EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- Generations of service members came together to celebrate 69 years of air power at the installation’s Air Force Ball held in historic King Hangar Oct. 15.
The event, hosted by the 96th Test Wing, was organized by a committee comprised of the Company Grade Officers Council and First Sergeants Association. More than 600 service members shared the hangar with an F-15, F-35, A-10, and AC-130W aircraft and a weapons display.
Retired U.S. Air Force Gen. Philip Breedlove, former supreme commander of NATO forces in Europe, was the guest speaker.
The 39-year veteran recalled memories from a time when he was a young captain in the midst of the Cold War. He also supported peacekeeping operations in Bosnia and Kosovo, and later commanded joint service members in Europe.
While most of his stories detailed the glories of flying and serving his country, he gave insight on a time in the past where the future of the Air Force seemed bleak.
“In the late 70s, post-Vietnam, we were described as a hollow force; a term that is thrown around [to describe us] now,” he said. “There was a time we thought our Air Force would never recover.”
Breedlove referenced a visit he took to Luke Air Force Base, Arizona, during that time where he saw new F-15s sitting on the tarmac without engines and missing tails and old F-104s without tires.
“There’s an incredibly pessimistic attitude about where our military is and where it may be going. There’s incredible discussion about decreasing budgets,” said Breedlove. “There’s a lot of depressing words about the looming sequester and how that might affect us – we are smaller today than the day we were born.”
Breedlove concluded that history is cyclical and just as the Air Force survived and grew then, it will continue to lead airpower in the way ahead. The general gave credit to the continuous innovation of Airmen for keeping the service alive and more capable than ever.
“Our Air Force has been through many tough times in the past and look where we are today – the most effective, efficient fighting force in this world,” said Breedlove. “Every challenge our Air Force has met, we have gotten over and through.”
Following Breedlove’s speech, retired Chief Master Sgt. Brooke McLean, Air Force Enlisted Village president and CEO, honored Alice Crawford, village resident, for her military service as the first female to serve in the Air Force’s Tops in Blue entertainment program.
According to McLean, Crawford enlisted in the Air Force in 1951 working as an executive secretary. Within her first four years of service, she had eight different assignments. She continued to serve, crossing paths with Elvis Presley and Gen. James “Jimmy” Doolittle and eventually separated to focus on family after marrying a fellow Airman.
The Air Force Ball continued with a military cake-cutting ceremony, a tradition where the most senior ranking and junior ranking Airman cut a celebratory cake together, honoring the service’s birthday. The U.S. Air Force Band of the West closed the formalities of the evening and opened the dance floor with music ensembles from different genres.