Air Force Ball tickets on sale, Team Hill invited to dinner, dance
There are no comments for this page [ Add Comment ]Wednesday, September 3, 2008
By Lee Anne Hensley
Hilltop Times staff
Tickets for the Air Force Ball are now available. The ball will be held at the Davis Conference Center on the evening of Sept. 19, and the event is open to both military and civilian workers at Hill Air Force Base and their guests.
The guest speaker for the evening will be former Air Force chief of staff Gen. Ronald Fogleman. During his tenure as chief, Fogleman re-inforced Air Force heritage and its core values. Fogleman also served as vice wing commander of the 388th Fighter Wing in 1981 and 1982. He retired from active duty in 1997.
The theme of this year's ball is "Keep the Promise -- America's Best," to pay homage to the new Air Force slogan, "Keep the Promise" and recognize Team Hill's recent achievements as "America's Best."
"The new Air Force leadership recently changed the Air Force motto to 'Keep the Promise,' and we would like to give recognition to that," said Col. Harry Briesmaster, a member of the Air Force Ball Committee.
"The last part of the theme, America's Best, is a reference to Team Hill, the proud employees, military, civilian and contractors who work tirelessly on a day-to-day basis to defend America," explained Valerie Burke, 75th Air Base Wing Public Affairs, and also a member of the committee.
Unlike other formal Air Force events, the main point of the Air Force ball is to dance, eat great food and socialize. According to Air Force archivist Barry Spink of the Air Force Historical Research Agency, a formal ball has historically been held to celebrate important events.
"In the U.S. Air Force's case, (the Air Force ball commemorates) the creation of the U.S. Air Force in September 1947," Spink said.
"This is a great opportunity to dress up and remember your heritage," Briesmaster said.
Not every Air Force base has the opportunity to host a formal ball and it has been awhile since Hill AFB had the opportunity to make the Air Force an annual tradition, said Briesmaster.
The Air Force Ball Committee has been planning this event for the past 10 months and has incorporated some ideas from last year's ball and changed other logistics for this year's ball. For example, in order to allow more people to attend, the committee decided to hold the ball at the Davis Conference Center which holds more seating and is located closer to the base for more convenient access.
One remaining tradition integrated into each Hill Air Force ball event is honoring local community supporters of Hill AFB with the Community Wingman Award.
"To recognize local community supporters, we took the 'wingman' concept and expanded it to include these local supporters," Briesmaster said. The Military Affairs Committee selects the nominees for the Community Wingman Award and together with Maj. Gen. Kathleen Close, Ogden Air Logistics Center commander, and Col. Linda Medler, 75th Air Base Wing commander, selects the individuals to receive the award at the Air Force ball. This year, three community leaders will be recognized with the award.
Ticket prices for the ball are offered on a sliding scale based on rank. Contact your wing's ticket sales point of contact for appropriate charges. Ticket sales will end Sept. 12, and only cash or check payments will be accepted.
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