Vol. 40, No. 52 Thursday, December 27, 2012

2012 Year in reviewPart I of II - starts page 3

by Col. Scott DeThomas6th Air Mobility Wing commander

What an amazing year for the members of Team MacDill! 2012 was filled with tremen-dous accomplishments and a sense of purpose as our Airmen and teammates from across the wing made a huge difference on our Nation’s se-curity. Each of you has a great deal to be proud of and have a tremendous opportunity to get out and “tell your story.” While I’m sure most of you are too humble to tell your story, it is very important that you make the effort. Only about .07 percent of the nation serves in the military, so we need to let the American people know our success, and the sacrifices that you and your family make every day. That story sounds best coming from you.

Let me be the first to thank you as we head into the new year. Just as important, please pass along my thanks to your entire family and friends, for without them you could not accom-plish all that you do. Keep your family close for you will need their support for another success-ful year. Just look at all that you accomplished this year, and think about where you were this time last year.

I was watching the end of an era first hand as we withdrew our forces from Iraq. Sitting on the Iraqi border to greet the last convoys was truly a highlight in my career. But a lot

happened here in 2012 and Team MacDill was extremely busy.

You started the year with an incredible dis-play of Ops and Maintenance teamwork along with the entire base as you conducted the wing’s Elephant Walk and generated 8 aircraft. This wonderful effort rallied the team and showed why you are so incredible. Next, you welcomed Tops in Blues along with a local hero from the Red Tails, Lt Daniel Keel and his wife Barbara. Soon after, you made headlines as a critical element of Spain’s treasure recovery where you facilitated transportation of $500M in gold coins. You never stopped providing for our base and the community. From Food Trans-formation to numerous charitable contributions, to the hosting of our Tampa community during the AF Ball, you kept the base running on all cylinders while demonstrating why our core values are so evident in our MacDill Airmen. Numerous changes of commands along with conventions and hurricanes all contributed to our wing’s success leading into the Air Force’s biggest inspection to date and validated the Wing’s Excellence. And of course, none of these accomplishments could have happened without the amazing contributions from across our local community. Our base is filled with local retir-ees, civic leaders and friends of MacDill that truly make a difference. To all of you, Thank You.

Finally, as we welcome 2013, get ready for another busy year. Right around the corner are big base events like Corona, AirFest and Rally. Set high goals and maintain the highest of standards as you embark on another year in this great community of Tampa. Remember to take care of one another and take care of your-self. Don’t just set high goals, but exceed them and never forget how grateful the American people, Air Force’s leadership, and I are to each of you…best of luck in 2013 and Happy New Year!

COMMANDER’S CORNER

MacDill ThunderboltPublisher: Bill BarkerEditor: Nick Stubbs

The MacDill Thunderbolt is published by Sunbelt Newspa-pers, Inc., a private firm in no way connected with the U.S. Air Force. This commercial enterprise newspaper is an authorized publication for distribution to members of the U.S. military services on MacDill. Contents of the MacDill Thunderbolt are not necessarily the official views of, or endorsed by the U.S.

government, the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force or the 6th Air Mobility Wing.

The appearance of advertising in this publication, includ-ing inserts or supplements, does not constitute endorsement by the Department of Defense, the Department of the Air Force, 6th Air Mobility Wing or Sunbelt Newspapers, Inc., of the products or service advertised.

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Display advertising or classified advertising information

may be obtained by calling 259-7455. News items for the MacDill Thunderbolt can be submitted

to the 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs office, 8208 Hangar Loop Dr., suite 14, MacDill AFB, FL 33621, or call the MacDill Thunderbolt staff at 828-2215. Email: thunder.bolt@us.af.mil.

Deadline for article submissions is noon, Thursdays to appear in the next week’s publication. Articles received after deadline may be considered for future use. All submissions are considered for publication based on news value and time-liness.

Every article and photograph is edited for accuracy, clarity, brevity, conformance with the “Associated Press Stylebook and Libel Manual” and Air Force Instruction 35-101.

COMMANDER’S ACTION LINE

The Action Line provides two-way communication between the 6th Air Mobility Wing commander and the MacDill community. A 24-hour recording service is provided so personnel may submit questions, concerns or com-ments. Call the Action Line at 828-INFO (4636) or email macdillwingcom-mander@us.af.mil.

2012: So much to be proud of

To view Col. Scott DeThomas’ re-marks on his vision for MacDill AFB, go to www.macdill.af.mil and then click on “Col. DeThomas’ priorities, mission, and expectations video” in the upper left corner.

Commander’s vision

Col. Scott DeThomas

YEAR IN REVIEW

The year 2012 was one of great strides at MacDill Air Force Base.

