The Faces of Tinker - Tinker Air Force Base 75th Anniversary

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THE FACES OF TINKER

TINKER’S TEAM This year marks the 75th anniversary of Tinker Air Force Base. Included in this special section are stories that introduce you to some of the people who make Tinker one of the best bases in the Air Force — from pilots to those performing maintenance on aircraft to those working at the Exchange and commissary.

UPCOMING SPECIAL SECTION October: The Economic Impact of Tinker Air Force Base

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

People check out at the Commissary at Tinker Air Force Base.

‘It feels like coming back home’ Family military connections draw people to work on base

BY ABBY BITTERMAN Business Writer abitterman@oklahoman.com

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renda Hyland and Manuel Othon have been around the military their whole lives, so working for the military seemed natural.

Hyland is the general manager of the Exchange, and Othon is the assistant commissary officer at Tinker Air Force Base and other bases in Oklahoma. Both facilities are benefits for active-duty service members, military retirees and their families.

Starting on Nov. 11, veterans also will be able to shop at the Exchange, but only online. Hyland said the Exchange is like a department store and a big box retailer rolled into one. The Commissary is a military base grocery store.

Hyland grew up on military bases, and she bought her first school supplies at a base exchange. Now, she is the general manager of the Tinker Exchange and exchanges at other bases in Oklahoma.

“I come from a military family,” Hyland said.

“This is home, you know, on a base.”

In addition to her connection to the military, Hyland always has loved retail. She said when she was young, she would play store and sold her great grandmother her own shoes countless times. Hyland said she loves working with customers and being able to support the community.

Being the general manager of the Exchange is the perfect job, she said.

There is no sales tax on items at the Exchange, and Hyland said it always tries to have the lowest prices.

Nonika Allen, an E7 master sergeant in the Air Force, said she likes to shop at the Exchange because of all the deals and savings.

Wanda Holmes, a wife a retired member of the Air Force, said shopping at the Commissary and the Exchange is helpful now that they she and her husabnd are retired because she can get more for less.

Nonika Allen, an E7 master sergeant in the Air Force, said she likes to shop at the Exchange because of all the deals and savings.

This is the Exchange store front at Tinker Air Force Base.

“I’m a big cost comparison shopper,” Allen said. “So I find I get more for my money on base.”

Wanda Holmes recently retired from education and her husband is retired from the Air Force. She said shopping at the Commissary and the Exchange is helpful now that they are both retired because she can get more for less.

Holmes said she also likes that she doesn’t have to worry when she brings her grandchildren since there is so much security.

“It feels like coming back home because we’ve traveled, and we lived over 26 years in the military,” Holmes said.

The store not only offers financial advantages to its customers, but it benefits the base community in other ways, as well. Hyland said about two-thirds of the profits from the Exchange goes to the Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) fund, which helps pay for quality of living programs on the base. Last year, the Tinker Exchange contributed $523,088 to the base’s MWR fund, Hyland said.

Brenda Hyland, general manger at Exchange at Tinker, said she loves working with customers and being able to support the community. It is the perfect job, she said.

People shop in the produce section at the Commissary at Tinker Air Force Base.

[PHOTOS BY JACOB DERICHSWEILER, THE OKLAHOMAN]

“It’s a cause that’s very near and dear to my heart,” Hyland said.

“I grew up on military bases, and I remember going to the swimming pool and to the gym and to the youth center and all of those things that we help to fund. And so it’s really important to me that we help preserve those programs.”

Like Hyland, Othon

also enjoys dealing with customers at the Commissary. His customers also don't pay sales tax on their purchases. But they are charged a 5-cent surcharge.

Othon said his dad was in the military, and he’s been around it his whole life. He has worked for the Commissary for 30-40 years, though he hasn’t been at Tinker the

whole time.

“One way or another, everybody in this building is a dependent or served or is serving in the military,” Othon said.

“We always say we’ve got the best customers in the world. We take a lot of pride in that, and that’s what I like. That’s what I do, and that’s why I’ve stuck around with this for so long.”

Manuel Othon, assistant director of the Commissary, said his dad was in the military, and he’s been around it his whole life. He has worked for the Commissary for 30-40 years, though he hasn’t been at Tinker the whole time.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

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Curtis Swift stands among some of the bbooks and files he uses for his job as 552nd Air Wing historian at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTO BY STEVE GOOCH, THE OKLAHOMAN]

‘The goal is to not repeat mistakes’ Tinker historians’ job is very much part of present

BY MATT PATTERSON Staff Writer mpatterson@oklahoman.com

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he top floor of a late 1940sera building on Tinker Air Force Base is a treasure trove of the base’s history.

Photos of military jets hang on the walls or are stacked on desks and tables. There are rooms filled with books and old VHS tapes and 16 mm films. And there’s even a couch that once flew on John F. Kennedy's and Lyndon B. Johnson's Air Force One. All are in the custody of Tinker Air Base Wing historian Howard Halvorsen. The couch, with its 1960s look and ashtrays built into the arms, is a highlight.

“We don’t really know how it got here,” he said.

“My assumption would be that Air Force One came here at some point for work, and it was pulled off and replaced by something else.”

But historians don’t always dwell in the past, and their work isn’t

The 552nd is made up of E-3 Sentry AWACS planes, the large aircraft with the rotating domes. The aircraft provide surveillance, command and control, and communications in an area the military is operating. These planes have become part of Tinker’s identity over the last several decades. [PHOTO BY PAUL HELLSTERN, THE OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES]

always meant to be read a century later. What Halvorsen and 552nd Air Wing historian Curtis Swift do is very much about the present.

Historians log sorties and missions flown. They chronicle the lineage and heritage of units going back decades. And they also provide information for those making decisions in the present.

“Historians can and

should be used as a management tool,” Halvorsen said. “What did they do in other times of declining budgets? What were the limiting factors and challenges? How can we better use taxpayer money and our time not doing the wrong thing?”

Swift often finds himself explaining his job to people surprised to learn he’s a historian.

The 552nd is made up

of E-3 Sentry AWACS planes, the large aircraft with the rotating domes.

The aircraft provide surveillance, command and control, and communications in an area the military is operating. These planes have become part of Tinker’s identity over the last several decades.

Swift is an Air Force veteran serving in the security police, but it was his job

as a historian that provided an opportunity to be deployed to Afghanistan.

Spending time at a coalition air base in Kabul was something he embraced.

“It’s where the action is,” he said. “It’s not as benign as a support base that is further back.

When I landed, there were 17 coalition countries. It kind of felt like the Wild West.”

Swift tracks data about the air wing that includes number of sorties flown and hours each plane has flown. It’s all compiled into an annual report that becomes official record.

“For leadership to learn from our past, which most of them make an effort to do, it helps them make decisions on what’s going on tomorrow or next month or next year,” Swift said.

“How did this type of airframe perform? How efficient was each type of mission? Did these tactics work better in guerilla or large-scale warfare? The goal is to not repeat mistakes.”

It’s not glamorous. Twenty years ago, Halvorsen, 49, would have had a staff of four under him. Today he’s a one-man show. Like

Swift, his overall mission is to produce an annual report, but gathering the information and putting it together in a useful way is like trying to lasso a B-1 bomber. A typical annual report is about a thousand pages.

“I have a million file cabinets that are jammed with material,” Halvorsen said. “People think you can just Google it, but there are a lot of things that aren’t available online. If you want Air Force logistics information from the ’60s, you have to go down to the dusty books down the hallway.”

Tinker is a dream job for Halvorsen. When he found out there was an opening he pushed hard to get it. He sees the mission of the base as critical.

“The reason we have deterrent power is because of the global reach of the Air Force,” he said. “The Air Force can be there in hours to send someone a message.

But we don’t have a lot of new planes in the pipeline, so the sustainment mission is important. We have some planes that have been flying since the ’50s and will have to fly for 10 or 20 more years.”

Tinker pilots are ‘very dedicated to finding solutions’ French Air Force officer learns aircraft maintenance at Tinker

BY JUSTIN WINGERTER Staff Writer jwingerter@oklahoman.com

Among the most recognizable planes at Tinker Air Force Base are Boeing E-3 Sentries, their 30-foot-wide black radar disks rotating 11 feet above fuselages.

The U.S. Air Force has 33 E-3 Sentries — more commonly called Airborne Warning and Control Systems, or AWACS — and 27 are stationed at Tinker. By comparison, the French Air Force has just four.

That’s why Maj. Nicolas Godefroy and his family moved to Tinker from his native France

Maj. Nicolas Godefroy of the French Air Force is stationed at Tinker Air Force Base.

last July. Godefroy, a commandant in the French Air Force, needed to better understand the complicated aircraft.

“We have a small fleet of AWACS so it’s a big issue when one aircraft is underground due to a technical issue,” Godefroy said. “Only one aircraft is 25 percent of the fleet, so we have to find a solution very quickly

because we have such a small fleet.”

Godefroy is a foreign liaison officer, one of nearly a dozen at Tinker.

The United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Poland, Turkey and Greece also have liaison officers at the base.

Godefroy spends much of his time at Tinker working with pilots on AWACS and tanker aircraft.

“They are very dedicated to finding solutions and to helping me,” he said.

He will remain in the United States for two more years, before taking his knowledge about tankers and AWACS back to France to improve his home country’s air fleet.

“I’m here to help the French Air Force find technical solutions because it’s not easy to maintain these old aircraft and very complicated aircraft,” Godefroy said.

‘Nice situation’ The AWACS that arrived at Tinker in 1977 are still there and still flying. With a radar range of more than 250 miles, they scan land, air and water for enemy forces.

No country with AWACS has a smaller fleet than France, America’s oldest ally. The U.K. bought seven from Boeing, Saudi Arabia purchased five and NATO has 18. Production stopped a quarter-century ago.

“It is very important for the French Air Force

to have an officer here, to have the knowledge and the feedback, because the main difference is the American fleet is older than the French fleet,” Godefroy said.

As a result, he said, the U.S. Air Force can pass along maintenance solutions to problems the French Air Force is likely to face in the coming years.

Ties between the U.S. Air Force and French Air Force run deep. Volunteer American pilots flew with the French Air Force — then called the French Air Service — during the Battle of Verdun in World War I. To commemorate the centennial of America’s entry into WWI, the French Air Force sent its top flying display team, Patrouille de France, to

a series of events in the United States this year.

The crew took part in a New York parade and flyovers near the White House, Pentagon, Grand Canyon and Golden Gate Bridge.

French Air Force Lt Col. Gauthier Dewas, who led the flight team, said the events were intended “to show to what extent our air forces are committed together, interoperable, and have a capability to master the most advanced technology together and to communicate together,” according to news reports.

Godefroy, the only Frenchman at Tinker, has witnessed that firsthand.

“Our relationship is very good. It’s a nice situation,” he said.

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

Tech. Sgt. Kyle Schulz, with the 76th Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight, stands July 20 beside a bomber used for emergency temporary field repair training at the APL at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTO BY STEVE SISNEY, THE OKLAHOMAN]

‘We’re like the firemen for aircraft maintenance’ Tinker group repairs aircraft in the heat of battle

BY MATT DINGER Staff Writer mdinger@oklahoman.com

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henever an aircraft takes a hit on the battlefield, it’s Tinker Air Force Base’s 76th Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight that sets off overseas to get it back in the air.

Their primary mission is Aircraft Battle Damage Repair. They’re the smallest of three units that do such work across the entirety of the Air Force.

The unit of 25 people — all currently men — operate under the guidance of Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Opp. They work with aircraft engineers to find fixes in tough conditions.

“We’re kind of like a Band-Aid. We’re like the firemen for aircraft maintenance,” Opp said.

“The main part of our mission is all overseas.

Nobody is shooting aircraft in the states or over in England or anything. These are all in Afghanistan and Iraq and the bases we have over there,” he said.

Opp supervises four teams of six people each, three sheet metal workers and three crew chiefs.

Typically, a team has about 72 hours to respond to a war zone when they’ve been called up for service. A quick check of training requirements, medical clearances and plane tickets are usually all that stand between them and work in a combat zone.

“Some of these repairs, you’re only looking at a couple hours to fix.

That’s easy. But most of the time when we get tagged, it’s a bigger one. When a round goes through there (an aircraft) and explodes, it doesn’t look that bad on the outside. It’s when you open the panel up, or cut it out, that you see everything destroyed behind it,” Opp said.

The team has a trailer

loaded with everything they need to get an aircraft back in the air.

“When we deploy, they have every tool, every piece of metal, every rivet, every fastener, every piece of tubing, every piece of cable, is in that trailer,” Opp said.

Even though each member has a special assignment, they all receive additional training.

“If you’re out in a war zone, and it’s really going off, my crew chief could be dead tomorrow, and all I’ve got left is a sheet metal guy, so everyone kind of cross trains on everyone else’s stuff,” Opp said.

‘Controlled chaos’ Technical Sgt. Lance Green is in charge of that training, which is required once a year but each member goes through twice.

Green specializes in sheet metal work.

“We’re pretty much split right down the middle between the sheet metal guys who do structural repairs and your crew chiefs, which are kind of a jack of all trades. They’ll do inspections, simple component replacements.

