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TRANSCRIPT
Air Force Association Chapter 105
2020-3 Tucson, Arizona July 2020
Chapter Officers
President Wally Saeger
Vice President Mark Koechle
Secretary Vickie Jo Ryder
Treasurer Marie A. Lankford [email protected]
VP Aerospace Education
VP CyberPatriot Wally Saeger
VP Leadership Develop. Cal Payne
VP Membership Vickie Jo Ryder
VP Veterans Affairs Bill Goodall
VP Military Liaison Kevin Long
VP Programs / Communication Marie A. Lankford [email protected]
VP Community Partners
Dave Carrell [email protected]
VP Community Outreach
Heidi Goldman [email protected]
VP Awards
Cal Payne [email protected]
VP AFA Golf Fundraiser
Dick Roberts [email protected]
VP Public Affairs / Newsletter
Dick Roberts [email protected]
From the Prez -
To say that we continue to live in Interesting Times is putting it mildly. When we published our last newsletter in April, I was hoping that the pandemic caused by COVID-19 would be resolved in a few months and we could get back to normal. Although Arizona and the Nation has made progress stemming the tide of infections and started reopening activities for the citizens of our great country, we are faced with a “New” normal of “social distanc-ing” and self-protection. On a more positive note for the chapter, we selected two Chapter Teachers of the Year. Mandi Cordell, of The Innovation Academy in Oro Valley, was selected as our grades K-8 TOY. Amy Kueck, of Walden Grove High School in Sahuarita, was selected as our grades 9-12 TOY. Both teachers are having a positive impact on their students, both in the classroom and out, and helping the students see how STEM affects their lives every day. Unfortunately, due to COVID-19, our recog-nition of these two fine teachers will have to take place sometime in the future. Other activities that are being handled differ-ently are ALS graduations and the recent Chiefs Recognition Ceremony. For those of you not aware, Airmen Leadership School graduations were normally formal dinners (mess dress affairs) attended by the graduates their family members, their unit leadership, and civic leaders. These were a chance to cel-ebrate the culmination of their first level of professional military education. Not only were the graduations changed to Facebook events but in-person classes for the students were changed to mostly video based with lim-ited classroom exercises. The Chiefs Recognition Ceremony, which is held to recognize the newest CMSgts and CMSgt-selects for DMAFB, was another for-mal dinner to recognize their attainment of the highest enlisted rank in the Air Force. By law, only 1% of the enlisted force can be CMSgts. Instead, this year’s ceremony was conducted by ZOOM with those participating joining in on their home computers/laptops. The Wing, led by Command Chief, CMSgt James Lyda, put together a program patterned after the “normal” ceremony that included the introduction of each of the CMSgts, the light-ing of the ceremonial candles representing each of the nine enlisted ranks, and the “presentation” of the Chief’s bust emblematic
of the rank of Chief Master Sergeant. Well done Chief Lyda, the DMAFB Chiefs Group, and Team DM. While we are waiting to see if we will be host-ing the July Loft Meal for dorm residents on behalf of the Base Chapel July 26, we are start-ing to build our calendar for the fall. It is still unclear if AFA National will be able to host the National Convention, Sept 12-13, or the National Conference, Sept 14-16, at the Gaylord Center in Washington DC, keep watch for more news on these two key fall events on the AFA calendar. As we move into the summer months and more activities become available, your chapter leader-ship is making plans to resume our chapter meet-ings starting in August. Please see the article elsewhere in this newsletter since there will be changes in how we order meals (there will no longer be a buffet line) and take reservations to account for this change. When we decided not to hold our Annual fund-raising golf tournament due to conflicts with other scheduled events, little did we know it would have been cancelled by COVID-19 like a lot of other events. We did raise almost $2,400 by participating in Arizona Gives. Thank you to the 29 individual donors. While Arizona Gives continues through the end of, please consider donating if you have not already. See a separate article in this newsletter to see how you can help fund your chapter’s activities. Although we are always looking for members who want to be