The focus was on the mission, Airmen and families, with many members of Team MacDill recognized by Air Mobility Command and the Air Force for their efforts on the job, while Mac-Dill staged events to improve the quality of life for Airmen and families, such as hosting an ed-ucation panel for parents and teachers, trans-forming the way everyone on base is nourished and providing a healthy dose of fun and enter-tainment to bolster moral.

The new yearThe march into the new year was symbolical-

ly displayed with an Air Force “Elephant Walk.” Just like elephants walking through town to signal the coming of the circus, the Air Force’s version of the “Elephant Walk” features a nose-to-tail procession, only with aircraft. On Jan. 20 a single-file taxi movement of eight KC-135 air-craft, nose-to-tail, were launched consecutively.

Not only was the event a spectacle to see, but a practical demonstration of the rapid deploy-ment capabilities of Team MacDill.

FebruaryIt was a grand day Feb. 3 when 13 Team Mac-

Dill Airmen were honored for their promotion to chief. The induction ceremony recognized those individuals selected for advancement to chief master sergeant, as well as their accomplish-ments along the way. There was a candle-light-ing symbolizing the attainment of the rank, a cake-cutting and the saber walk, in which se-lectees walked through a tunnel created by crossed sabers.

The Feb. 16 issue of The Thunderbolt de-tailed plans to expand parking on base, ad-dressing the shortage of parking space by pro-viding temporary parking and the addition of hundreds of new, permanent parking spaces around the base. One of the biggest gains was the announcement of 370 new spaces at the lo-cation of the previous U.S. Central Command headquarters building.

The Feb. 23 edition featured a special run or-

Year 2012 in reviewPart I of II: January - June

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KC-135 Stratotankers assigned to MacDill Air Force Base prepare for launch as part of an “El-ephant Walk” Jan. 20. Personnel from MacDill’s total force integration, 6th Air Mobility Wing and 927th Air Reserve Wing, executed the mission and launched eight air-craft as part of the event. “Elephant Walk” is a his-toric, uniquely Air Force term that describes the nose-to-tail, single-file taxi movements of the aircraft synonymous with the nose-to-tail of lum-bering elephants.

Photo by Airman 1st Class Shandresha Mitchell

Photo by Airman 1st Class Melanie Bulow-Kelly

MacDill Air Force Base’s chief master sergeants and chief selects pose for a group photo during the Chief’s Induction Ceremony at MacDill, Feb. 3. A total of 13 Team MacDill Airmen were se-lected to chief. The induction ceremony recognizes those individuals selected for advancement to chief master sergeant, as well as their accomplishments along the way.

ganized to pay tribute to one of MacDill’s own who passed away. Members of the MacDill com-munity took advantage of the airfield closure to participate in the “Dick Cutshall Memorial Runway Run” Feb. 17. Participants were given the unique opportunity to run the full length of MacDill’s Runway while contractors were putting final touches on a major repair project that spanned three weeks.

Runners had the option to either take a 5K route through various taxiways, touring the in-field of the 70-million-square-foot airfield, or a 10-K route, which ran the span of the 2-mile runway. The run was dedicated to Cutshall, who coordinated between the city of Tampa, Federal Aviation Administration and various other military and civilian aviation authorities to bring MacDill’s AirFest to the community for more than two decades.

MarchThe March 1 edition highlighted MacDill’s

part in a story that made international head-lines — the transfer of $500 million in Spanish treasure from the U.S. back to Spain.

Two Spanish Air Force C-130 Hercules air-craft departed MacDill Air Force Base, after being loaded with approximately 17 metric tons, or about $500 million in Spanish gold and silver coins.

Two aircraft were dispatched by the Span-ish government to retrieve the coins that were lost at sea in the 19th century. MacDill brought the full complement of support for its coalition partners — to include flight operations, logisti-cal, security, and public affairs support.

Led by Lt. Col. Leslie Maher, 6th Operations Support Squadron commander, a team of Air-men joined together to coordinate the trans-fer of the “treasure” from a storage facility in Sarasota, Fla. to the runway at MacDill, where it was loaded for shipment to Spain.

The gold was found by the Odyssey Marine Exploration treasure hunting corporation in 2007. Odyssey recovered the treasure from the Atlantic Ocean floor after finding the wreck off the coast of Portugal with a remote-controlled underwater robot.

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Smile!A representative group of men and women from “Team MacDill” pose for a wing photo on the flightline March 9, at MacDill Air Force Base.