While we’re superspecialized on structures, they kind of have a general knowledge of the majority of the aircraft,” Green said.

“If an aircraft receives battle damage downrange, our job is to get it back in the air as quickly as possible because we want to have the most aircraft available for combat sorties on that mission as possible,” he said.

“When you’re downrange, it’s something that’s structurally sound, but we can accomplish in a very rapid fashion.

Simple. Quick. Get it back into the fight,” Green said.

The members volunteer and are selected for periods of four years. Whenever they’re not in war zones, they help check out older aircraft, do maintenance work on planes on bases, and train.

Tech. Sgt. Kyle Schulz, with the 76th Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight, shows tools in a mobile repair trailer at the APL at Tinker Air Force Base.

Tech. Sgt. Kyle Schulz, with the 76th Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight, stands in the shell of a bomber’s engine used for training at the APL at Tinker Air Force Base.

“It’s controlled chaos, so we just start blowing holes where we know there’s everything behind it,” Opp said.

“While we’re doing this, during the exercise, we actually attack them while they’re trying to fix airplanes and make it as real as possible.”

In addition to loud noises, crew members are shot at with paintball guns.

And whenever everyone is caught up on work, Opp will authorize them to

do volunteer work in the community, like manning soup kitchens and working with the food bank.

But the assignment definitely can take its toll with all the unknowns that come into working on the unit.

We want people that really want to be here, because we can be gone 200 days a year, and if you don’t have a strong relationship with your family or a strong financial background, it can be detrimental,” Opp said.

Senior Master Sgt. Tommy Opp, with the 76th Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight, shows training tools in the APL at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTOS BY STEVE SISNEY, THE OKLAHOMAN]

SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

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Making ‘sure they are getting a fair shot’ Union leader aims to support Tinker’s civilian workers

Visit Oklahoman.com to see a video interview with Carl Dahms, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 916.

BY JACK MONEY Business Writer jmoney@oklahoman.com

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bout 14,000 civilians work at Tinker Air Force Base near Oklahoma City.

And to the leader of the union that secures most of those workers’ pay and employment oversight agreements, those workers are important.

“People often underestimate the importance of civilian workers in the federal workforce,” said Carl Dahms, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 916.

Those employees, he noted, remove, rehabilitate and reinstall engines and service the various types of aircraft that routinely rotate through Tinker.

“Throughout every aspect of aircraft maintenance, somebody is working on the base to achieve that mission,” Dahms said.

“There is no way Tinker could function without the civilians who are here.”

There also is no way those employees could be as effective in the jobs they do without being represented by an organization with the power to negotiate their employment agreements covering pay and working conditions, Dahms said.

In the case of AFGE Local 916, one significant deal it recently negotiated is a master labor agreement, which defines workplace rules on the base that aren’t set by Department of Defense regulations.

The organization also recently wrapped up a process it went through with the U.S. Air Force to create a new employee evaluation system for civilian workers that took effect in April.

Of the 14,000-plus civilian employees at Tinker, Dahms said

to accomplish the mission, too.

“It is an ongoing process.”

Supporting the people

Carl Dahms, a materials expediter at Tinker Air Force Base and president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 916, shows one of the forklifts he and other workers use to move parts between shops and buildings at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTO BY SARAH PHIPPS, THE OKLAHOMAN]

about 11,000 of those are represented by AFGE as it works on those issues and others.

About 3,300 of those workers actually belong to the union, an amount Dahms said is about average for a civilian workforce Tinker’s size.

But, regardless of whether or not an employee belongs, Dahms said the union works with the Air Force and all of its employees to help provide good government services delivered to the American public.

It also works to be sure civilian workers are treated fairly and with dignity.

“Membership with the union is voluntarily; people get out of it what they put into it,” Dahms said. “You can’t sit back and complain about

something if you aren’t willing to step up and get involved.”

Supporting the mission Dahms, a U.S. Army veteran, joined Tinker Air Force Base’s civilian workforce in 1996 as a member of the base’s paint and wash facility, where aircraft are cleaned so that they can be inspected for structural integrity and other potential problems.

From there, he moved into Building 3001, where he cleaned and inspected parts and components used to rebuild aircraft engines.

Later, Dahms became a materials expediter, which is an employee who works on the base to move equipment and materials from shop to shop and building to

building so that needed repair and maintenance work can get done.

All kinds of parts and material constantly are on the move at the base, ranging from something that might fit into a small box to something else that has to be moved on a trailer pulled by a truck.

The job is critical, because anything that is lost, misplaced or delayed adds time to the process it takes to rehabilitate an aircraft that’s needed by the military to help fulfill its mission.

Dahms said that he, like most Tinker employees, proudly joined the base’s civilian workforce because it gave him a way to carry on the tradition of supporting those who still serve in the nation’s armed forces.

Being able to do so is something he enjoys, he

said.

“No matter where you work on the base or what you do, you’re operating with the knowledge that the stuff you are working on eventually is going to go back on to an airplane,” he said. “It is all part of the final process of putting that airplane together and getting it back in the sky.

“We want these guys that fly these planes to be safe and get back home to their families.”

Dahms said employees also are encouraged to speak up by submitting ideas whenever they encounter situations where they see that something might be able to be done more efficiently or safely.

“In this day and age, you’ve got to be competitive. You want safety first, but you also look for more efficient ways

The official charter date for AFGE Local 916 was June 26, 1946. In 1963, its roll of active members was between 200 and 500 workers.

By May of 1966, AFGE Local 916 had more than 2,000 members and effectively was fighting for the rights of the workforce at Tinker Air Force Base.

On Sept. 25, 1968, 75 percent of eligible workers voted to have AFGE Local 916 be their exclusive representative, and shortly thereafter its roll of active members peaked at 8,600.

Since then, AFGE Local 916 has represented most of the base’s civilian workforce through discussions and grievance processes that have involved personnel policies, practices, and working conditions.

Dahms, who became a shop steward and squadron representative for the union before joining its board of directors and later becoming an officer, said he’s also proud he gets to help people.

“For me, it is the ability to represent people to make sure they are getting a fair shot,” he said.

“There are a lot of people out there that don’t have a clear understanding of how things can go whenever they encounter a situation involving a grievance or another employment issue.

“Our goal is to direct people in the right direction to make sure they are treated fairly and justly.”

‘Trying to be the best base in the Air Force’ HR staffers work to increase disability hires at Tinker

BY K.S. MCNUTT Staff Writer kmcnutt@oklahoman.com

A resume database launched last year at Tinker Air Force Base is leading the way when it comes to hiring qualified civilians with disabilities.

The Special Excepted Appointment program identifies job applicants and matches them to open positions that fit their skill set.

“We hire 10 to 15 people a month through the disability program,” said Everick Bowen, human resources specialist who manages the program.

The SEA database went live in January 2016 and streamlined the job posting and hiring process to fill positions more quickly.

“It knocked off half the time,” Bowen said. Managers like getting someone on the job sooner rather than later, he said.

SEA went from hundreds of job candidates on paper to thousands online.

That’s how Tinker surpassed the Department of Defense objective of 2 percent targeted disability hires, Bowen said.

The base recently hit 2.95 percent.

“We’re trying to be

Everick Bowen, human resources specialist, manages the Special Excepted Appointment program at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTOS PROVIDED]

Rebecca Traynor, affirmative employment program manager at Tinker Air Force Base, was hired through the Special Excepted Appointment program.

the best base in the Air Force,” Bowen said.

“The Air Force has taken notice and wants to push that out to the whole Air Force.”

Rebecca Traynor, Affirmative Employment Program manager at Tinker, is a believer in the SEA program.

“It was a blessing for

me,” Traynor said. “I was very fortunate. As most people know, it’s very hard to get on at Tinker.”

She was hired for a temporary job as a student in 2009. When she earned her bachelor’s degree later that year, she was hired full-time in the personnel programs

division.

Traynor was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate that required eight surgeries, 11 years of speech therapy and extensive orthodontics that came with a fair amount of teasing.

“Going through that I am more sympathetic than most. I do feel like I

relate to others with disabilities,” she said.

She worked with Bowen and others to develop the online SEA job posting and resume collecting component, and she managed it before Bowen.

“I’m still a part of it.

I’m an advocate for it,” Traynor said.

When a qualified candidate needs a reasonable accommodation to do the work, Bowen checks with Traynor to make that happen. It could be as simple as provide a nearby parking space for someone who cannot walk very far.

The Department of Defense hiring goal is 2 percent for people with targeted disabilities and 12 percent for disabilities in general, Bowen said.

About 9.5 percent of Tinker’s 15,000 to 16,000

civilians employees have some disability — including obesity, depression, missing limbs and cancer, he said.

A growing number of applicants come via the state Department of Rehabilitation Services, whose counselors show people how to navigate the SEA program.

Posting of public job notices are updated every six months. Applicants must reapply to ensure their contact information is always current, Traynor said.

In the “paper days,” staffers had to sort through applications and would pick a few for a manager to review, she said. Now the applicant indicates all the jobs he or she feels qualified to do, and the information is sent to every manager with an opening that fits.

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

‘It definitely galvanizes us and helps us stay together’

Senior Airman Dominique Hall, and her father, Master Sgt. Rodney Hall, are both members of the 507th Air Refueling Wing at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTO BY STEVE GOOCH, THE OKLAHOMAN]

A father-daughter duo serves at Tinker Air Force Base

BY NICK SARDIS Staff Writer nsardis@oklahoman.com

D

ominique Hall’s path to serving at Tinker Air Force Base began early.

“I was born on this base, actually,” she said.

Hall, 24, is a maintenance analyst for Tinker’s 507th Air Refueling Wing, the largest Air Force Reserve flying unit in Oklahoma.

Hall said she joined the military to follow in her father’s footsteps.

Her father, Master

Sgt. Rodney Hall, 55, also works for the 507 ARW and has been an aircraft electrician during his 32 years in the Reserve.

Originally from Texas, he said he joined the Air Force, “because I thought it would be a great way to serve my country. And on top of that, I wanted to see the world.”

Despite those intentions, Rodney Hall would never travel the world during his time in the Air Force.

“I did my first four years in Austin, Texas — Bergstrom Air Force Base. After I did my four years, I got out and

Tinker offered me a job here and I said, ‘Well, it’s pretty close to home,’ so I jumped on it,” he said.

A single father, Rodney Hall said he wanted to be present for his two daughters, who are now 19 and 24 years old.

“In the Air Force, they provided me with a lot of flexibility,” he said.

“Mission comes first, but they also (the Air Force), they bent over backwards to make sure that I could get them (his kids) to day care and come in later. They pretty much helped me do a whole lot of things that in other jobs, I’m not too sure that I would have been able to do.”

‘Owe the Air Force’ Dominique Hall said she is grateful to have a father that was always there for her.

Her admiration for her father’s military service prompted her decision to follow his example.

She has served in the Air Force Reserve for four years as she works her way through college.

She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma in supply chain management and is currently working toward a master’s degree in business administration.

She said none of this would have been possible

if she hadn’t followed her father’s footsteps and joined the Air Force.

“Without the Air Force, I wouldn’t have a degree, and I do have an 8-year-old son and I definitely don’t think I would be able to support him if I didn’t have that degree,” she said.

“The Air Force has played a critical role in me being able to give my son the life he deserves.

So, I definitely owe the Air Force, and I’m happy to serve my country along the way.”

For Rodney Hall, he enjoys his current role of assisting the younger generation before he retires next year.

“The Air Force means a whole lot to me, especially in the twilight of my career,” he said.

“I get to train and work with a whole lot of the next generation of people, and it’s just great. I love training them. I love helping them out. I love showing them how to go about it the right way.

“For right now, that is what the Air Force means to me.”

The Halls said throughout their years serving in the Air Force together, they feel like they’ve never been closer.

“It definitely galvanizes us,” Rodney Hall said. “And helps us stay together.”

‘It can build into other parts of your life’ Fitness, nutrition experts keep military members in peak condition

BY MELISSA HOWELL Staff Writer mhowell@oklahoman.com

Exercise physiologist Traci Fuhrman and registered dietitian Wendi Knowles are combining their talents at Tinker Air Force Base to keep the base’s active duty personnel in condition, both inside and out.

All members of the U.S. military must pass rigorous physical fitness tests to remain in their ranks.

For those in the Air Force, the test includes a timed run and a specific number of push-ups and situps to be completed within one minute. They also must pass a waist circumference test. The standards vary according to sex and age.

The task for Fuhrman and Knowles is to get those who may need a little help passing the test into peak condition.

To that end, they provide four eight-week of “Performance Intervention” courses that combine fitness training and nutrition.

Traci Fuhrman, exercise physiologist fitness instructor, left, and Wendi Knowles, registered dietitian demonstrate the BOD POD at Tinker Air Force Base on July 18. The BOD POD is used to measure whole body densitometry to determine body composition. [PHOTO BY STEVE GOOCH, THE OKLAHOMAN]

“In the civilian world, your job isn’t dependent on passing a fitness test.

