in 1934, and Lt. Eugene Hoy Barksdale talking Gen. Ira Eaker into joining what would later become the Army Air Force.

"I can think of no better place to be than in this room, where those original innovators of long-range strike shared their meals and drinks - that is the heritage we go back to," Kowalski said. "It's not a heritage of bureaucracy; it's a heritage of innovation, it's a heritage of flexibility, it's a heritage of mission accomplishment - and I am honored to be here tonight with all of you."

As the night unfolded, commanders and command chiefs stood side-by-side talking about their unit's heritage devices - many dating back to before the Air Force was established, like the, Lt. Gen. Ira C. Eaker, Castle Coombe Mess punch bowl, now known as the Eaker Bowl, in front of the Eighth Air Force setting. In the back of their minds, each wondered if future generations of Air Force Global Strike Command Airmen would sit around their own historic, elegant and precisely laid-out room and say, "this room is historic because when Global Strike Command first stood up, general, colonel, captain, sergeant or airman so-and-so ate here and ..."