March 4 - 17, 2016 - The Patriot (Joint Base Charleston)

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Joint Base Charleston, S.C.

Vol. 7, No. 5

Patriot Team Charleston – One Family, One Mission, One Fight!

March 4, 2016

Team Charleston civilian concludes 54-year career U.S. Air Force photos / Staff Sgt. Jared Trimarchi)

Above: Frank Metzger, a Wing Plans program analyst with the 437th Airlift Wing, smiles behind two C-124 Globemaster II model aircraft, Feb. 24, 2016, at Joint Base Charleston, S.C. Metzger, who is retiring after 54 years of combined federal service, served in the military as a navigator for 24 years and his first assignment was with the 1608th Air Transport Wing at Charleston Air Force Base, where he flew in C-124s. The C-124, nicknamed “Old Shaky,” is an unpressurized cargo plane that had to be flown low and in the weather. Metzger flew in a C-124 over the North Atlantic Ocean in the winter.

Left: A photo of a young Frank Metzger, a Wing Plans program analyst with the 437th Airlift Wing, was signed by his friends, family and coworkers during his retirement ceremony. Metzger served in the military as a navigator for 24 years and a civil servant for 30 years.

By Capt. Christopher Love Joint Base Charleston Public Affairs

"A lifetime of dedication, a lifetime of experience and commitment to our nation." With these words, Col. John Lamontagne, 437th Airlift Wing commander, summed up the 54-year career of Frank Metzger, a decades-long member of Team Charleston who has decided it's "Time to go." Metzger, a Wing Plans program analyst, celebrated his retirement Feb. 23, 2016, during a ceremony at Joint Base Charleston, surrounded by family, friends and coworkers, past and present. A 1959 graduate of Harper High School, Texas, Metzger joined the Aviation Cadet program that same year, where he trained to be a navigator. Eleven months later, a newly-commissioned second lieu-

tenant, Metzger began his first assignment with the 1608th Air Transport Wing at Charleston Air Force Base. He remembers his arrival at Charleston to this day. "I proceeded to wing headquarters to sign in," Metzger said, "but once in the building I asked a master sergeant in the hallway where the sign-in book was located. He looked at me like he thought I might be playing hooky from high school and said, 'Boy, how old are you?' 'Twenty, sir,' I replied. I had just turned 20 the month before. That was my introduction to Charleston." Metzger spent his first five years at Charleston navigating the C-124 Globemaster II, an unpressurized cargo plane that had to be flown low and in – rather than over – the weather. "I used to tell people, 'You haven't lived until you've flown in the North Atlantic at 10,000 feet in the wintertime," he said. He logged 3,500 flying hours in the C-124 and more than 11,000 flying hours in his career – most of them on the C-141 Starlifter.

It is a "phenomenal amount of flying that you don't see today," said Lt. Col. Mark Hollandsworth, 437 AW chief of wing plans. Metzger retired from active duty in 1983, as a lieutenant colonel with 24 years of service. A year and a half later he rejoined the Air Force, this time as a civil servant, sharing his experience with Team Charleston for the next 30 years. Now his supervisor, Hollandsworth first met Metzger as a young captain in the uncertain months following 9/11. The two men split 24-hour operations in the crisis action team, where they helped manage the base's response. "[Frank] knew what was going on and what needed to happen," Hollandsworth said. "Everyone from the other execs to [the one-star general wing commander] – if anyone had a question and needed an answer, Frank had it. Very humbly, very quietly, he had the answer." See Metzger Retires After 54 Years, Page 3

Day in life of 628th SFS Phoenix Raven trainee

INSIDE

About the Phoenix Ravens: According to the Air Mobility Command's factsheet, Phoenix Ravens consist of all volunteer teams of specially trained security forces personnel dedicated to provide security for AMC aircraft transiting through high terrorist and criminal threat areas. The Phoenix Raven training course, conducted by the U.S. Air Force Expeditionary Center at Joint Base McGuire-DixLakehurst, NJ, consists of a three-week, 12-hours a day, program covering cross-cultural awareness, legal considerations, explosive ordnance training, aircraft searches, unarmed selfdefense techniques, use-of-force scenarios, advanced firearms proficiency and anti-hijacking operations. After completing of the course, newly graduated Ravens receive a lifetime numeric identifier. Since 1997, when the program was created, more than 2,000 security forces Airmen have been awarded a personal number. Security Forces Airmen at Joint Base Charleston interested in becoming a Raven must complete several prerequisite requirement including: completing a three-day physical fitness try-out, participating in a one-on-one interview with the Raven NCO in-charge and passing a local three-week Raven apprentice course. "The three-day tryout is to see if an Airman has what it takes to become a Raven and it's also a time to see if that Airman is really committed to becoming one," said Staff Sgt. Lorena Gomez, Phoenix Raven team leader. Before applying, Airmen must have achieved at least a 90 percent on their most

Volunteers help base members with filing

TAX TIME

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recent physical training test. Gomez continued, "The tryout is really just a taste of what it takes to become a Raven and the apprentice course which follows is more demanding."

A day during the three-week Raven apprentice course: A typical day in the Raven apprentice course begins at 7:30 a.m. in the gym, where the applicants stretch and prepare for the day. Today the students are taking an official Air Force PT test. The test consists of a waist measurement, one minute of push-ups, one minute of sit-ups and a one and a half mile run. Some would consider a PT test a workout but, for the students attending the Raven course, it's a warm-up for their busy schedule. "To be honest, the PT test is one of the easier things we do physically," said Staff Sgt. Gregory Green, a Raven apprentice student. Staff Sgt. Gergory Green and Senior Airman Jarred Alford, Raven apprentice stuAfter completing the PT test, students go to dents, practice defensive positions during a three-week Phoenix Raven apprenthe Raven training room and prepare for what tice course Feb. 17, 2016 at Joint Base Charleston, S.C. Ravens are teams of speis known as a 'smoke session.' cially trained security forces personnel dedicated to providing security for AMC A 'smoke session is an intense work-out aircraft transiting through high terrorist and criminal threat areas. where students are tested physically and men"Doing 300 flutter-kicks is difficult but the motivation of tally to a point of exhaustion. A typical smoke session lasts over an hour and involves the other Airmen doing them with me pushes me to continue doing exercises such as push-ups, flutter kicks, squats, presses too," Green added. After the "smoke session," the participants recover while and other core exercises. Raven trainers make things more interesting by continually making more physical and mental studying material required during Raven School courses. See Day In The Life, Page 4 demands of the students during the session.

MUSC surgeons help train base medics

SEW AND SEW Page 6

315th AW Career Day inspires teens

TUSKEGEE

Next Issue of the Patriot: March 18, 2016

Story and photo by Staff Sgt. Jared Trimarchi Joint Base Charleston Public Affairs

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WEEKEND WEATHER UPDATE for Joint Base Charleston, SC AM Clouds/ PM Sun Friday, March 4

(10% precip)

High 64º Low 42º

Sunny Saturday, March 5

(0% precip)

High 66º Low 46º

Extended Forecast

Sunny Sunday, March 6

(10% precip)

High 69º Low 42º

Mon. - March 7 69°/53° - Partly Cloudy (10%) Tue. - March 8 76°/59° - Mostly Sunny (10%) Wed. - March 9 75°/63° - Partly Cloudy (10%) Thur. - March 10 78°/63° - Cloudy (10%) Fri. - March 11 79°/59° - Partly Cloudy (20%)

See Joint Base Charleston at www.Facebook/TeamCharleston - Follow Discussions, Connect With Your Base! CYAN-AOOO

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BLACK 01/29/08


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