That’s why it’s so much different here,” Fuhrman said. “Their job is depen-

dent on passing this test, and if they don’t pass the test, they don’t get to keep their job. It weighs heavy on them. We see people go to extremes

just to be able to pass, and that’s when they get injured or practice bad habits.”

Fuhrman’s and Knowles’ Fit program is designed for progressive intensity, five days a week over the eightweek course. Each day’s hourlong class provides a different piece of the training, including running, strength training, flexibility, cardio and functional movement conditioning, in addition to nutrition and behavior modification.

In addition to a running-only course and a nutrition-only course, they also have a modified course for active duty men and women who are recovering from an injury, which Fuhrman and Knowles see frequently.

“With improper form and technique and the way that they’re moving and not stretching properly and not conditioning properly, it will lead to injury,” Fuhrman said. “And a lot of them already have had injuries, so my job is to correct that so they’re not going to get reinjured or to prevent the injuring from happening altogether.”

To correct bad habits, Fuhrman uses specialized equipment to determine body composition, resting metabolic rate and gait.

“I take them through a functional movement screen where I look at the way they move. That helps with body movements and patterns and correcting their mobility,” she said.

As for Knowles, her task is whittling down the waistline.

"We see a lot of folks who have lost a lot of weight to get into the military and then go through boot camp.

That’s tough, it’s hard, the weight stays down.

And then they get to tech school, and they start back to their old habits,” she said. “There’s a real issue with even qualifying to get into the military because the parameters are such that you have to have a certain weight. A third of the population is either overweight or obese, so they’re struggling with getting people in. There are people who want to (join the military) and they’ll go on crash diets to get in but they don’t really learn. And if you

don’t really learn ... the weight will come back.”

To achieve a lasting change, Knowles said she brings in a behavior health specialist to help work through barriers.

“A lot of this is about extended overall behavior change because behavioral health becomes important for both fitness and nutrition,” she said. “If they haven’t been working out, why haven’t they?

What is missing? How can they build this into their lifestyle and how can they change behaviors?”

Despite their 75 percent to 85 percent success rate, Fuhrman and Knowles say there is no magic bullet. It’s about hard work, moderation and common sense.

“We have people who go through the program and are very successful, then they return to their old habits,” Knowles said. “Then we have people who go through the program who are able to maintain it and model it. It helps with so many aspects of your life if you can get control of the fitness and eating part of it. It can build into other parts of your life.”

SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

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‘We’re hope peddlers’

Chaplains Sammy Tucker, Kory Capps and Paul Joyner pose for a photo in the chapel at Tinker Air Force Base. Standing behind them are Shon Jackson, chaplain assistant, and Tech Sgt. Amy Hatten, who are both part of the chaplaincy program. [PHOTO BY PAUL HELLSTERN, THE OKLAHOMAN]

Tinker chaplains work to strengthen spiritual focus of those who serve, work and live on base

BY CARLA HINTON Religion Editor chinton@oklahoman.com

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haplains at Tinker Air Force Base are on a mission to help members of the Tinker “family” keep an unseen, insidious enemy at bay.

Sure, there are tangible adversaries, but the spiritual leaders said the main foe they hope to vanquish is hopelessness.

“We’re the purveyors of hope, and if we are not doing our job, who is?” said Wing Chaplain Sammy Tucker, a Temple, OK, native.

Paul Joyner, his deputy wing chaplain, put it in a different way.

“We’re hope peddlers,” he said smiling.

The two men, along with Chaplain Kory Capps, recently discussed their ministry on the base, where they say between 70 percent and 90 percent of people identify with a spiritual belief system, mainly a Christian denomination.

Tucker said the Air

Force has chaplains that ascribe to other faiths like Judaism and Islam, but the six chaplains who provided spiritual leadership for the enlisted men and women and civilians who are connected to the base are Christian. He said this is because of the size of the base and the fact that most of the people at the base are Christians.

Still, the chaplains offer spiritual guidance to all who request such counsel. Tucker said often, Christians don’t readily know whether the chaplains are Catholic or Protestant so “we’ll get called father, pastor or

brother.”

He, Capps and Joyner are all ordained clergy, with Tucker a United Methodist, Capps affiliated with the Texas Baptists and Joyner a Presbyterian.

No matter their affiliation, Joyner said each of the chaplains is responsible for doing his part to develop airmen who can “fly, fight and win.”

Their part, they said, is helping individuals develop “spiritual fitness.”

“Statistics tell us that people who have faith are more resilient, happy, healthy individuals,” Tucker said.

‘The bigger picture’ Capps said theirs is a mission that doesn’t stop.

The two other men agreed.

They pointed out that Capps had 22 suicide interventions in 2016 alone.

“We’re the ones that people come to at their most vulnerable state of their lives,” Tucker said.

Joyner said as a result of that vulnerability, they don’t go around patting themselves on the back after coming to someone’s aid.

Instead, he said they and a team of other people are embedded in

the culture of the base so that they are there when needed “but not for the purpose of accolades or grandiose applause.”

Tucker said hope and faith are not tangible — they come from within.

“Everyone is spiritual.

We help people find that.

We help them to see the bigger picture,” he said.

The chaplains said they plan to spread their message of hope on Sept. 11, when they host a special walk/run on the base.

Tucker said they held the Tinker 9/11 memorial run and ruck/walk last year and it was a popular event.

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

‘We’re basically like NASCAR guys’ Aircraft mechanics consider themselves Tinker’s pit crew

BY TIM WILLERT Staff Writer twillert@oklahoman.com

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lijah Sabree has been fixing stuff for as long as he can remember.

Mostly electrical stuff.

“I used to install car audio when I was younger because it was so fun,” said Sabree, 24, a member of the 507th Air Refueling Wing at Tinker Air Force Base.

“I was really into rewiring stuff and fixing stuff, so when I found out there was an opportunity to do a job like that, just on a larger scale, I jumped at it.”

Now the senior airman from Pensacola, Florida, works on planes for a living.

Big ones.

The wing operates and maintains eight KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft providing world-wide aerial refueling to U.S. and NATO aircraft in times of peace, war and national emergency.

On a recent summer day, Sabree, a maintainer who specializes in aircraft electrical and environmental systems, is installing a cotter pin on a KC-135 landing gear safety switch.

“My primary responsibility is getting this fixed so we can test this airplane and get it back to flying,” he said.

Sabree was 18 and “fresh out of high school” when he enlisted in the Air Force. He wasn’t looking for a regular job.

“I wanted to do something a little bit different that required a little bit more out of me as a human

Senior Airman Elijah Sabree, with the 507th Air Refueling Wing, works July 19 on the landing gear of a KC-135 Stratotanker at Tinker Air Force Base.

Staff Sgt. Spencer Coles, left, and Senior Airman Elijah Sabree, with the 507th Air Refueling Wing, work July 19 on the landing gear of a KC-135 Stratotanker at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTOS BY PAUL HELLSTERN, THE OKLAHOMAN]

being,” he said. “I had my choices, and my job just kind of stuck out at me.”

Sabree gets a certain satisfaction from performing his work well.

“The time that you put in, the sweat, getting to see it take off is probably like the sweetest gratification ever,” he said.

“This plane right here, knowing that tomorrow or tonight is going to take off and perform a mission is pretty gratifying.”

Tech. Sgt. Brian Watson is an air-

craft mechanic from Blanchard who lives in Moore.

Watson, 29, changes tires and lightbulbs and fuels the aircraft.

“I fix most minor things that are wrong,” he said. “I’m kind of the jack of all trades but master of none.”

Watson compares what he does to being a member of a NASCAR pit crew.

“We’re basically like NASCAR guys,” he said.

“The pilot is the driver

... he comes into the pit stop. We’re the guys who make sure all the servicing is correct — change the tire if they need it, fuel it up and send it on its way. That’s basically what we do.”

‘They are family’ The 507th Air Refueling Wing is the largest Air Force Reserve Command flying unit in the state of Oklahoma, employing more than 1,100 men and women.

It is made up of citizen airmen, many of whom live and work in Oklahoma communities in addition to their Reserve commitment.

About 200 members of the 507th are traditional civilian employees or dual status Air Reserve Technicians who serve as a support cadre.

It is home to men and women who come from different backgrounds and different places.

“We all come together, and it becomes our family,” said Senior Master Sgt. Marshall Hunter, who oversees sections devoted to hydraulic and electronic systems. “It’s that camaraderie that sustains us. Over time it grows more and more.”

Sabree considers his fellow maintainers family.

“Working with these men and women, day in and day out, they are family,” he said. “I love these people. I’d lay down my life for them. I know they’d do the same for me.”

Hunter and his wife of one month, Master Sgt. Nickelette Hunter, a recruiter, met at Travis Air Force Base in California.

“We were both divorced out there, and

I was an aircraft maintainer of C-17s and she worked over in the office of the commander on the C-5 side,” he said. “We met, and it’s been stars ever since.”

Although married a short time, the two have been together for five years. Between them they have four kids — all girls.

“We weren’t looking to dive right into marriage again, even though we knew we were going to get married,” she said.

Nickelette Hunter’s job is selling the 507th to maintenance workers.

“It’s a great way to serve part-time with fulltime benefits,” she said.

“You’re not going to find a part-time job like this anywhere with the type of benefits we offer.

“If somebody is looking for a great career start in their life and they have an interest in mechanics, this is an awesome way for them to get accredited training through the Air Force that can actually work towards a degree for them while they’re in.”

To learn more about joining the 507th Air Refueling Wing, call 405-409-6311 or 800-2571212.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

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‘It’s a grind and a continual learning process’ Tinker pilot has love of flying, commitment to team

BY WILLIAM CRUM Staff Writer wcrum@oklahoman.com

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iloting an airborne neonatal intensive care unit is all in a day’s work for Capt. Ryan Burkitt.

Burkitt flies the KC135R Stratotanker, the versatile and venerable aerial refueling tanker that makes its home at Tinker Air Force Base.

A KC-135 was converted to a clinic for one of Burkitt’s missions, flying a mother and small child across the Pacific so the child could get needed medical care in the United States.

“That was a cool moment,” Burkitt said.

Burkitt’s duties have included several dozen combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, representing America at international air shows, and medevacs such as the flight across the Pacific.

His experience reflects the four-engine KC-135’s versatility, primarily as an aerial refueler but adaptable for passengers and cargo.

With his seat in the jet, which marked its 60th anniversary in Air Force service last year, Burkitt serves on a team that exemplifies Tinker’s mission — ready when duty calls.

Burkitt, 29, was born in Weatherford and attended Thomas High School, where he was one of 32 students in his graduating class.

He played center and linebacker for the Class A Terriers football team and ran distance events in track.

As student council

Capt. Ryan Burkitt flies the KC-135R Stratotanker with the 507th Air Refueling Wing at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTO BY STEVE GOOCH, THE OKLAHOMAN]

president his senior year, he pushed for Advanced Placement (AP) courses, which were introduced the next year.

Burkitt spent half-days as a senior taking classes at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford. He went on to the University of Oklahoma in Norman, earning a criminal justice degree.

It was at OU, as an undergraduate, that he

learned to fly. He found a home, a team and a career when he joined the Air Force Reserve as a sophomore.

After graduation, Burkitt served as a senior airman at Tinker.

To become a pilot, he attended officer training school at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

With his commission, 2nd Lt. Burkitt attended pilot training at

Vance Air Force Base in Enid, followed by training for initial qualification on the KC-135 at Altus Air Force Base.

Burkitt achieved the rank of captain last August. He serves in the Air Force Reserve’s 465th Air Refueling Squadron, part of the 507th Air Refueling Wing, both based at Tinker.

Burkitt said he began flying commercial as a

youngster, loved “the traveling side of things” and eventually developed an interest in the aircraft he was riding.

So it was natural to study for a private pilot’s license while at OU. Being an Air Force pilot requires a “genuine love of flying” and commitment — to training, to fitness and — relating back to high school sports — to the team.

“It’s a grind and a con-

tinual learning process,” Burkitt said.

Missions may last for hours and extend deep into the night.

A bond forms among the three crew aboard the KC-135 — pilot, co-pilot and refueling boom operator — and, “You’ve got to be sharp.”

“We’re all in it together,” he said. “You can’t have an ego when you’re up in the air.”

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

Tinker pilot continues family tradition

BY WILLIAM CRUM Staff Writer wcrum@oklahoman.com

1

st Lt. Pamela Bourque is carrying on a family tradition of military service that includes her grandfather, father and uncles.

Bourque, of Springfield, Massachusetts, flies the AWACS E-3 Sentry airborne battlefield command and control platform out of Tinker Air Force Base.

The AWACS, with its distinctive rotating radar dome mounted in front of the tail, is a familiar presence in the skies over central Oklahoma.

Service on the AWACS has taken Bourque for training to Las Vegas and as far as Alaska.

Bourque, 27, grew up in Springfield, where she was a four-year starter on her high school softball team and earned the Gold Award, the highest achievement in the Girl Scouts.

At Clemson University in South Carolina, Bourque was in Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) while earning a computer engineering degree, and recognition on the dean’s list.

She was commissioned in 2013 and applied in 2014 to become a pilot.