involved and everyone is invited to our Executive Committee meetings, I canceled our in-person meetings until further notice. Finally, the AFA web site (www.afa.org) and the daily Air Force Magazine email is another source for information on COVID-19. There is a lot of good information out there but there is also some misinformation so rely on information from trusted sources. The big thing is use com-mon sense on what you do & don’t do, and don’t panic. We will get through this, especially if we help each other. Congratulations to chapter member Kevin Long who was one of seven AFA members worldwide selected for the next Emerging Lead-ers Program. This highly competitive program is designed to prepare younger AFA members for future leadership positions at all levels of the AFA. Well done Kevin. Remember, we’re all: Airmen for Life
Wally Saeger, President
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K-8 Mandi Cordell
Amphitheater School District Innovation Academy
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High School Amy Kueck
Sahuarita Unified School District
Amy Kueck is a mathematics and computer science educator with Sahuarita Unified School Dis-trict. Amy’s love for mathematics was encouraged by
her 7th grade math teach-er who recommended her for an advanced mathematics class. This acknowledgement in-stilled confidence in Amy and allowed her to excel in mathematics throughout high school and college. In 1987, Amy graduated from Bowling Green State University with a major in statistics. After grad-uation, she worked as a
mathematical statistician and programmer for over 15 years in both the federal and private industry.
Her love for mathematics was the driving force behind her obtaining a teaching certificate in 2006. Amy has taught for Sahuarita Unified School District for fourteen years. She has taught mathematics at both the middle school and high school level. Addi-tionally, Amy recently obtained her Career and Tech-nical Education certification and has created a comput-er science program at Walden Grove High School.
Over her teaching career, Amy has sponsored competitive mathematics and computer science clubs and has traveled with students to Washington D.C. and Germany. She has also introduced students to commu-nity service opportunities such as the American Cancer Society’s Relay for Life and United Way’s Days of Caring. Amy’s views teaching as an opportunity to open doors for students; to introduce students to new experiences; and to prepare students for the future.
Mandi Cordell was born in Gallup New Mexico, and raised in St. Michaels which is adjacent to Window Rock, the capital of the Navajo Nation. She comes from
a Mexican American fami-ly, her parents own a Mexi-can restaurant on the reser-vation which she worked at throughout school.
Mandi began attend-ing NAU in the summers while she was in high school through the Four Corners Math and Science academy program. She earned several scholarships to attend NAU. Her brother
and her were the first college graduates from their fami-ly. Mandi majored in biology with minors in chemistry and Spanish at Northern Arizona University. Through-out her time at NAU she worked for the same program that brought her to the college while in high school. In addition she also worked as an assistant for the Institute for Tribal Environmental professionals.
After college she moved down to Tucson with her husband (Native Tucsonan and teacher as well). Mandi worked as an environmental scientist for the city and went on to earn her teaching certification through Pima Community College. Mandi worked within TUSD for three years at Menlo Park elementary and Lynn Urquides Elementary alongside inspiring cowork-ers and administrators.
Mandi came to work for the Amphitheater school district in 2011. She started at Lulu Walker Ele-mentary where she was able to grow exponentially, helping to run clubs, after school tutoring, science fair and STEM nights. She then moved to Amphi's newest school, Innovation Academy where she has been able to expand even more (Game club, Odyssey of the Mind, science fairs, stem nights, project based learn-ing). Mandi loves guiding students in real world pro-jects with hands on learning with community partners. She loves taking students interests and passions and showing them how they can grow their ideas to make a positive impact in their world. Every day she is amazed by their curiosity and creativity and does her best to keep growing in her own knowledge to best support them!