Photo by Senior Airman Melissa Paradise

YEAR IN REVIEW

Staff Sgt. Benjamin Woods, 6th Logistics Readiness Squadron air freight su-pervisor, places a pallet of Spanish coins in a line, Feb. 23, at MacDill Air Force Base. The coins, which were lost at sea in the 19th century, were palletized in preparation for their return back to Spain.

Photo by Airman Basic David Tracy

In the March 8 issue of the Thunderbolt we featured the MacDill Chapel and its importance to Team MacDill members.

The story contrasted two worlds: “In a world of 24-hour news cycles and constant Facebook status

updates, there is one place that remains a haven of privacy for all per-sonnel on MacDill Air Force Base – the Air Force Chaplain Corps,” the story lead read.

No matter the extremity of the issue, chaplains come alongside mili-tary members and their families from all branches of service during times of crises and stress, ensuring total confidentiality.”

The same issue detailed the selection of the MacDill Chapel as tops in Air Mobility Command.

The same AMC award had been won by the chapel in 2005. The re-peat could be attributed to two things, said Lt. Col. David Buttrick, 6th Air Mobility Wing chaplain:

“Hard work and dedication,” he said. I’m so proud of my chapel staff,” said Buttrick. “Overall it came back

to hard work and dedication to the core values of the Chaplain Corps and the mission of AMC.”

In the same edition we covered the destruction of the old Wherry housing on base to make way for 317 new homes, along with 10 handi-capped-accessible homes to replace the old homes.

The March 15 paper profiled how MacDill was one of the first bases in Air Mobility Command to implement the new AtHoc mass, electronic instant notification system. MacDill could boast that its members are truly “dialed in” when it comes to knowing what’s going on.

From weather alerts on up to major threats, the MacDill Command Post-based AtHoc system can blast out a message to thousands of in-dividuals via multiple communication channels and computerized de-vices no matter where they may be.

On March 15 we announced that the Team MacDill Safety Office received a major Air Force award: The Air Force Chief of Safety Out-standing Achievement Award for Ground Safety for 2011.

The prestigious award followed being selected tops in Air Mobility Command, a title the office has earned three times since 2006. Winning at the Air Force level is affirmation that the safety crew at MacDill is

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House crasher!Col. Lenny Richoux, former 6th Air Mobility Wing commander, demolishes the old Wherry hous-ing at MacDill Air Force Base, Feb. 27. There are 317 new homes, along with 10 handicapped accessible homes, slated to replace the old homes.

Photo by Senior Airman Melissa Paradise

Photo by Airman Basic David Tracy

Francisco Mercedes, a line cook, instructs Se-nior Airman Brady McDede, 6th Force Support Squadron food service technician, on how to lay out sandwiches for display. McDede trained with civilian Aramark chefs to help improve the dining conditions on MacDill in preparation for the Food Transformation initiative at the base Dining Facility.

RememberingMembers of Team MacDill salute during the singing of the national anthem at MacDill Air Force Base, May 28. MacDill hosted its annual Memorial Day ceremony honoring the men and women who gave their lives while serving in the nation’s Armed Forces.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Brandon Shapiro

Tech Sgt. Patrick Mc-Sweeney, 6th Secu-rity Forces Squadron, kisses his wife Sarah and hugs his daugh-ter Kennedy, 4, upon his arrival to MacDill Air Force Base, Mar. 6. McSweeney was one of 34 security forces members re-turning from Al Udeid Air Base, Qatar.

Photo by Senior Airman Melissa Paradise

Petty Officer 1st Class Marie DeOliveira, United States Central Command Coalition Forces French detachment, listens to Mayor Bob Buckhorn speak during the 9/11 World Trade Cen-ter Artifact installation and tribute to our nation’s resilience on Patriot’s Corner, Tampa, Sept.. 9. The memorial is on Bayshore Boulevard at Patriot’s Corner and honors the unyielding sup-port shown to the men and women of service by the Bayshore Patriots.

Photo by Airman David Tracy

Photo by Senior Airman Melissa V. Paradise

Col. David Almand, former 6th Air Mobility Wing vice commander, Representative Kathy Caster, Florida’s 11th District, and Joseph Neubauer, Chairman and Chief Executive Officer of ARAMARK, cut the ribbon signifying the grand re-opening of the Diners Reef dining facility at MacDill Air Force Base, April 20.