After a year of training at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi, Bourque graduated from the Air Force’s Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training program, receiving her silver pilot’s wings.

From there, she was assigned to fly the AWACS at Tinker with the 963rd Airborne Air Control Squadron, a unit of the 552nd Air Control Wing.

Flying keeps her busy,

1st Lt. Pamela Bourque sat at the controls of an AWACS E-3 Sentry at Tinker Air Force Base. A native of Springfield, Massachusetts, she has settled into military life.

Flying keeps her busy, while back on the ground she keeps occupied with CrossFit training and is getting back into playing softball.

while back on the ground she keeps occupied with CrossFit training and is getting back into playing softball.

Becoming an Air Force pilot is “very competitive” and is not for everyone. But for Bourque, keeping the family tradition going is important, as service is “what our country is founded on.”

1st Lt. Pamela Bourque flies the AWACS E-3 Sentry, the airborne battlefield command platform based at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTOS BY STEVE SISNEY, THE OKLAHOMAN]

SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

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‘It takes all of us to make the Air Force work’ Female leaders discuss how they arrived at Tinker

It’s really about giving a part of yourself for something bigger.”

BY JULIANA KEEPING Staff Writer jkeeping@oklahoman.com

Chief Master Sgt. Melissa Erb

Chief Master Sgt. Melissa Erb Today, Melissa Erb is Chief Master Sgt. for the 72nd Air Base Wing.

The road that led here began in a small Wisconsin farming town. Erb wanted to go to college, but she didn’t have a way to pay for it. That led her at 17 to consider the Air Force. Her parents signed off, and away she went.

“I spent 12 years overseas,” said Erb, 45. “I got to visit close to 25 different countries between deployments, traveling with my family in different operations I was involved in. It was great to see different cultures and get an understanding on how different services and militaries work.”

Overall, she spent 26 years working with security forces before landing at Tinker Air Force Base, taking on her current role in May. In her multifaceted role at Tinker, she serves as an adviser to Col. Kenyon Bel, the 72nd Air Base Wing commander, and oversees professional development avenues for airmen.

“I take care of them as far as what do they need to do next for their career,” she said. That means asking, “Are there things we could do better utilizing manpower and resources so they’re successful and able to carry out the mission in the easiest way?”

She and her husband have daughters age 21 and 11. The military

Lois Huizar is group director of the 948th Supply Chain Management Group at Tinker Air Force Base.

Lois Huizar

Chief Master Sgt. Melissa Erb has been serving in her role at Tinker Air Force Base since May. [PHOTOS BY JULIANA KEEPING, THE OKLAHOMAN]

life means her children are used to rolling with all manner of changes, having attended schools in Germany and Turkey, and more recently, the Albuquerque, New Mexico, area, where Erb had been stationed at

Kirtland Air Force Base.

What started off as a way to pay for college shaped every aspect of her life.

“It’s really about giving a part of yourself for something bigger,” she said.

“Educate yourself.”

The advice from Lois Huizar’s grandfather would set her on a winding path that eventually led to Tinker Air Force Base.

Her grandfather never advanced passed the second grade, instead going to work at a young age in eastern Kentucky’s Appalachian region.

Huizar, now 49, took her grandfather’s advice and today serves in a leadership role in logistics as the group director of the 948th Supply Chain Management Group.

It is a civilian job.

“It takes all of us to make the Air Force work,” she said.

The Air Force, Marines, Army and Navy

and military coalition partners rely on Huizar’s group and others like it at Tinker when aircraft need parts.

Let’s say an aircraft overseas needs something big, like a refueling boom for the KC-135 Stratotanker.

Or it needs something small, like an actuator, a motor that turns the wings.

“We ensure that part is available, on time, for that aircraft,” she said.

Groups like hers at Tinker also work to predict when planes on any base will need parts for maintenance and what those parts will be. Her group’s work entails the planning and programming portion of getting those jobs done.

“To do that across thousands of aircraft

and thousands of parts is pretty, I’ll say, amazing,” Huizar said.

She’s come a long way since girlhood days in Appalachia.

She followed in her sister’s footsteps and went to college, graduating later in life, at 30, but graduating nonetheless.

None in her family had earned college degrees before the siblings achieved the milestone.

After graduating, Huizar learned about an outstanding scholar program the Air Force had through a friend of hers in San Antonio.

She applied.

Two weeks later, the then single-mom packed a U-Haul and her two kids and moved to Texas.

At the time, family members predicted she’d be back in a month.

But it’s been almost 20 years. She said she still goes back home to Kentucky to visit, Huizar.

Along the way, she moved to Tinker Air Force Base and worked her way up on the civilian side of the Air Force by taking advantage of training and leadership opportunities, including earning a master’s degree in business.

Asked what she might tell other children growing up around limited opportunity, “Educate yourself where you can,” she said.

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THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

‘It is a pleasure and honor to serve’ FROM STAFF REPORTS

C

ol. Kenyon K. Bell, 44, is the 72nd Air Base Wing Commander at Tinker Air Force Base.

He leads nearly 3,000 airmen and is responsible for $5.4 billion in resources and a $311 million operating budget.

He provides installation support for more than 27,000 personnel assigned to the Headquarters Air Force Sustainment Center, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex, 552nd Air Control Wing, Navy Strategic Communications Wing One, 507th Air Refueling Wing, 448th Supply Chain Management Wing

Col. Kenyon Bell assumed command of the 72nd Air Base Wing at Tinker Air Force Base on May 1.

and 45 other associate units including the Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Information Systems Agency, Defense Finance and Accounting Service and 38th Cyber-

space Engineering Installation Group.

“What I've quickly learned here at Tinker is that airmen come in various forms — our civilian airmen are just as dedicated in the work they do stateside and in many cases forward deployed,” Bell said.

“I'm proud to say our civil servants bleed red, white and blue and have a servant's heart paralleling our active duty force.

They are force multiplier in their capacity here at Tinker.”

The 72nd Air Base Wing enables numerous critical missions at Tinker Air Force Base, the largest single-site employer in the state of

Oklahoma.

“Tinker has over 30,000 active duty, reserve and civilian members that work live and play on the base.

There is not another military community that outpaces the support from the folks outside the gates of Tinker Air Force Base,” Bell said.

“We are very fortunate to have a community that understands and supports our Airmen and our missions. From support to active duty Airmen to active involvement in providing resources, we can't do our mission without our community partners.”

Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Bell has

served at a number of Air Force installations across the country and around the world since graduating from the United States Air Force Academy in 1995. He was assigned to Tinker Air Force Base in July 2014, where he, his wife and three children call home.

“Home is wherever we are stationed, and we’re proud to call Oklahoma our home,” Bell said.

He has served in a variety of leadership and staff positions at the wing, numbered air force, air staff and joint staff levels.

As a career aircraft maintenance officer, he commanded two operational squadrons

to include serving as the first commander of the 451st Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Bell has earned many awards and decorations in his career, including the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medial with one device and the Korean Defense Service Medal.

“It is a pleasure and honor to serve the members of Tinker Air Force Base as Commander of the 72d Air Base Wing,” he said.

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when it comes with danger. He’s seen combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and says he had a “nice vacation” in Qatar.

Somewhere along the way, he was knocked unconscious by a rocket explosion, but he’s almost embarrassed to mention it.

“Out there,” he said, “you get your arm blown off and someone says, ‘So? This guy lost two legs.’ ” To an extent it’s whistling in the graveyard, but it’s also a necessary mindset, he said. One day he could be living comfortably in his Oklahoma duplex; the next he could get orders to fly out to a danger zone.

He stepped into such a role willingly. Both of his parents were Marines during Operation Desert Storm, and he was in middle school when the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred. When he grew old enough, he wanted to enlist in the Marines, too, but his father convinced him that the Air Force, among other things, had better food.

His time abroad was dangerous, sure, but Cross said there’s more to military service than most civilians know.

“What makes it worth it is the people that you’re with. … Plus there’s the side you never see on TV, the humanitarian side,” he said. “The houses (in Iraq and Afghanistan) are decrepit and falling down. You help provide medical assistance and hand out food. It lets you see close up what you’re really fighting for. We’re here to liberate these people, to get these ignorant ideologies gone” and to improve quality of life.

Master Sgt. Keorka Wilder sits at her desk July 20 at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTO BY STEVE SISNEY, THE OKLAHOMAN]

Home and family Air Force personnel who choose to live off base get a stipend, based in part on their rank, to pay for housing. Those like Cross who make use of the base’s residential housing don’t get that money, but they get a secure place to live and are not charged for utilities.

Staying on base makes particular sense for families. People such as Master Sgt. Keorka Wilder, 43, and her husband, Technical Sgt. Kelvin Wilder, 39, frequently move from one base to another, rarely lingering anywhere longer than two or three years.

If they bought houses everywhere they went, they’d somehow have to sell them from another state or country.

Keorka moves more often than her husband does. Her special skill set is in great demand, so sometimes she relocates while Kelvin stays home and takes care of the couple’s children, ages 14 and 7. They also have an adult son, 23, and they adopted Keorka’s sister, who is now in her 20s, after the women’s mother died.

The family makes a point of finding a new church family wherever they go. Religion gives them a reason to make friends off the base and

“I love it here,” Keorka Wilder said. “Everything you need is on the base. My house, I love my house. I love my neighbors. … Even the commissary is nice.” Learn more about the commissary on Page 14T. [PHOTO BY JACOB DERICHSWEILER, THE OKLAHOMAN]

a chance to broaden their connections. It’s to the point, Kelvin said, that they know people at almost every Air Force base in the world.

They’re in no hurry to leave Tinker, though.

“I love it here,” Keorka said. “Everything you need is on the base. My house, I love my house.

I love my neighbors. …

Even the commissary is nice.”

Keorka, who works in the 552 Air Control Wing, is a superintendent of the command support staff.

Her complicated job involves, among other things, advising three group and 17 squadron commanders on the administration of more

than 5,000 airmen in four states and two time zones, overseeing wing command records and inspecting 17 different file plans.

Basically, she said, every single scrap of paper comes through her door.

Kelvin has it a little bit easier. He works in the 72nd Medical Support Squadron. Much of his job involves pharmaceuticals and medical supplies. He also keeps materials at war readiness. Any piece of equipment for the medical clinic goes through his squadron.

The couple, both originally from Georgia, met in the military and

married in 2006. She was working at the Pentagon, and he was in Okinawa, Japan. He scrimped and saved, living on noodles and crackers, so he could fly back to the U.S. to see her every three weeks or so.

The Wilders have been at Tinker Air Force Base for about a year. Like Cross, they’re impressed with the nearly seamless blend of work and home life on the base.

“When we get home we take off our uniforms and have typical lives,” Keorka said. “We have cookouts; the children play outside. We talk with the neighbors.

We’re just regular people living life.”

SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

3T

‘It’s a good place to be’

Staff Sgt. Jerry Cross with his wife, Haylie, 4-year-old twin daughters, Jenevieve and Joslynn, and sons Jayce, 6, and Julian, 8, in their home at Tinker. [PHOTO BY STEVE SISNEY, THE OKLAHOMAN]

Tinker is a haven for home and work

BY KEN RAYMOND Staff Writer kraymond@oklahoman.com

M

ost days, Jerry Cross comes home from work, has dinner and sits outside on his porch.

Neighbors start congregating — at his place or someone else’s — and

soon there’s a group of five or six adults discussing the day’s events and enjoying the evening.

Children spill from many of the duplexes, playing together on small lawns, the street or in the park at the end of the road. Among them are Cross’ two boys, ages 8 and 6, and twin 4-yearold daughters. Cross, his wife, Haylie, and the other adults keep an eye on the kids to make sure

nobody plays rough or gets hurt, but for the most part, they don’t have to worry about things that concern other parents. There’s no stranger-danger, because there are no strangers. There’s little fear of violence, because everyone has been checked out.

It seems like a small town in a more forgiving decade, when people felt secure enough to

leave doors unlocked and windows open. That’s not unintentional. Cross and others like him stand guard, making sure here is safe and there is separate. Here, is Tinker Air Force Base and its residential housing; there, is the outside world and all the chaos it entails.

It’s not that Cross, a staff sergeant with the 72nd Security Forces Squadron, never leaves the base. It’s that he

doesn’t have to. In addition to housing, which is handled by a civilian management company, Cross and his family have access to base parks, stores, a gym, a bowling alley, a pool and a youth center. His commute could only be shorter if he literally worked from home.

“I’ve been here just shy of five years,” said Cross, who works as a base law enforcement

officer. “We love it out here. We’ve got family here and in Texas. It’s a good place to be, close to family with the kids.”

Cross, originally from Fort Worth, has been in the Air Force for 11 years and recently signed on for four more years. The military is his career, not a waypoint on his path to something else, and he loves his job, even SEE HAVEN, 4T

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‘It’s a good place to be’

Staff Sgt. Jerry Cross with his wife, Haylie, 4-year-old twin daughters, Jenevieve and Joslynn, and sons Jayce, 6, and Julian, 8, in their home at Tinker. [PHOTO BY STEVE SISNEY, THE OKLAHOMAN]

Tinker is a haven for home and work

BY KEN RAYMOND Staff Writer kraymond@oklahoman.com

M

ost days, Jerry Cross comes home from work, has dinner and sits outside on his porch.

