Commentary: Embrace your Air Force heritage

  • Published
  • By Lt. Col. Brett Pennington
  • 351st Air Refueling Squadron
RAF MILDENHALL, England --  Not everyone enjoys history. To some it is simply a series of dates, names, and places that don't have much relevance today. It's distant and dry.

However, I have found through the years that the more you can identify with a historical event, the more you can feel it's part of your history, the greater significance it takes on and the more you can learn from it.

Take the history of your squadron or group. Every organization has a history, often rooted in past conflicts, detailing location moves, deactivations, activations, and mission changes. Each of you undoubtedly has a display somewhere in your squadron describing its history. You have probably walked by it a million times. Have you ever read it? Does it mean anything to you?

One of the more profound moments in my career came during my assignment at the Pentagon, in the summer of 2006. As any Pentagon newcomer will tell you, your first couple of trips around "the building" can be daunting adventures.

Armed with the knowledge of corridors, rings and floors, you simply do your best to make it to your planned destination, hopefully on time. To make sure that happens, you leave early and plan your route ahead of time.

As a new arrival, I found myself wandering the outer ring of the Pentagon, a sure sign of a "newbie" as this means you are taking the most lengthy rather than the most direct route to your destination.

As I walked past one office after another -- noting their room numbers as I passed and checking my watch frequently knowing I was likely to be late for my meeting -- I came upon a rather unassuming glass case, mounted on the wall.

That in itself wasn't out of the ordinary, the Pentagon is filled with displays detailing our nation's military history. However, this one was different.As an experienced pilot and graduate of U.S. Air Force Aircraft Mishap Investigation courses, I instantly recognized what was in the case. It was a piece of aircraft wreckage.

It was small and relatively undistinguishable but even without reading the inscription adjacent to the display, I somehow knew exactly what it was and for that matter where I was now standing.

It was a piece of American Airlines Flight 77, the aircraft that struck the Pentagon on Sept. 11. I was standing at one of the most sacred spots in Washington, ground zero for the attack on the Pentagon. I stood there, frozen for a moment or two as the significance of what I was seeing and where I was standing sunk in.

I eventually started walking again, a bit more deliberate and perhaps a bit less concerned about being late for my meeting. As I continued and made my way past more offices along the hallway, I was no longer simply looking at room numbers detailing my location, but I was now drawn more to the inside of the offices and the people working there.

I saw desks, chairs, computers, coin racks, family photos, memories from previous assignments, even the occasional plant. There were people busily working, civilian, military, Army and Air Force for the most part. I could hear their voices, discussing various projects or perhaps just talking about their weekend plans. They were simply working, doing their jobs just as those heroes on 9/11 had.

This story, while special to me, isn't particularly remarkable. There are certainly many Pentagon staffers with more compelling tales about their experiences surrounding Sept. 11.

But for me, it was important as the events of that day, in that place, became somehow more personal to me now. I knew about what happened at the Pentagon on 9/11, but now I had stood there, walked that corridor, heard the voices, seen the offices, and had even seen some of the aircraft wreckage.

That history was now part of my history. That heritage was now part of my Air Force heritage too.

That was one instance where a seemingly distant event became part of where I have been and part of what I stand for. There are few installations in the U.S. Air Force more aware of its history and more dedicated to preserving it than the 100th Air Refueling Wing at RAF Mildenhall.

I have been lucky enough to serve two tours at Mildenhall, each a fulfilling and rewarding experience, due in no small part to the rich legacy of our organization and the surrounding area. A student of World War II history, I see East Anglia and Europe as a treasure trove of history.

During my time here I have been able to stand on the cliffs of Point De Hoc in Normandy, pay my respects to the fallen overlooking Omaha Beach, climb the steps in the Anne Frank House, walk through the forests outside Bastogne, stand silently on the hallowed ground of places of unspeakable anguish like Dachau, walk the streets of Nuremburg and even have lunch at the Eagles Nest.

To me, those aren't just places of history, something I read about in a book. Instead they are now part of my history, and my Air Force heritage.

Any historian will tell you that a key ingredient to succeeding in the future is understanding, learning from, and respecting our past. I encourage and challenge each of you to seek out and experience the history that surrounds you. Learn and revel in the history of your squadron, our wing, and our Air Force.

Understand and honor our tremendous accomplishments and the Airmen who achieved them. Doing so will help you understand where we have been and where are going.

Embrace your Air Force heritage, you'll be a better Airman and a better person for it.