Tucson Chapter Teachers of the Year
“A Little Bit of History”
Bell P-63 Kingcobra
The Bell P-63 Kingcobra is an American fighter air-craft developed by Bell Aircraft during World War II. Based on the preceding Bell P-39 Airacobra, the P-63's design incor-porated suggestions from P-39 pilots and was superior to its predecessor in virtually all respects. The P-63 was not accept-ed for combat use by the United States Army Air Forces. However, it was deployed during World War II by the Soviet Air Force, which had also been the most prolific user of the P-39. In 1941, after the P-39 Airacobra had been in production for one year, Bell engineers began designing a new fighter after limitations became apparent on the P-39. The new plane would be based on its predecessor, but one of the main fea-tures of the airplane would be the utilization of the laminar-flow wing. Laminar design was used on the P-51 Mustang, making it the best fighter of World War II. Laminar-flow design uses a symmetrical airfoil that minimizes drag—less drag results in greater speed. The new airplane that finally materialized was designated the P-63 Kingcobra. It was the only USA fighter to begin production and go into combat after the start of World War II. While the P-63 looked similar to the P-39, it was a larger and heavier airplane. Unlike its earlier cousin, which was origi-nally envisioned as a fighter/interceptor, the P-63 was de-signed as a ground-support/fighter-bomber from the begin-
ning. On June 27, 1942, the USAAF ordered two XP-63A proto-types powered by a 1,325 hp Allison V-1710-47 engine. A third prototype was ordered under the designation XP-63B with the intent of using a Packard/Merlin V-1650 engine, but the Merlin engine was never installed. General characteristics
Crew: 1
Length: 32 ft 8 in
Wingspan: 38 ft 4 in
Height: 12 ft 7 in
Gross weight: 8,800 lb
Max takeoff weight: 10,700 lb
Powerplant: 1 × Allison V-1710-117 V-12 liquid-cooled piston engine, 1,800 hp driving propeller through extension shaft and gearbox
Propellers: 4-bladed constant-speed propeller
Performance
Maximum speed: 410 mph at 25,000 ft
Range: 450 mi
Armament Guns: 1× 37 mm M4 cannon firing through the propeller hub. 4× Browning
machine guns Bombs: 1,500 lb (680 kg) bomb load on wing and fuselage
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Your Chapter Needs Your Support
It seems like almost daily I get an email or snail mail requesting that I donate to some organization that I belong to or have given a donation to in the past. I am sure most of you are in the same situation. Much as we may want to, we can’t respond to all of them so we prioritize who we will support. I’m asking that you consider including your AFA Chapter 105 in that list and provide what you can, when you can.
In the past, we’ve held a golf tournament to raise funds and while it has been successful, it was a labor of love by just a few chapter members working tirelessly to make it happen. Dick Roberts has been the chair for the last 2 years and Scott VanValkenburg did it for the previous 6 years. If we are going to do a tournament in the future, I need another golf chair. If you’re interested, please let me know.
This year, to help raise funds, we became part of Arizona Gives and successfully raised almost $2,400. While this amount helps, it doesn’t match what we need to continue supporting our local airmen and their families. We also use chapter funds to provide a $750 scholarship to a U of A ROTC cadet; $250 stipends to our chapter teachers of the year; provide financial support for the Desert Lightning Team Annual Awards Ceremony and offer 1-year eMemberships to the annual award winners. We also offer a 1-year AFA eMembership to the award winners of each class graduating from the Carl E. Beck Airmen Leadership School. We would like to do more but that takes more funding and this is where you can help.
If you use Amazon, please use Amazon Smile to make your purchases. Go to smile.amazon.com and designate Air Force Association Tucson Chapter (EIN: 86-6052998) to be the recipient of Amazon’s donation. The great thing is that it doesn’t cost you anything and we receive a quarterly deposit from Amazon for every purchase done that way.
Like mentioned earlier, the chapter is registered under Arizona Gives: https://www.azgives.org/AIRFORCEASSOCIATIONCHAPTER105 . You can use this link if you want to donate using a credit card although I do ask that to make your donation help the chapter more, that you elect to cover the administrative cost.
