Looking back at 2008; looking ahead to 2009

  • Published
  • By Col. Gordon H. Elwell, Jr.
  • 911 AW
PITTSBURGH AIR RESERVE STATION --  This UTA we start a new year. Looking back, we can be proud of our accomplishments in 2008; from our early deployments to include ASTS, SFS, APS, CES and others, to our early May air show where we played host to our Canadian neighbors. Operations and Maintenance deployed over the summer for an AEF assignment, and as a wing we began the long road of preparation for our upcoming ORI in December. Take some time and enjoy this special issue of the Flyover and all the pictures of this past year, in addition to learning about what others in the unit have done to support our efforts overseas.

This is also a good time to take stock of where we are heading in 2009 and beyond. The biggest piece of the pie will be the ORI and all the training and preparations that it will entail. We have our ORTP-4 training deployment in the later part of April (but Gulfport, Miss. should be a good break from our winter blahs). In June we plan on sending a plane to participate in the 65th Anniversary airdrops commemorating the D-Day invasion of Europe. Then we will have our Wings Over Pittsburgh air show on June 20-21. We will also participate in the AMC Airlift Rodeo in July with Operations, Maintenance and AES. Then the wing will deploy in force for the ORE - our big dress rehearsal for December's ORI. Throughout all this, we continue to fly the routine taskings from headquarters, and again out-perform the other C-130 wings in almost every measurable metric. All in all, a big schedule.

We must also be prepared, as always, for those pop-up taskings. The world remains an interesting place. We have a new administration in Washington and time will tell how a new perspective about us as a nation on the world stage will affect our ops-tempo. Disasters such as hurricanes and other naturally occurring events can quickly drive immediate responses and we will once again step-up to the challenge.

The one thing that remains unchanged, however, is the can-do attitude and spirit of this wing. I see it day in and day out, and with every challenge and deployment. The pride and dedication within each member comes through loud and clear. I am humbled each time the members of this wing come together and follow in the footsteps of all those who came before us and set the standard!