Neighbors start congregating — at his place or someone else’s — and

soon there’s a group of five or six adults discussing the day’s events and enjoying the evening.

Children spill from many of the duplexes, playing together on small lawns, the street or in the park at the end of the road. Among them are Cross’ two boys, ages 8 and 6, and twin 4-yearold daughters. Cross, his wife, Haylie, and the other adults keep an eye on the kids to make sure

nobody plays rough or gets hurt, but for the most part, they don’t have to worry about things that concern other parents. There’s no stranger-danger, because there are no strangers. There’s little fear of violence, because everyone has been checked out.

It seems like a small town in a more forgiving decade, when people felt secure enough to

leave doors unlocked and windows open. That’s not unintentional. Cross and others like him stand guard, making sure here is safe and there is separate. Here, is Tinker Air Force Base and its residential housing; there, is the outside world and all the chaos it entails.

It’s not that Cross, a staff sergeant with the 72nd Security Forces Squadron, never leaves the base. It’s that he

doesn’t have to. In addition to housing, which is handled by a civilian management company, Cross and his family have access to base parks, stores, a gym, a bowling alley, a pool and a youth center. His commute could only be shorter if he literally worked from home.

“I’ve been here just shy of five years,” said Cross, who works as a base law enforcement

officer. “We love it out here. We’ve got family here and in Texas. It’s a good place to be, close to family with the kids.”

Cross, originally from Fort Worth, has been in the Air Force for 11 years and recently signed on for four more years. The military is his career, not a waypoint on his path to something else, and he loves his job, even SEE HAVEN, 4T

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

‘It is a pleasure and honor to serve’ FROM STAFF REPORTS

C

ol. Kenyon K. Bell, 44, is the 72nd Air Base Wing Commander at Tinker Air Force Base.

He leads nearly 3,000 airmen and is responsible for $5.4 billion in resources and a $311 million operating budget.

He provides installation support for more than 27,000 personnel assigned to the Headquarters Air Force Sustainment Center, Oklahoma City Air Logistics Complex, 552nd Air Control Wing, Navy Strategic Communications Wing One, 507th Air Refueling Wing, 448th Supply Chain Management Wing

Col. Kenyon Bell assumed command of the 72nd Air Base Wing at Tinker Air Force Base on May 1.

and 45 other associate units including the Defense Logistics Agency, Defense Information Systems Agency, Defense Finance and Accounting Service and 38th Cyber-

space Engineering Installation Group.

“What I've quickly learned here at Tinker is that airmen come in various forms — our civilian airmen are just as dedicated in the work they do stateside and in many cases forward deployed,” Bell said.

“I'm proud to say our civil servants bleed red, white and blue and have a servant's heart paralleling our active duty force.

They are force multiplier in their capacity here at Tinker.”

The 72nd Air Base Wing enables numerous critical missions at Tinker Air Force Base, the largest single-site employer in the state of

Oklahoma.

“Tinker has over 30,000 active duty, reserve and civilian members that work live and play on the base.

There is not another military community that outpaces the support from the folks outside the gates of Tinker Air Force Base,” Bell said.

“We are very fortunate to have a community that understands and supports our Airmen and our missions. From support to active duty Airmen to active involvement in providing resources, we can't do our mission without our community partners.”

Born in Columbia, South Carolina, Bell has

served at a number of Air Force installations across the country and around the world since graduating from the United States Air Force Academy in 1995. He was assigned to Tinker Air Force Base in July 2014, where he, his wife and three children call home.

“Home is wherever we are stationed, and we’re proud to call Oklahoma our home,” Bell said.

He has served in a variety of leadership and staff positions at the wing, numbered air force, air staff and joint staff levels.

As a career aircraft maintenance officer, he commanded two operational squadrons

to include serving as the first commander of the 451st Expeditionary Maintenance Squadron at Kandahar Airfield, Afghanistan, in support of Operation Enduring Freedom.

Bell has earned many awards and decorations in his career, including the Legion of Merit, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Air Force Commendation Medal, Afghanistan Campaign Medial with one device and the Korean Defense Service Medal.

“It is a pleasure and honor to serve the members of Tinker Air Force Base as Commander of the 72d Air Base Wing,” he said.

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when it comes with danger. He’s seen combat in Iraq and Afghanistan and says he had a “nice vacation” in Qatar.

Somewhere along the way, he was knocked unconscious by a rocket explosion, but he’s almost embarrassed to mention it.

“Out there,” he said, “you get your arm blown off and someone says, ‘So? This guy lost two legs.’ ” To an extent it’s whistling in the graveyard, but it’s also a necessary mindset, he said. One day he could be living comfortably in his Oklahoma duplex; the next he could get orders to fly out to a danger zone.

He stepped into such a role willingly. Both of his parents were Marines during Operation Desert Storm, and he was in middle school when the 9/11 terrorist attacks occurred. When he grew old enough, he wanted to enlist in the Marines, too, but his father convinced him that the Air Force, among other things, had better food.

His time abroad was dangerous, sure, but Cross said there’s more to military service than most civilians know.

“What makes it worth it is the people that you’re with. … Plus there’s the side you never see on TV, the humanitarian side,” he said. “The houses (in Iraq and Afghanistan) are decrepit and falling down. You help provide medical assistance and hand out food. It lets you see close up what you’re really fighting for. We’re here to liberate these people, to get these ignorant ideologies gone” and to improve quality of life.

Master Sgt. Keorka Wilder sits at her desk July 20 at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTO BY STEVE SISNEY, THE OKLAHOMAN]

Home and family Air Force personnel who choose to live off base get a stipend, based in part on their rank, to pay for housing. Those like Cross who make use of the base’s residential housing don’t get that money, but they get a secure place to live and are not charged for utilities.

Staying on base makes particular sense for families. People such as Master Sgt. Keorka Wilder, 43, and her husband, Technical Sgt. Kelvin Wilder, 39, frequently move from one base to another, rarely lingering anywhere longer than two or three years.

If they bought houses everywhere they went, they’d somehow have to sell them from another state or country.

Keorka moves more often than her husband does. Her special skill set is in great demand, so sometimes she relocates while Kelvin stays home and takes care of the couple’s children, ages 14 and 7. They also have an adult son, 23, and they adopted Keorka’s sister, who is now in her 20s, after the women’s mother died.

The family makes a point of finding a new church family wherever they go. Religion gives them a reason to make friends off the base and

“I love it here,” Keorka Wilder said. “Everything you need is on the base. My house, I love my house. I love my neighbors. … Even the commissary is nice.” Learn more about the commissary on Page 14T. [PHOTO BY JACOB DERICHSWEILER, THE OKLAHOMAN]

a chance to broaden their connections. It’s to the point, Kelvin said, that they know people at almost every Air Force base in the world.

They’re in no hurry to leave Tinker, though.

“I love it here,” Keorka said. “Everything you need is on the base. My house, I love my house.

I love my neighbors. …

Even the commissary is nice.”

Keorka, who works in the 552 Air Control Wing, is a superintendent of the command support staff.

Her complicated job involves, among other things, advising three group and 17 squadron commanders on the administration of more

than 5,000 airmen in four states and two time zones, overseeing wing command records and inspecting 17 different file plans.

Basically, she said, every single scrap of paper comes through her door.

Kelvin has it a little bit easier. He works in the 72nd Medical Support Squadron. Much of his job involves pharmaceuticals and medical supplies. He also keeps materials at war readiness. Any piece of equipment for the medical clinic goes through his squadron.

The couple, both originally from Georgia, met in the military and

married in 2006. She was working at the Pentagon, and he was in Okinawa, Japan. He scrimped and saved, living on noodles and crackers, so he could fly back to the U.S. to see her every three weeks or so.

The Wilders have been at Tinker Air Force Base for about a year. Like Cross, they’re impressed with the nearly seamless blend of work and home life on the base.

“When we get home we take off our uniforms and have typical lives,” Keorka said. “We have cookouts; the children play outside. We talk with the neighbors.

We’re just regular people living life.”

SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

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‘It takes all of us to make the Air Force work’ Female leaders discuss how they arrived at Tinker

It’s really about giving a part of yourself for something bigger.”

BY JULIANA KEEPING Staff Writer jkeeping@oklahoman.com

Chief Master Sgt. Melissa Erb

Chief Master Sgt. Melissa Erb Today, Melissa Erb is Chief Master Sgt. for the 72nd Air Base Wing.

The road that led here began in a small Wisconsin farming town. Erb wanted to go to college, but she didn’t have a way to pay for it. That led her at 17 to consider the Air Force. Her parents signed off, and away she went.

“I spent 12 years overseas,” said Erb, 45. “I got to visit close to 25 different countries between deployments, traveling with my family in different operations I was involved in. It was great to see different cultures and get an understanding on how different services and militaries work.”

Overall, she spent 26 years working with security forces before landing at Tinker Air Force Base, taking on her current role in May. In her multifaceted role at Tinker, she serves as an adviser to Col. Kenyon Bel, the 72nd Air Base Wing commander, and oversees professional development avenues for airmen.

“I take care of them as far as what do they need to do next for their career,” she said. That means asking, “Are there things we could do better utilizing manpower and resources so they’re successful and able to carry out the mission in the easiest way?”

She and her husband have daughters age 21 and 11. The military

Lois Huizar is group director of the 948th Supply Chain Management Group at Tinker Air Force Base.

Lois Huizar

Chief Master Sgt. Melissa Erb has been serving in her role at Tinker Air Force Base since May. [PHOTOS BY JULIANA KEEPING, THE OKLAHOMAN]

life means her children are used to rolling with all manner of changes, having attended schools in Germany and Turkey, and more recently, the Albuquerque, New Mexico, area, where Erb had been stationed at

Kirtland Air Force Base.

What started off as a way to pay for college shaped every aspect of her life.

“It’s really about giving a part of yourself for something bigger,” she said.

“Educate yourself.”

The advice from Lois Huizar’s grandfather would set her on a winding path that eventually led to Tinker Air Force Base.

Her grandfather never advanced passed the second grade, instead going to work at a young age in eastern Kentucky’s Appalachian region.

Huizar, now 49, took her grandfather’s advice and today serves in a leadership role in logistics as the group director of the 948th Supply Chain Management Group.

It is a civilian job.

“It takes all of us to make the Air Force work,” she said.

The Air Force, Marines, Army and Navy

and military coalition partners rely on Huizar’s group and others like it at Tinker when aircraft need parts.

Let’s say an aircraft overseas needs something big, like a refueling boom for the KC-135 Stratotanker.

Or it needs something small, like an actuator, a motor that turns the wings.

“We ensure that part is available, on time, for that aircraft,” she said.

Groups like hers at Tinker also work to predict when planes on any base will need parts for maintenance and what those parts will be. Her group’s work entails the planning and programming portion of getting those jobs done.

“To do that across thousands of aircraft

and thousands of parts is pretty, I’ll say, amazing,” Huizar said.

She’s come a long way since girlhood days in Appalachia.

She followed in her sister’s footsteps and went to college, graduating later in life, at 30, but graduating nonetheless.

None in her family had earned college degrees before the siblings achieved the milestone.

After graduating, Huizar learned about an outstanding scholar program the Air Force had through a friend of hers in San Antonio.

She applied.

Two weeks later, the then single-mom packed a U-Haul and her two kids and moved to Texas.

At the time, family members predicted she’d be back in a month.

But it’s been almost 20 years. She said she still goes back home to Kentucky to visit, Huizar.

Along the way, she moved to Tinker Air Force Base and worked her way up on the civilian side of the Air Force by taking advantage of training and leadership opportunities, including earning a master’s degree in business.

Asked what she might tell other children growing up around limited opportunity, “Educate yourself where you can,” she said.

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

Tinker pilot continues family tradition

BY WILLIAM CRUM Staff Writer wcrum@oklahoman.com

1

st Lt. Pamela Bourque is carrying on a family tradition of military service that includes her grandfather, father and uncles.

Bourque, of Springfield, Massachusetts, flies the AWACS E-3 Sentry airborne battlefield command and control platform out of Tinker Air Force Base.

The AWACS, with its distinctive rotating radar dome mounted in front of the tail, is a familiar presence in the skies over central Oklahoma.

Service on the AWACS has taken Bourque for training to Las Vegas and as far as Alaska.

Bourque, 27, grew up in Springfield, where she was a four-year starter on her high school softball team and earned the Gold Award, the highest achievement in the Girl Scouts.

At Clemson University in South Carolina, Bourque was in Reserve Officers’ Training Corps (ROTC) while earning a computer engineering degree, and recognition on the dean’s list.

She was commissioned in 2013 and applied in 2014 to become a pilot.

After a year of training at Columbus Air Force Base in Mississippi, Bourque graduated from the Air Force’s Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training program, receiving her silver pilot’s wings.

From there, she was assigned to fly the AWACS at Tinker with the 963rd Airborne Air Control Squadron, a unit of the 552nd Air Control Wing.