To avoid using Arizona Gives or Amazon Smile, you can send a check payable to AFA Tucson 105 and mail it to AFA Tucson 105, PO Box 15057, Tucson AZ 85708.
And remember, since your chapter is a 501(c)(3), your donation is fully tax deductible in accordance with the tax code. If you mail a check, we will send you a letter acknowledging your deduction for tax purposes. Arizona Gives provides an email to the same effect.
Thank you for being a member of AFA Chapter 105 and your contin-ued support.
What to Expect
In reaction to COVID-19, we can expect things to change in the way we con-duct meetings, especially our lunchtime chapter meetings at the Community Center. As a start, the Community Center has stopped their lunch buffet lines and are unlikely to ever return to them. Buffet lines are more difficult to keep sanitized and more expensive to operate. The plans to renovate areas of the Community Center to better serve its customers do not include provisions for buffet lines. What does this mean to us? We will be returning to plated lunches like in the distant past. Since we will offer several choices, this will also mean we will have to change our method of taking reservations to include indicating a choice of meal for those attending. It will also mean that once a meal is reserved, it will be considered bought and must be paid for whether the individual attends or not. While we will discourage walk-ins, they will be accommodated if possible; especially if someone who RSVP’d doesn’t show and therefore there is a meal available that wouldn’t otherwise be consumed. The Community Center is still working on their menus so we don’t know what will be available and at what cost yet so obviously more to follow. For at least the near future, seating will follow “social distancing” guidelines so there will be less people at a table. Our maximum number that we can ac-commodate will be determined by what room we end up in depending upon availability and what other activities are taking place. For now, we have scheduled our next chapter meeting to be held at the Com-munity Center for Friday, August 28th, starting at our normal time of 11:30 AM. Our Guest Speaker, Tommy Sanford, will do a presentation on the early development and testing of the A-10. In the meantime, continue to stay safe and healthy so we can see you in Au-gust.
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Community Partner Program For more than 40 years, businesses have been joining the Air Force Association to support both AFA National and local AFA chap-ters. Becoming a Community Partner is a great way to get your business involved with your local Air Force Community. Community Partners are partnership businesses that want to assist both AFA National and the local AFA chapters by becoming involved in Community efforts to support the United States Air Force. By forming a partnership with your local AFA chapter, your business will help AFA fulfill their mission to promote a dominant Unit-ed States Air Force and a strong national defense. Any business or organization can become a CP and have two options for member-ship: Category One (CP I) $90.00 annually- Business can designate one person to receive AFA Membership and enjoy all benefits thereof. Category Two (CP II) $180.00 annually- Business can designate two people to receive AFA Membership and enjoy all benefits thereof. Not only does a Community Partner receive all the benefits of an AFA membership, such as a variety of product and service dis-counts, insurance programs, and much more, but the partner will also receive the following upon joining AFA: Date Medallion Wooden Plaque 8”x5” “Our Business Supports Our Troops" Window Decal If your business is interested in becoming a Community Partner, you should first contact your local chapter. For questions or for more information on the program, please contact: Dave Carrell, [email protected], (520) 305-4407 Have your business become a part of a great cause and show your patrons that you support our Air Force!
