Police Week

Master Sgt. Edward Wilder, 96th Security Forces Squadron, leads a formation of defenders during the unit’s Police Week closing ceremony May 16 at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The event was a naming ceremony for the unit’s three patrol boats, now named after fallen security forces Airmen. (U.S. Air Force photo by Samuel King Jr.)

Police Week

Master Sgt. Edward Wilder, 96th Security Forces Squadron, leads a formation of defenders during the unit’s Police Week closing ceremony May 16 at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The event was a naming ceremony for the unit’s three patrol boats, now named after fallen security forces Airmen. (U.S. Air Force photo by Samuel King Jr.)

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Police Week

Lt. Col. Andrew McFee, 96th Security Forces Squadron commander, speaks during the unit’s Police Week closing ceremony May 16 at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The event was a naming ceremony for the unit’s three patrol boats, now named after fallen security forces Airmen. (U.S. Air Force photo by Samuel King Jr.)

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Police Week

Staff Sgt. Logan Gould, 96th Security Forces Squadron, stands at attention in a formation during the unit’s Police Week closing ceremony May 16 at Eglin Air Force Base, Florida. The event was a naming ceremony for the unit’s three patrol boats, now named after fallen security forces Airmen. (U.S. Air Force photo by Samuel King Jr.)

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Fallen defenders remembered at Police Week boat dedication

Published May 19, 2025

EGLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. -- The 96th Security Forces Squadron honored fallen defenders by dedicating their names to three of their patrol boats during a ceremony to close out Police Week May 16, 2025.

1st Lt. Joseph D. Helton, Staff Sgt. Todd Lobraica and Tech. Sgt. Michael Barron had their names added to a specific boat, and their last names became the craft's callsign. As part of the ceremony, defenders stood in a guard mount formation and as the fallen names were called to report. When no voice sounded off, the fallen defender's end-of-watch report was read aloud.

"This serves as a reminder that no matter who gets on that boat, they carry the legacy of the person the boat’s named after,” Lt. Col. Andrew McFee, 96th SFS. “These Airmen will be remembered as long as these boats are on the water and as long as there are defenders fielding them."