Team BLAZE celebrates 65th Air Force birthday

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Charles Dickens
  • 14th Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
COLUMBUS AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. --  Columbus Air Force Base celebrated the 65th birthday of the Air Force Sept. 14 at the Trotter Convention Center in Downtown Columbus.

Retired Gen. Paul Hester, prior Pacific Air Forces Commander and Air Component Commander for the Commander, U.S. Pacific Command, Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, was the guest speaker at the Air Force Birthday Ball.

"This is the party you should be proud of...this is the party you should have a ticket to every year," said Hester.

Hester shared stories of experiences he had throughout his 38 years in the Air Force with the audience.

"When I was a young captain I had a chance to leave the service; in fact I wanted to do so," said Hester. "I had already made my applications to go to law school; I was going to be the next big hotshot lawyer in America. But then, when the moment of execution came, I started thinking of the people I had met and worked for, and what happens to me every morning when I get up to go to work; it puts a smile on my face."

"All of a sudden, I rethought my decision," said Hester. "It was the experience of shared sacrifice, work, love of nation and love of what they were doing in the individuals I worked with every day that I did not want to walk away from."

The retired general also shared a story of one such individual he met while in Kadena, Japan.

The Airman was a crew chief at Kadena Air Base who, instead of welcoming (at the time, Colonel) Hester with forms to fill out before his flight, welcomed him by saying "Colonel, welcome to my jet." Hester said he felt the Airman was committed and professional so he climbed into the aircraft without doing any pre-flight inspections, trusting the Airman with his life. "When I came back you should've seen the smile on his face," said Hester.

These were just a couple of the treasured memories that Hester shared with the audience about his past Air Force experiences.

"It was a special privilege to have served 38 years in our Air Force; a privilege to meet those people that I talked about tonight," said Hester.

Hester said that the record of the past 65 years of United States air power was made up of birthdays of the "big A" Airmen who made him proud to have served in the Air Force, just some of which he had the privilege to meet. "Stack all of those millions of Airmen's memories on top of each other and you have the history of the United States Air Force. Happy Birthday Air Force."