Petty Officer 1st Class Marie DeOliveira, United States Central Command Coalition Forces French detachment, listens to Mayor Bob Buckhorn speak during the 9/11 World Trade Cen-ter Artifact installation and tribute to our nation’s resilience on Patriot’s Corner, Tampa, Sept.. 9. The memorial is on Bayshore Boulevard at Patriot’s Corner and honors the unyielding sup-port shown to the men and women of service by the Bayshore Patriots.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Linzi Joseph

Photo by Staff Sgt. Linzi Joseph

Airman 1st Class Mario Cummings, 6th Security Forces Squadron entry controller, checks identification cards at the gate, at MacDill Air Force Base, June 13. Entry controllers perform identification checks and random antiterrorism measures at the gates to ensure the safe-ty of all base personnel and property.

Staff Sgt. Derek Shennett, 6th Dental Squadron dental assis-tant, spars with Sensei Juan Al-varez, as part of a Seibukan Ka-rate Dojo performance during the Asian-Pacific Islander Heritage Luau Celebration at MacDill Air Force Base, May 31. May was Asian-Pacific American Heritage Month, during which we honor the contributions and achieve-ments made by Asian-Pacific Americans throughout the his-tory of the United States.

Photo by Airman David Tracy

MOBEXMembers of the 927th Air Refueling Wing, an associate wing of more than 800 Airmen, review the contents of mobility bags as they prepare to pick up gear for a mock deployment June 2, at MacDill Air Force Base. Sev-eral units in the 927th ARW participated in a mobility exercise designed to help Air-men prepare for de-ployments by dem-onstrating the items and steps needed to deploy.

Photo by Staff Sgt. Jennie Chamberlin

Good eats!Airman 1st Class Vinsetta Brown, 6th Force Support Squadron, serves Col. William Dinse, 6th Dental Squadron commander, at the leadership tour of the new dining facility at Mac-Dill Air Force Base March 30. The grand re-opening ceremony was held April 20.

Photo by Senior Airman Melissa Paradise

on the right path.“A lot of hard work” by the team went into

the win, said Jason Jackson, 6th Air Mobility Wing ground safety manager.

“It was overall teamwork,” said Jackson. “It wasn’t just one outstanding person.”

Air Mobility Command also announced sev-eral awards for MacDill:

u Major General Harold M. McClelland Award: 6th Communications Squadron

u AMC Outstanding Civilian Specialist Award: Richard Black, 6th Communications Squadron

u AMC and AF Outstanding Civilian Man-ager: Ernest Thompson, 6th Communications Squadron

u AMC and AF Outstanding Cyberspace Systems SNCO: Senior Master Sgt. David Cox, 6th Communications Squadron

u AMC and AF Outstanding Knowledge Operations Manager: Senior Airman Steven Arthur, 6th Communications Squadron

u AMC Force Support SNCO of the year: Master Sgt. Marcus Watson, 6th Force Sup-port Squadron

March closed with the opening of the first USO established in the nation in the last de-cade.

Located at Tampa International Airport, the new USO supports the active duty and retired military community in Tampa, and is a wel-come addition to the growing resources avail-able to MacDill service members, said Col. Matt Molineux, 6th Operations Group com-mander.

We also reported that for three months in three commercial kitchens around Tampa, sev-en MacDill Airmen learned a new style of food service to help improve the quality of dining provided at the Diner’s Reef dining facility.

The training helped them update food prep-aration and cooking methods they intend to put to use in the newly renovated dining facility.

AprilApril kicked off with a visit from Gen. Mar-

tin Dempsey, the U.S. Army’s 37th chief of staff on April 6. The same day, the 6th Medical Group’s Alcohol and Drug Abuse Prevention and Treatment staff staged the Alcohol Aware-ness Festival at the Fitness Center.

The following week 140 Team MacDill mem-bers pitched in to clean up the base shorelines, collecting some 1,200 pounds of trash. On April 17, Gen. Raymond Johns visited MacDill, spending three days on base and in the Tampa community.

MayIn the May 3 edition, we reported on a day-

long MacDill event initiated by Col. Lenny Richoux, 6th Air Mobility Wing commander, and MaryEllen Elia, Hillsborough County su-perintendant of schools. The Military Impact-ed Schools Association symposium brought together teachers and school administrators from 16 Florida school districts to address the problems military families with school-aged children face due to frequent family moves.

We also reported that three crew members from MacDill’s 91st Air Refueling Squadron

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Nice dog!Razor, 6th Security Forces Squadron mili-tary working dog, shows off his teeth during an intimidation exercise at MacDill Air Force Base May 11. K-9 handlers and their dogs routinely perform different training based on situations they would encounter.

Photo by Senior Airman Melissa Paradise

MACDILL COMMUNITYEVENTS

FridayBoomers Bar & Grill

Friday Bash 3-7 pm. Bar snacks and drink specials. Guaranteed $100 club card drawing, Bar Bin-go (with new $1,000 Progressive Cover-All) and DJ.