A & E Specialty Marketing Chick-fil-A La Posada Lodge & Casitas Elliott M. Klahr Matt Hountz Juan Loo, Sales & Catering Mgr P. O. Box 4423 3605 E. Broadway Blvd 5900 N. Oracle Rd Rio Rico, AZ 85648 Tucson, AZ 85716 Tucson, AZ 85704 520-281-1369 (P) 520-321-4232 520-887-4800 (P) 520-980-0515 (C) 520-293-7543 (F) [email protected] Ciruli Brothers ascendcollection.com 5 Calle Cristina Chick-fil-A Rio Rico, AZ 85648 Jackson Oil Company Dave Carrell 520-281-1456 Robert Ferretti 6675 E. Grant Rd. 623-217-8005 Tucson, AZ 85715 Vantage West Credit Union 520-305-4407 Cindy Brainer Radisson Suites Tucson P.O. Box 15115 Valerie Friend, General Manager Tucson, AZ 85708 6555 E. Speedway Blvd Chick-fil-A 520-298-7882 Tucson, AZ 85710 Jim Paine 800-888-7882 520-721-7100 Ext.7600 (P) 4885 N. Oracle Rd. Vantagewest.org 520-722-6146 (F) Tucson, AZ 85705 [email protected] 520-408-2456
Tucson Chapter’s Community Partners
Tucson Appliance Company Chris Edwards
4229 E. Speedway Blvd Tucson, AZ 85712-4523
Chick-fil-A Brian White 3943 W. Ina Road Tucson, AZ 85741 (520) 744-6269
Sonesta ES Suites Ellen Jimenez, Director of Sales 6477 East Speedway Boulevard Tucson, AZ 85710 520-721-0991 SonestaESsuites.com
JOIN AFA
Air Force Association Tucson Chapter 105
P. O. Box 15057 Tucson, AZ 85708
Air Force Association Means Americans for Air Power
Upcoming Events
As we try to adjust to the “New Norm”, we look to schedule future “field trips” to different organization on base. If you have something specific you want to see please let us know! There are MANY events supporting our local Airmen listed below and more to come! As a Chapter, we try to attend all that we can. If you are interested in representing our AFA Chapter at any of these, please inform Wally Sae-ger ([email protected]) and he will coordinate it. You just have to show up and enjoy these traditional military ceremonies and gatherings. First come, first served!!
July 2020
- 6th: Chapter Executive Committee Meeting, 1200, TBD
- 24th: No chapter meeting
- 26th: Host Chapel Loft Meal for dorm Residents: TBD
August 2020
- 3rd: Chapter Executive Committee Meeting, 1200, hopefully in the 355th Fighter Group Conference Room (all welcome!)
- 28th: Chapter Meeting, 1130 hours, Community Center, Speaker Tommy Sanford, “The Early Development and Testing of the A-10”
September 2020
- TBD: Chapter Executive Committee Meeting, 1200, hopefully in the 355th Fighter Group Conference Room (all welcome!)
- 12-13th: AFA National Convention, Gaylord Center, National Harbor, Maryland (Tentative)
- 14-16th: AFA National Air, Space and Cyber Conference, Gaylord Center, National Harbor, Maryland (Tentative)
- 25th: Chapter Meeting, 1130 Hours, Community Center, Speaker TBD, Election of Chapter Officers
SAVE THESE DATES:
- October 5th: Chapter Executive Committee Meeting, 1200, 355th Fighter Group Conference Room (all welcome!)
- October 23rd: Chapter Meeting, 1130 hours, Community Center, Speaker TBD
- November 2nd: Chapter Executive Committee Meeting, 1200, 355th Fighter Group Conference Room (all welcome!)
- November 27th: NO CHAPTER MEETING, Have a Happy Thanksgiving
- December 7th: Chapter Executive Committee Meeting, 1200, 355th Fighter Group Conference Room (all welcome!)
- December TBD: Joint Daedalians and AFA Annual Christmas Dinner and Awards Banquet
- April 24-25: DMAFB Air Show w/USAF Thunderbirds, “Thunder and Lightning Over Arizona”
- May 14-15: AFA AZ Annual Gathering, Phoenix AZ Hosted by Luke Chapter 151
AFA’s Mission
Our Mission is to promote a dominant USAF and a strong national defense and to honor airmen and our AF heritage. To accomplish this we:
Educate the public on the critical need for unmatched aerospace power and a technically superior workforce to ensure US national security,
Advocate for aerospace power and STEM education, and
Support the total Air Force Family and promote aerospace education.