First Thoughts of Fall

Fall is almost here and the weather here in Middle Georgia has been incredible the past week. We may have another heat wave or two before Fall sets in but it is still much nicer outside than the sweltering months of July and August. It is a great time of year to come out and explore all of our aircraft that are located outdoors. We are slowly moving towards the day when we have most if not all of our aircraft inside, but until then the weather will play a role in how much of our collection many visitors get to see. It’s the end of the work week and with that in mind; here are a collection of links of interest. Enjoy the weekend; never forget the sacrifice of those serving our country or September 11^th, 2001. See you back here next week!

–          On Monday August 30^th U.S. Army Chaplain Captain Dale Goetz became the first Army Chaplain to be killed in action since 1970. It is always sad to hear about a soldier serving his country passing away. One soldier killed is too many, but thankfully with modern battle casualty treatment methods the survival rates are very good.

–          Staff Sgt. Salvatore Giunta will become the first living Medal of Honor recipient from current operations.  God bless these men and what they sacrifice for our country.

–          Tomorrow is September 11^th. How many of you remember where you were 9 years ago when the terrorist attacks happened? It is something I will never forget. God bless all of our service men and women protecting our freedom overseas. They make more sacrifices than we will ever know. We need to continually keep men like Cpt. Goetz, Sgt. Giunta and all other airman, soldiers and sailors in our thoughts and prayers.

–          While vacationing in Panama City Beach this past Labor Day weekend I got a nice little surprise. Two F-15Es had flown by about 10 minutes earlier, and I glanced down the beach and thought for a minute four more were headed East in front of us, likely towards Tyndall AFB. As they got closer however, something didn’t quite look right about the airframe lines. To my surprise it turned out to be several F-22 Raptors. They flew by in a formation of four, trailed by a smaller formation of two. Quite the show when you aren’t expecting it. It was the first time I have seen the Raptor fly in person. As I watched in awe as approximately 900 million dollars worth of aircraft flew by me it reminded me of two articles I have read recently (here and here). It is interesting to read these articles and think about how the future of airpower is being decided even today.

–          Now that the weather is a little nice, as I mentioned earlier, it’s a great time to come out to the Museum and enjoy a little music under the beautiful Georgia evening sky. The first concert in the Band of the U.S. Air Force Reserve’s Concert in the Park series will be next Tuesday, September 14^th at 7pm. The concert series will take place at the Museum of Aviation amphitheater and will run over three consecutive Tuesdays.