Flying keeps her busy,

1st Lt. Pamela Bourque sat at the controls of an AWACS E-3 Sentry at Tinker Air Force Base. A native of Springfield, Massachusetts, she has settled into military life.

Flying keeps her busy, while back on the ground she keeps occupied with CrossFit training and is getting back into playing softball.

while back on the ground she keeps occupied with CrossFit training and is getting back into playing softball.

Becoming an Air Force pilot is “very competitive” and is not for everyone. But for Bourque, keeping the family tradition going is important, as service is “what our country is founded on.”

1st Lt. Pamela Bourque flies the AWACS E-3 Sentry, the airborne battlefield command platform based at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTOS BY STEVE SISNEY, THE OKLAHOMAN]

SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

7T

‘It’s a grind and a continual learning process’ Tinker pilot has love of flying, commitment to team

BY WILLIAM CRUM Staff Writer wcrum@oklahoman.com

P

iloting an airborne neonatal intensive care unit is all in a day’s work for Capt. Ryan Burkitt.

Burkitt flies the KC135R Stratotanker, the versatile and venerable aerial refueling tanker that makes its home at Tinker Air Force Base.

A KC-135 was converted to a clinic for one of Burkitt’s missions, flying a mother and small child across the Pacific so the child could get needed medical care in the United States.

“That was a cool moment,” Burkitt said.

Burkitt’s duties have included several dozen combat missions in Iraq and Afghanistan, representing America at international air shows, and medevacs such as the flight across the Pacific.

His experience reflects the four-engine KC-135’s versatility, primarily as an aerial refueler but adaptable for passengers and cargo.

With his seat in the jet, which marked its 60th anniversary in Air Force service last year, Burkitt serves on a team that exemplifies Tinker’s mission — ready when duty calls.

Burkitt, 29, was born in Weatherford and attended Thomas High School, where he was one of 32 students in his graduating class.

He played center and linebacker for the Class A Terriers football team and ran distance events in track.

As student council

Capt. Ryan Burkitt flies the KC-135R Stratotanker with the 507th Air Refueling Wing at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTO BY STEVE GOOCH, THE OKLAHOMAN]

president his senior year, he pushed for Advanced Placement (AP) courses, which were introduced the next year.

Burkitt spent half-days as a senior taking classes at Southwestern Oklahoma State University in Weatherford. He went on to the University of Oklahoma in Norman, earning a criminal justice degree.

It was at OU, as an undergraduate, that he

learned to fly. He found a home, a team and a career when he joined the Air Force Reserve as a sophomore.

After graduation, Burkitt served as a senior airman at Tinker.

To become a pilot, he attended officer training school at Maxwell Air Force Base in Montgomery, Alabama.

With his commission, 2nd Lt. Burkitt attended pilot training at

Vance Air Force Base in Enid, followed by training for initial qualification on the KC-135 at Altus Air Force Base.

Burkitt achieved the rank of captain last August. He serves in the Air Force Reserve’s 465th Air Refueling Squadron, part of the 507th Air Refueling Wing, both based at Tinker.

Burkitt said he began flying commercial as a

youngster, loved “the traveling side of things” and eventually developed an interest in the aircraft he was riding.

So it was natural to study for a private pilot’s license while at OU. Being an Air Force pilot requires a “genuine love of flying” and commitment — to training, to fitness and — relating back to high school sports — to the team.

“It’s a grind and a con-

tinual learning process,” Burkitt said.

Missions may last for hours and extend deep into the night.

A bond forms among the three crew aboard the KC-135 — pilot, co-pilot and refueling boom operator — and, “You’ve got to be sharp.”

“We’re all in it together,” he said. “You can’t have an ego when you’re up in the air.”

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

‘We’re basically like NASCAR guys’ Aircraft mechanics consider themselves Tinker’s pit crew

BY TIM WILLERT Staff Writer twillert@oklahoman.com

E

lijah Sabree has been fixing stuff for as long as he can remember.

Mostly electrical stuff.

“I used to install car audio when I was younger because it was so fun,” said Sabree, 24, a member of the 507th Air Refueling Wing at Tinker Air Force Base.

“I was really into rewiring stuff and fixing stuff, so when I found out there was an opportunity to do a job like that, just on a larger scale, I jumped at it.”

Now the senior airman from Pensacola, Florida, works on planes for a living.

Big ones.

The wing operates and maintains eight KC-135R Stratotanker aircraft providing world-wide aerial refueling to U.S. and NATO aircraft in times of peace, war and national emergency.

On a recent summer day, Sabree, a maintainer who specializes in aircraft electrical and environmental systems, is installing a cotter pin on a KC-135 landing gear safety switch.

“My primary responsibility is getting this fixed so we can test this airplane and get it back to flying,” he said.

Sabree was 18 and “fresh out of high school” when he enlisted in the Air Force. He wasn’t looking for a regular job.

“I wanted to do something a little bit different that required a little bit more out of me as a human

Senior Airman Elijah Sabree, with the 507th Air Refueling Wing, works July 19 on the landing gear of a KC-135 Stratotanker at Tinker Air Force Base.

Staff Sgt. Spencer Coles, left, and Senior Airman Elijah Sabree, with the 507th Air Refueling Wing, work July 19 on the landing gear of a KC-135 Stratotanker at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTOS BY PAUL HELLSTERN, THE OKLAHOMAN]

being,” he said. “I had my choices, and my job just kind of stuck out at me.”

Sabree gets a certain satisfaction from performing his work well.

“The time that you put in, the sweat, getting to see it take off is probably like the sweetest gratification ever,” he said.

“This plane right here, knowing that tomorrow or tonight is going to take off and perform a mission is pretty gratifying.”

Tech. Sgt. Brian Watson is an air-

craft mechanic from Blanchard who lives in Moore.

Watson, 29, changes tires and lightbulbs and fuels the aircraft.

“I fix most minor things that are wrong,” he said. “I’m kind of the jack of all trades but master of none.”

Watson compares what he does to being a member of a NASCAR pit crew.

“We’re basically like NASCAR guys,” he said.

“The pilot is the driver

... he comes into the pit stop. We’re the guys who make sure all the servicing is correct — change the tire if they need it, fuel it up and send it on its way. That’s basically what we do.”

‘They are family’ The 507th Air Refueling Wing is the largest Air Force Reserve Command flying unit in the state of Oklahoma, employing more than 1,100 men and women.

It is made up of citizen airmen, many of whom live and work in Oklahoma communities in addition to their Reserve commitment.

About 200 members of the 507th are traditional civilian employees or dual status Air Reserve Technicians who serve as a support cadre.

It is home to men and women who come from different backgrounds and different places.

“We all come together, and it becomes our family,” said Senior Master Sgt. Marshall Hunter, who oversees sections devoted to hydraulic and electronic systems. “It’s that camaraderie that sustains us. Over time it grows more and more.”

Sabree considers his fellow maintainers family.

“Working with these men and women, day in and day out, they are family,” he said. “I love these people. I’d lay down my life for them. I know they’d do the same for me.”

Hunter and his wife of one month, Master Sgt. Nickelette Hunter, a recruiter, met at Travis Air Force Base in California.

“We were both divorced out there, and

I was an aircraft maintainer of C-17s and she worked over in the office of the commander on the C-5 side,” he said. “We met, and it’s been stars ever since.”

Although married a short time, the two have been together for five years. Between them they have four kids — all girls.

“We weren’t looking to dive right into marriage again, even though we knew we were going to get married,” she said.

Nickelette Hunter’s job is selling the 507th to maintenance workers.

“It’s a great way to serve part-time with fulltime benefits,” she said.

“You’re not going to find a part-time job like this anywhere with the type of benefits we offer.

“If somebody is looking for a great career start in their life and they have an interest in mechanics, this is an awesome way for them to get accredited training through the Air Force that can actually work towards a degree for them while they’re in.”

To learn more about joining the 507th Air Refueling Wing, call 405-409-6311 or 800-2571212.

SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

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‘We’re hope peddlers’

Chaplains Sammy Tucker, Kory Capps and Paul Joyner pose for a photo in the chapel at Tinker Air Force Base. Standing behind them are Shon Jackson, chaplain assistant, and Tech Sgt. Amy Hatten, who are both part of the chaplaincy program. [PHOTO BY PAUL HELLSTERN, THE OKLAHOMAN]

Tinker chaplains work to strengthen spiritual focus of those who serve, work and live on base

BY CARLA HINTON Religion Editor chinton@oklahoman.com

C

haplains at Tinker Air Force Base are on a mission to help members of the Tinker “family” keep an unseen, insidious enemy at bay.

Sure, there are tangible adversaries, but the spiritual leaders said the main foe they hope to vanquish is hopelessness.

“We’re the purveyors of hope, and if we are not doing our job, who is?” said Wing Chaplain Sammy Tucker, a Temple, OK, native.

Paul Joyner, his deputy wing chaplain, put it in a different way.

“We’re hope peddlers,” he said smiling.

The two men, along with Chaplain Kory Capps, recently discussed their ministry on the base, where they say between 70 percent and 90 percent of people identify with a spiritual belief system, mainly a Christian denomination.

Tucker said the Air

Force has chaplains that ascribe to other faiths like Judaism and Islam, but the six chaplains who provided spiritual leadership for the enlisted men and women and civilians who are connected to the base are Christian. He said this is because of the size of the base and the fact that most of the people at the base are Christians.

Still, the chaplains offer spiritual guidance to all who request such counsel. Tucker said often, Christians don’t readily know whether the chaplains are Catholic or Protestant so “we’ll get called father, pastor or

brother.”

He, Capps and Joyner are all ordained clergy, with Tucker a United Methodist, Capps affiliated with the Texas Baptists and Joyner a Presbyterian.

No matter their affiliation, Joyner said each of the chaplains is responsible for doing his part to develop airmen who can “fly, fight and win.”

Their part, they said, is helping individuals develop “spiritual fitness.”

“Statistics tell us that people who have faith are more resilient, happy, healthy individuals,” Tucker said.

‘The bigger picture’ Capps said theirs is a mission that doesn’t stop.

The two other men agreed.

They pointed out that Capps had 22 suicide interventions in 2016 alone.

“We’re the ones that people come to at their most vulnerable state of their lives,” Tucker said.

Joyner said as a result of that vulnerability, they don’t go around patting themselves on the back after coming to someone’s aid.

Instead, he said they and a team of other people are embedded in

the culture of the base so that they are there when needed “but not for the purpose of accolades or grandiose applause.”

Tucker said hope and faith are not tangible — they come from within.

“Everyone is spiritual.

We help people find that.

We help them to see the bigger picture,” he said.

The chaplains said they plan to spread their message of hope on Sept. 11, when they host a special walk/run on the base.

Tucker said they held the Tinker 9/11 memorial run and ruck/walk last year and it was a popular event.

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

‘It definitely galvanizes us and helps us stay together’

Senior Airman Dominique Hall, and her father, Master Sgt. Rodney Hall, are both members of the 507th Air Refueling Wing at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTO BY STEVE GOOCH, THE OKLAHOMAN]

A father-daughter duo serves at Tinker Air Force Base

BY NICK SARDIS Staff Writer nsardis@oklahoman.com

D

ominique Hall’s path to serving at Tinker Air Force Base began early.

“I was born on this base, actually,” she said.

Hall, 24, is a maintenance analyst for Tinker’s 507th Air Refueling Wing, the largest Air Force Reserve flying unit in Oklahoma.

Hall said she joined the military to follow in her father’s footsteps.

Her father, Master

Sgt. Rodney Hall, 55, also works for the 507 ARW and has been an aircraft electrician during his 32 years in the Reserve.

Originally from Texas, he said he joined the Air Force, “because I thought it would be a great way to serve my country. And on top of that, I wanted to see the world.”

Despite those intentions, Rodney Hall would never travel the world during his time in the Air Force.

“I did my first four years in Austin, Texas — Bergstrom Air Force Base. After I did my four years, I got out and

Tinker offered me a job here and I said, ‘Well, it’s pretty close to home,’ so I jumped on it,” he said.

A single father, Rodney Hall said he wanted to be present for his two daughters, who are now 19 and 24 years old.

“In the Air Force, they provided me with a lot of flexibility,” he said.

“Mission comes first, but they also (the Air Force), they bent over backwards to make sure that I could get them (his kids) to day care and come in later. They pretty much helped me do a whole lot of things that in other jobs, I’m not too sure that I would have been able to do.”

‘Owe the Air Force’ Dominique Hall said she is grateful to have a father that was always there for her.

Her admiration for her father’s military service prompted her decision to follow his example.

She has served in the Air Force Reserve for four years as she works her way through college.

She earned her bachelor’s degree from the University of Oklahoma in supply chain management and is currently working toward a master’s degree in business administration.

She said none of this would have been possible

if she hadn’t followed her father’s footsteps and joined the Air Force.

“Without the Air Force, I wouldn’t have a degree, and I do have an 8-year-old son and I definitely don’t think I would be able to support him if I didn’t have that degree,” she said.

“The Air Force has played a critical role in me being able to give my son the life he deserves.