SaturdayClub Member Appreciation Day

Bay Palms Golf Course - FREE golf and cart. Call 840-6904 to make your tee time today.

WednesdayShort Fitness Center

New Year’s 5k Run at 7 a.m. at the Fitness Center. Call 828-4496 for more information.

New Food TruckStarting Wednesday two Ara-

mark Food Trucks will be avail-able for your dining convenience: Between2Slices will be located between SOCOM and the Davis Conference Center, Mon-Fri, 10:30 a.m. to 2 p.m. and Wicked ‘Wiches, will park at CENTCOM, Mon-Fri, 10:30 a.m. to 2:30 p.m.

Outdoor RecreationToday is the deadline to sign up

for the Intro to Kayaking Class. Class is Saturday, Jan. 5, 9 a.m. to 1 p.m., Base Marina. Cost: $30 per person (Free to Single Airman!) Call 840-6919.

Brandon A&FRCRed Cross CPR/First Aid 9

a.m. to 3 p.m. Adult, infant and child CPR and First Aid Certi-fication Course. Cost: $45 cash. Participants need to bring their own lunch and cash payment for the instructor. To register contact the A&FRC Brandon at 813-655-9281.

Protestant servicesSunday - 11 a.m. - Contemporary ServiceSunday - 9:30 a.m. - FamCamp Service

Islamic servicesFriday - 1:30 p.m. - Muslim Prayer Service

Catholic servicesSaturday - 5:30 p.m. - Mass

Sunday - 9:30 a.m. - Mass

Call the chapel at 828-3621 for more information or visit the chapel web siteat http://www.macdill.af.mil/macdillchapel.

CHAPEL SCHEDULE

Photo by Airman Basic David Tracy

Airman 1st Class Jaymee Logan, 91st Air Refueling Squadron boom operator, briefs Airman 1st Class Jose De Jesus, 6th Medical Operations Squadron aerospace medical technician, and Senior Airman Megan Bridges, 6th Maintenance Operations Squadron maintenance scheduler, on the hand signals used while downloading a KC-135 Stratotanker. The brief was part of a mobility exercise April 24.

were awarded the prestigious “General James H. Doolittle” trophy for their efforts above the Libyan skies during Operations Odyssey Dawn and Unified Protector. Maj. Marcas Maltby, Capt. Matthew Hedlund and Senior Airman Christopher Cannon were singled out for their ex-ceptional bravery and aviation skill.

Col. David Almand, the 6th Air Mobility Wing’s vice commander, completed his final flight at MacDill Air Force Base May 2. Almand left for his next assignment as 375th Air Refueling Wing commander at Scott AFB, Ill.

MacDill’s annual Contingency and Readiness Education event was held at MacDill May 9. CARE provides a hands-on learning experience to military children to help them understand what their parents un-dergo during a deployment.

In the May 24 edition, we highlighted the coalition forces serving alongside the U.S. since shortly after the terrorism attacks of Sept. 11, 2001. Representatives from 59 nations are situated in Coalition Village at MacDill, operating under bilateral agreements established between their countries and the United States, supporting operations in the U.S. Central Command’s area of responsibility.

Maj. Gilbert Collin assumed command of the 6th Logistics Readiness Squadron, May 31, and on June 2 more than 180 members of the 927th Air Refueling Wing participated in a mobility exercise at MacDill. Sev-eral of the wing’s units participated in the exercise, which was designed

to simulate the steps Airmen take in the event of a deployment.

JuneTwo MacDill Airmen were awarded the role of honorary captains

during the first game of the U.S. Men’s National Soccer Team 2014 World Cup qualifier, at Raymond James Stadium in Tampa, June 8.

With more than 23,000 in attendance, Staff Sgt. Dieudonne Batawila and Senior Airman Eduardo Flores, both from the 6th Logistics Readi-ness Squadron, presented their squadron coin at centerfield to be used in the coin toss.

On June 21 we profiled the men and women of the 6th Security Forces Squadron. Our story noted that, “Through wind, rain, heat and hail, twenty-four-seven, three-sixty-five 6th SFS Airmen defend all day and all night, securing the base for wing operations and 38 mission partners.”

A bit of special, off-the-field training took place at MacDill the same week, when several Tampa Bay Buccaneers rookie players visited the base in the spirit of goodwill and exchange.

June ended with the start of several command changes, including Lt. Col. Derrick Hodges, who assumed command of the 310th Airlift Squadron, June 22. Lt. Col. David Pike took command of the 911th Air Refueling Squadron, Seymour Johnson, N.C., a geographically sepa-rated unit to the 6th Air Mobility Wing.

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