So, I definitely owe the Air Force, and I’m happy to serve my country along the way.”

For Rodney Hall, he enjoys his current role of assisting the younger generation before he retires next year.

“The Air Force means a whole lot to me, especially in the twilight of my career,” he said.

“I get to train and work with a whole lot of the next generation of people, and it’s just great. I love training them. I love helping them out. I love showing them how to go about it the right way.

“For right now, that is what the Air Force means to me.”

The Halls said throughout their years serving in the Air Force together, they feel like they’ve never been closer.

“It definitely galvanizes us,” Rodney Hall said. “And helps us stay together.”

‘It can build into other parts of your life’ Fitness, nutrition experts keep military members in peak condition

BY MELISSA HOWELL Staff Writer mhowell@oklahoman.com

Exercise physiologist Traci Fuhrman and registered dietitian Wendi Knowles are combining their talents at Tinker Air Force Base to keep the base’s active duty personnel in condition, both inside and out.

All members of the U.S. military must pass rigorous physical fitness tests to remain in their ranks.

For those in the Air Force, the test includes a timed run and a specific number of push-ups and situps to be completed within one minute. They also must pass a waist circumference test. The standards vary according to sex and age.

The task for Fuhrman and Knowles is to get those who may need a little help passing the test into peak condition.

To that end, they provide four eight-week of “Performance Intervention” courses that combine fitness training and nutrition.

Traci Fuhrman, exercise physiologist fitness instructor, left, and Wendi Knowles, registered dietitian demonstrate the BOD POD at Tinker Air Force Base on July 18. The BOD POD is used to measure whole body densitometry to determine body composition. [PHOTO BY STEVE GOOCH, THE OKLAHOMAN]

“In the civilian world, your job isn’t dependent on passing a fitness test.

That’s why it’s so much different here,” Fuhrman said. “Their job is depen-

dent on passing this test, and if they don’t pass the test, they don’t get to keep their job. It weighs heavy on them. We see people go to extremes

just to be able to pass, and that’s when they get injured or practice bad habits.”

Fuhrman’s and Knowles’ Fit program is designed for progressive intensity, five days a week over the eightweek course. Each day’s hourlong class provides a different piece of the training, including running, strength training, flexibility, cardio and functional movement conditioning, in addition to nutrition and behavior modification.

In addition to a running-only course and a nutrition-only course, they also have a modified course for active duty men and women who are recovering from an injury, which Fuhrman and Knowles see frequently.

“With improper form and technique and the way that they’re moving and not stretching properly and not conditioning properly, it will lead to injury,” Fuhrman said. “And a lot of them already have had injuries, so my job is to correct that so they’re not going to get reinjured or to prevent the injuring from happening altogether.”

To correct bad habits, Fuhrman uses specialized equipment to determine body composition, resting metabolic rate and gait.

“I take them through a functional movement screen where I look at the way they move. That helps with body movements and patterns and correcting their mobility,” she said.

As for Knowles, her task is whittling down the waistline.

"We see a lot of folks who have lost a lot of weight to get into the military and then go through boot camp.

That’s tough, it’s hard, the weight stays down.

And then they get to tech school, and they start back to their old habits,” she said. “There’s a real issue with even qualifying to get into the military because the parameters are such that you have to have a certain weight. A third of the population is either overweight or obese, so they’re struggling with getting people in. There are people who want to (join the military) and they’ll go on crash diets to get in but they don’t really learn. And if you

don’t really learn ... the weight will come back.”

To achieve a lasting change, Knowles said she brings in a behavior health specialist to help work through barriers.

“A lot of this is about extended overall behavior change because behavioral health becomes important for both fitness and nutrition,” she said. “If they haven’t been working out, why haven’t they?

What is missing? How can they build this into their lifestyle and how can they change behaviors?”

Despite their 75 percent to 85 percent success rate, Fuhrman and Knowles say there is no magic bullet. It’s about hard work, moderation and common sense.

“We have people who go through the program and are very successful, then they return to their old habits,” Knowles said. “Then we have people who go through the program who are able to maintain it and model it. It helps with so many aspects of your life if you can get control of the fitness and eating part of it. It can build into other parts of your life.”

SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

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Making ‘sure they are getting a fair shot’ Union leader aims to support Tinker’s civilian workers

Visit Oklahoman.com to see a video interview with Carl Dahms, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 916.

BY JACK MONEY Business Writer jmoney@oklahoman.com

A

bout 14,000 civilians work at Tinker Air Force Base near Oklahoma City.

And to the leader of the union that secures most of those workers’ pay and employment oversight agreements, those workers are important.

“People often underestimate the importance of civilian workers in the federal workforce,” said Carl Dahms, president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 916.

Those employees, he noted, remove, rehabilitate and reinstall engines and service the various types of aircraft that routinely rotate through Tinker.

“Throughout every aspect of aircraft maintenance, somebody is working on the base to achieve that mission,” Dahms said.

“There is no way Tinker could function without the civilians who are here.”

There also is no way those employees could be as effective in the jobs they do without being represented by an organization with the power to negotiate their employment agreements covering pay and working conditions, Dahms said.

In the case of AFGE Local 916, one significant deal it recently negotiated is a master labor agreement, which defines workplace rules on the base that aren’t set by Department of Defense regulations.

The organization also recently wrapped up a process it went through with the U.S. Air Force to create a new employee evaluation system for civilian workers that took effect in April.

Of the 14,000-plus civilian employees at Tinker, Dahms said

to accomplish the mission, too.

“It is an ongoing process.”

Supporting the people

Carl Dahms, a materials expediter at Tinker Air Force Base and president of the American Federation of Government Employees Local 916, shows one of the forklifts he and other workers use to move parts between shops and buildings at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTO BY SARAH PHIPPS, THE OKLAHOMAN]

about 11,000 of those are represented by AFGE as it works on those issues and others.

About 3,300 of those workers actually belong to the union, an amount Dahms said is about average for a civilian workforce Tinker’s size.

But, regardless of whether or not an employee belongs, Dahms said the union works with the Air Force and all of its employees to help provide good government services delivered to the American public.

It also works to be sure civilian workers are treated fairly and with dignity.

“Membership with the union is voluntarily; people get out of it what they put into it,” Dahms said. “You can’t sit back and complain about

something if you aren’t willing to step up and get involved.”

Supporting the mission Dahms, a U.S. Army veteran, joined Tinker Air Force Base’s civilian workforce in 1996 as a member of the base’s paint and wash facility, where aircraft are cleaned so that they can be inspected for structural integrity and other potential problems.

From there, he moved into Building 3001, where he cleaned and inspected parts and components used to rebuild aircraft engines.

Later, Dahms became a materials expediter, which is an employee who works on the base to move equipment and materials from shop to shop and building to

building so that needed repair and maintenance work can get done.

All kinds of parts and material constantly are on the move at the base, ranging from something that might fit into a small box to something else that has to be moved on a trailer pulled by a truck.

The job is critical, because anything that is lost, misplaced or delayed adds time to the process it takes to rehabilitate an aircraft that’s needed by the military to help fulfill its mission.

Dahms said that he, like most Tinker employees, proudly joined the base’s civilian workforce because it gave him a way to carry on the tradition of supporting those who still serve in the nation’s armed forces.

Being able to do so is something he enjoys, he

said.

“No matter where you work on the base or what you do, you’re operating with the knowledge that the stuff you are working on eventually is going to go back on to an airplane,” he said. “It is all part of the final process of putting that airplane together and getting it back in the sky.

“We want these guys that fly these planes to be safe and get back home to their families.”

Dahms said employees also are encouraged to speak up by submitting ideas whenever they encounter situations where they see that something might be able to be done more efficiently or safely.

“In this day and age, you’ve got to be competitive. You want safety first, but you also look for more efficient ways

The official charter date for AFGE Local 916 was June 26, 1946. In 1963, its roll of active members was between 200 and 500 workers.

By May of 1966, AFGE Local 916 had more than 2,000 members and effectively was fighting for the rights of the workforce at Tinker Air Force Base.

On Sept. 25, 1968, 75 percent of eligible workers voted to have AFGE Local 916 be their exclusive representative, and shortly thereafter its roll of active members peaked at 8,600.

Since then, AFGE Local 916 has represented most of the base’s civilian workforce through discussions and grievance processes that have involved personnel policies, practices, and working conditions.

Dahms, who became a shop steward and squadron representative for the union before joining its board of directors and later becoming an officer, said he’s also proud he gets to help people.

“For me, it is the ability to represent people to make sure they are getting a fair shot,” he said.

“There are a lot of people out there that don’t have a clear understanding of how things can go whenever they encounter a situation involving a grievance or another employment issue.

“Our goal is to direct people in the right direction to make sure they are treated fairly and justly.”

‘Trying to be the best base in the Air Force’ HR staffers work to increase disability hires at Tinker

BY K.S. MCNUTT Staff Writer kmcnutt@oklahoman.com

A resume database launched last year at Tinker Air Force Base is leading the way when it comes to hiring qualified civilians with disabilities.

The Special Excepted Appointment program identifies job applicants and matches them to open positions that fit their skill set.

“We hire 10 to 15 people a month through the disability program,” said Everick Bowen, human resources specialist who manages the program.

The SEA database went live in January 2016 and streamlined the job posting and hiring process to fill positions more quickly.

“It knocked off half the time,” Bowen said. Managers like getting someone on the job sooner rather than later, he said.

SEA went from hundreds of job candidates on paper to thousands online.

That’s how Tinker surpassed the Department of Defense objective of 2 percent targeted disability hires, Bowen said.

The base recently hit 2.95 percent.

“We’re trying to be

Everick Bowen, human resources specialist, manages the Special Excepted Appointment program at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTOS PROVIDED]

Rebecca Traynor, affirmative employment program manager at Tinker Air Force Base, was hired through the Special Excepted Appointment program.

the best base in the Air Force,” Bowen said.

“The Air Force has taken notice and wants to push that out to the whole Air Force.”

Rebecca Traynor, Affirmative Employment Program manager at Tinker, is a believer in the SEA program.

“It was a blessing for

me,” Traynor said. “I was very fortunate. As most people know, it’s very hard to get on at Tinker.”

She was hired for a temporary job as a student in 2009. When she earned her bachelor’s degree later that year, she was hired full-time in the personnel programs

division.

Traynor was born with a cleft lip and cleft palate that required eight surgeries, 11 years of speech therapy and extensive orthodontics that came with a fair amount of teasing.

“Going through that I am more sympathetic than most. I do feel like I

relate to others with disabilities,” she said.

She worked with Bowen and others to develop the online SEA job posting and resume collecting component, and she managed it before Bowen.

“I’m still a part of it.

I’m an advocate for it,” Traynor said.

When a qualified candidate needs a reasonable accommodation to do the work, Bowen checks with Traynor to make that happen. It could be as simple as provide a nearby parking space for someone who cannot walk very far.

The Department of Defense hiring goal is 2 percent for people with targeted disabilities and 12 percent for disabilities in general, Bowen said.

About 9.5 percent of Tinker’s 15,000 to 16,000

civilians employees have some disability — including obesity, depression, missing limbs and cancer, he said.

A growing number of applicants come via the state Department of Rehabilitation Services, whose counselors show people how to navigate the SEA program.

Posting of public job notices are updated every six months. Applicants must reapply to ensure their contact information is always current, Traynor said.

In the “paper days,” staffers had to sort through applications and would pick a few for a manager to review, she said. Now the applicant indicates all the jobs he or she feels qualified to do, and the information is sent to every manager with an opening that fits.

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SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

Tech. Sgt. Kyle Schulz, with the 76th Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight, stands July 20 beside a bomber used for emergency temporary field repair training at the APL at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTO BY STEVE SISNEY, THE OKLAHOMAN]

‘We’re like the firemen for aircraft maintenance’ Tinker group repairs aircraft in the heat of battle

BY MATT DINGER Staff Writer mdinger@oklahoman.com

W

henever an aircraft takes a hit on the battlefield, it’s Tinker Air Force Base’s 76th Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight that sets off overseas to get it back in the air.

Their primary mission is Aircraft Battle Damage Repair. They’re the smallest of three units that do such work across the entirety of the Air Force.

The unit of 25 people — all currently men — operate under the guidance of Senior Master Sgt. Thomas Opp. They work with aircraft engineers to find fixes in tough conditions.

“We’re kind of like a Band-Aid. We’re like the firemen for aircraft maintenance,” Opp said.

“The main part of our mission is all overseas.

Nobody is shooting aircraft in the states or over in England or anything. These are all in Afghanistan and Iraq and the bases we have over there,” he said.

Opp supervises four teams of six people each, three sheet metal workers and three crew chiefs.

Typically, a team has about 72 hours to respond to a war zone when they’ve been called up for service. A quick check of training requirements, medical clearances and plane tickets are usually all that stand between them and work in a combat zone.

“Some of these repairs, you’re only looking at a couple hours to fix.

That’s easy. But most of the time when we get tagged, it’s a bigger one. When a round goes through there (an aircraft) and explodes, it doesn’t look that bad on the outside. It’s when you open the panel up, or cut it out, that you see everything destroyed behind it,” Opp said.

The team has a trailer

loaded with everything they need to get an aircraft back in the air.

“When we deploy, they have every tool, every piece of metal, every rivet, every fastener, every piece of tubing, every piece of cable, is in that trailer,” Opp said.

Even though each member has a special assignment, they all receive additional training.

“If you’re out in a war zone, and it’s really going off, my crew chief could be dead tomorrow, and all I’ve got left is a sheet metal guy, so everyone kind of cross trains on everyone else’s stuff,” Opp said.

‘Controlled chaos’ Technical Sgt. Lance Green is in charge of that training, which is required once a year but each member goes through twice.

Green specializes in sheet metal work.

“We’re pretty much split right down the middle between the sheet metal guys who do structural repairs and your crew chiefs, which are kind of a jack of all trades. They’ll do inspections, simple component replacements.

While we’re superspecialized on structures, they kind of have a general knowledge of the majority of the aircraft,” Green said.

“If an aircraft receives battle damage downrange, our job is to get it back in the air as quickly as possible because we want to have the most aircraft available for combat sorties on that mission as possible,” he said.

“When you’re downrange, it’s something that’s structurally sound, but we can accomplish in a very rapid fashion.

Simple. Quick. Get it back into the fight,” Green said.

The members volunteer and are selected for periods of four years. Whenever they’re not in war zones, they help check out older aircraft, do maintenance work on planes on bases, and train.

Tech. Sgt. Kyle Schulz, with the 76th Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight, shows tools in a mobile repair trailer at the APL at Tinker Air Force Base.

Tech. Sgt. Kyle Schulz, with the 76th Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight, stands in the shell of a bomber’s engine used for training at the APL at Tinker Air Force Base.

“It’s controlled chaos, so we just start blowing holes where we know there’s everything behind it,” Opp said.

“While we’re doing this, during the exercise, we actually attack them while they’re trying to fix airplanes and make it as real as possible.”

In addition to loud noises, crew members are shot at with paintball guns.

And whenever everyone is caught up on work, Opp will authorize them to

do volunteer work in the community, like manning soup kitchens and working with the food bank.

But the assignment definitely can take its toll with all the unknowns that come into working on the unit.

We want people that really want to be here, because we can be gone 200 days a year, and if you don’t have a strong relationship with your family or a strong financial background, it can be detrimental,” Opp said.

Senior Master Sgt. Tommy Opp, with the 76th Expeditionary Depot Maintenance Flight, shows training tools in the APL at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTOS BY STEVE SISNEY, THE OKLAHOMAN]

SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

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Curtis Swift stands among some of the bbooks and files he uses for his job as 552nd Air Wing historian at Tinker Air Force Base. [PHOTO BY STEVE GOOCH, THE OKLAHOMAN]

‘The goal is to not repeat mistakes’ Tinker historians’ job is very much part of present

BY MATT PATTERSON Staff Writer mpatterson@oklahoman.com

T

he top floor of a late 1940sera building on Tinker Air Force Base is a treasure trove of the base’s history.

Photos of military jets hang on the walls or are stacked on desks and tables. There are rooms filled with books and old VHS tapes and 16 mm films. And there’s even a couch that once flew on John F. Kennedy's and Lyndon B. Johnson's Air Force One. All are in the custody of Tinker Air Base Wing historian Howard Halvorsen. The couch, with its 1960s look and ashtrays built into the arms, is a highlight.

“We don’t really know how it got here,” he said.

“My assumption would be that Air Force One came here at some point for work, and it was pulled off and replaced by something else.”

But historians don’t always dwell in the past, and their work isn’t

The 552nd is made up of E-3 Sentry AWACS planes, the large aircraft with the rotating domes. The aircraft provide surveillance, command and control, and communications in an area the military is operating. These planes have become part of Tinker’s identity over the last several decades. [PHOTO BY PAUL HELLSTERN, THE OKLAHOMAN ARCHIVES]

always meant to be read a century later. What Halvorsen and 552nd Air Wing historian Curtis Swift do is very much about the present.

Historians log sorties and missions flown. They chronicle the lineage and heritage of units going back decades. And they also provide information for those making decisions in the present.

“Historians can and

should be used as a management tool,” Halvorsen said. “What did they do in other times of declining budgets? What were the limiting factors and challenges? How can we better use taxpayer money and our time not doing the wrong thing?”

Swift often finds himself explaining his job to people surprised to learn he’s a historian.

The 552nd is made up

of E-3 Sentry AWACS planes, the large aircraft with the rotating domes.

The aircraft provide surveillance, command and control, and communications in an area the military is operating. These planes have become part of Tinker’s identity over the last several decades.

Swift is an Air Force veteran serving in the security police, but it was his job

as a historian that provided an opportunity to be deployed to Afghanistan.

Spending time at a coalition air base in Kabul was something he embraced.

“It’s where the action is,” he said. “It’s not as benign as a support base that is further back.

When I landed, there were 17 coalition countries. It kind of felt like the Wild West.”

Swift tracks data about the air wing that includes number of sorties flown and hours each plane has flown. It’s all compiled into an annual report that becomes official record.

“For leadership to learn from our past, which most of them make an effort to do, it helps them make decisions on what’s going on tomorrow or next month or next year,” Swift said.

“How did this type of airframe perform? How efficient was each type of mission? Did these tactics work better in guerilla or large-scale warfare? The goal is to not repeat mistakes.”

It’s not glamorous. Twenty years ago, Halvorsen, 49, would have had a staff of four under him. Today he’s a one-man show. Like

Swift, his overall mission is to produce an annual report, but gathering the information and putting it together in a useful way is like trying to lasso a B-1 bomber. A typical annual report is about a thousand pages.

“I have a million file cabinets that are jammed with material,” Halvorsen said. “People think you can just Google it, but there are a lot of things that aren’t available online. If you want Air Force logistics information from the ’60s, you have to go down to the dusty books down the hallway.”

Tinker is a dream job for Halvorsen. When he found out there was an opening he pushed hard to get it. He sees the mission of the base as critical.

“The reason we have deterrent power is because of the global reach of the Air Force,” he said. “The Air Force can be there in hours to send someone a message.

But we don’t have a lot of new planes in the pipeline, so the sustainment mission is important. We have some planes that have been flying since the ’50s and will have to fly for 10 or 20 more years.”

Tinker pilots are ‘very dedicated to finding solutions’ French Air Force officer learns aircraft maintenance at Tinker

BY JUSTIN WINGERTER Staff Writer jwingerter@oklahoman.com

Among the most recognizable planes at Tinker Air Force Base are Boeing E-3 Sentries, their 30-foot-wide black radar disks rotating 11 feet above fuselages.

The U.S. Air Force has 33 E-3 Sentries — more commonly called Airborne Warning and Control Systems, or AWACS — and 27 are stationed at Tinker. By comparison, the French Air Force has just four.

That’s why Maj. Nicolas Godefroy and his family moved to Tinker from his native France

Maj. Nicolas Godefroy of the French Air Force is stationed at Tinker Air Force Base.

last July. Godefroy, a commandant in the French Air Force, needed to better understand the complicated aircraft.

“We have a small fleet of AWACS so it’s a big issue when one aircraft is underground due to a technical issue,” Godefroy said. “Only one aircraft is 25 percent of the fleet, so we have to find a solution very quickly

because we have such a small fleet.”

Godefroy is a foreign liaison officer, one of nearly a dozen at Tinker.

The United Kingdom, Belgium, the Netherlands, Norway, Saudi Arabia, Israel, Poland, Turkey and Greece also have liaison officers at the base.

Godefroy spends much of his time at Tinker working with pilots on AWACS and tanker aircraft.

“They are very dedicated to finding solutions and to helping me,” he said.

He will remain in the United States for two more years, before taking his knowledge about tankers and AWACS back to France to improve his home country’s air fleet.

“I’m here to help the French Air Force find technical solutions because it’s not easy to maintain these old aircraft and very complicated aircraft,” Godefroy said.

‘Nice situation’ The AWACS that arrived at Tinker in 1977 are still there and still flying. With a radar range of more than 250 miles, they scan land, air and water for enemy forces.

No country with AWACS has a smaller fleet than France, America’s oldest ally. The U.K. bought seven from Boeing, Saudi Arabia purchased five and NATO has 18. Production stopped a quarter-century ago.

“It is very important for the French Air Force

to have an officer here, to have the knowledge and the feedback, because the main difference is the American fleet is older than the French fleet,” Godefroy said.

As a result, he said, the U.S. Air Force can pass along maintenance solutions to problems the French Air Force is likely to face in the coming years.

Ties between the U.S. Air Force and French Air Force run deep. Volunteer American pilots flew with the French Air Force — then called the French Air Service — during the Battle of Verdun in World War I. To commemorate the centennial of America’s entry into WWI, the French Air Force sent its top flying display team, Patrouille de France, to

a series of events in the United States this year.

The crew took part in a New York parade and flyovers near the White House, Pentagon, Grand Canyon and Golden Gate Bridge.

French Air Force Lt Col. Gauthier Dewas, who led the flight team, said the events were intended “to show to what extent our air forces are committed together, interoperable, and have a capability to master the most advanced technology together and to communicate together,” according to news reports.

Godefroy, the only Frenchman at Tinker, has witnessed that firsthand.

“Our relationship is very good. It’s a nice situation,” he said.

14T

SUNDAY, AUGUST 20, 2017

THE OKLAHOMAN | NEWSOK.COM

People check out at the Commissary at Tinker Air Force Base.

‘It feels like coming back home’ Family military connections draw people to work on base

BY ABBY BITTERMAN Business Writer abitterman@oklahoman.com

B

renda Hyland and Manuel Othon have been around the military their whole lives, so working for the military seemed natural.

Hyland is the general manager of the Exchange, and Othon is the assistant commissary officer at Tinker Air Force Base and other bases in Oklahoma. Both facilities are benefits for active-duty service members, military retirees and their families.

Starting on Nov. 11, veterans also will be able to shop at the Exchange, but only online. Hyland said the Exchange is like a department store and a big box retailer rolled into one. The Commissary is a military base grocery store.

Hyland grew up on military bases, and she bought her first school supplies at a base exchange. Now, she is the general manager of the Tinker Exchange and exchanges at other bases in Oklahoma.

“I come from a military family,” Hyland said.

“This is home, you know, on a base.”

In addition to her connection to the military, Hyland always has loved retail. She said when she was young, she would play store and sold her great grandmother her own shoes countless times. Hyland said she loves working with customers and being able to support the community.

Being the general manager of the Exchange is the perfect job, she said.

There is no sales tax on items at the Exchange, and Hyland said it always tries to have the lowest prices.

Nonika Allen, an E7 master sergeant in the Air Force, said she likes to shop at the Exchange because of all the deals and savings.

Wanda Holmes, a wife a retired member of the Air Force, said shopping at the Commissary and the Exchange is helpful now that they she and her husabnd are retired because she can get more for less.

Nonika Allen, an E7 master sergeant in the Air Force, said she likes to shop at the Exchange because of all the deals and savings.

This is the Exchange store front at Tinker Air Force Base.

“I’m a big cost comparison shopper,” Allen said. “So I find I get more for my money on base.”

Wanda Holmes recently retired from education and her husband is retired from the Air Force. She said shopping at the Commissary and the Exchange is helpful now that they are both retired because she can get more for less.

Holmes said she also likes that she doesn’t have to worry when she brings her grandchildren since there is so much security.

“It feels like coming back home because we’ve traveled, and we lived over 26 years in the military,” Holmes said.

The store not only offers financial advantages to its customers, but it benefits the base community in other ways, as well. Hyland said about two-thirds of the profits from the Exchange goes to the Morale, Welfare and Recreation (MWR) fund, which helps pay for quality of living programs on the base. Last year, the Tinker Exchange contributed $523,088 to the base’s MWR fund, Hyland said.

Brenda Hyland, general manger at Exchange at Tinker, said she loves working with customers and being able to support the community. It is the perfect job, she said.

People shop in the produce section at the Commissary at Tinker Air Force Base.

[PHOTOS BY JACOB DERICHSWEILER, THE OKLAHOMAN]

“It’s a cause that’s very near and dear to my heart,” Hyland said.

“I grew up on military bases, and I remember going to the swimming pool and to the gym and to the youth center and all of those things that we help to fund. And so it’s really important to me that we help preserve those programs.”

Like Hyland, Othon

also enjoys dealing with customers at the Commissary. His customers also don't pay sales tax on their purchases. But they are charged a 5-cent surcharge.

Othon said his dad was in the military, and he’s been around it his whole life. He has worked for the Commissary for 30-40 years, though he hasn’t been at Tinker the

whole time.

“One way or another, everybody in this building is a dependent or served or is serving in the military,” Othon said.

“We always say we’ve got the best customers in the world. We take a lot of pride in that, and that’s what I like. That’s what I do, and that’s why I’ve stuck around with this for so long.”

Manuel Othon, assistant director of the Commissary, said his dad was in the military, and he’s been around it his whole life. He has worked for the Commissary for 30-40 years, though he hasn’t been at Tinker the whole time.