Hill’s First Four donates uniforms to students
Senior Airman Dennis Spain, president of the First Four Organization at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, speaks to students at the Utah Military Academy, April 22, 2021. The organization ran an Airman Battle Uniform drive to donate to area Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps students who are still wearing the retired uniform. (U.S. Air Force photo by Cynthia Griggs)
Chief Master Sgt Christopher Walker, 75th Air Base Wing command chief at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, speaks to students at the Utah Military Academy, April 22, 2021. Hill's First Four Organization ran an Airman Battle Uniform drive to donate to area Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps students who are still wearing the retired uniform. (U.S. Air Force photo by Cynthia Griggs)
Airmen from the First Four Organization at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, pose for a group photo at the Utah Military Academy April 22, 2021. The organization ran an Airman Battle Uniform drive to donate to area Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps students who are still wearing the retired uniform. (U.S. Air Force photo by Cynthia Griggs)
Airmen from the First Four Organization at Hill Air Force Base, Utah, unload one of the boxes filled with donated Airman Battle Uniforms at the Utah Military Academy, April 22, 2021. The organization ran an ABU drive to benefit area Junior Reserve Officers' Training Corps students who are still wearing the retired uniform. (U.S. Air Force photo by Cynthia Griggs)
HILL AIR FORCE BASE — In the months leading up to the Air Force’s April 1 mandatory wear date of the Operational Camouflage Pattern utility uniform, an organization at Hill Air Force Base established a plan to take soon-to-be obsolete Air Battle Uniform items off Airmen’s hands.
The First Four, a private organization open to the Airmen tier, led by its president Senior Airman Dennis Spain, organized a base-wide ABU drive to support Junior Reserve Officers’ Training Corps and Civil Air Patrol programs in the local area. First Lt. Stephanie Mullins, 75th Medical Group, served as an ambassador for the project.
When it was all said and done, the organization collected a 2,352 uniform items, resulting in an estimated savings of $104,185 to the schools and parents of students in those programs.
A large number of uniforms were donated to the Utah Military Academy in Riverdale April 22.
During a special assembly held at the school to recognize the First Four for their donation, Spain told students that the First Four worked “some long days and weekends” in order to “ensure each donated uniform item found a home.”
He said what stood out the most to him about the project was the “sense of service before self and pride he felt for being a part of something of this magnitude.”
Chief Master Sgt. Christopher Walker, 75th Air Base Wing command chief, also attended the donation event.
“It was inspiring to see the collaboration between the Hill First Four and the Utah Military Academy,” Walker said. “A big focus of the UMA is teaching and displaying citizenship to the cadets. The execution of the Airman Battle Uniform drive from the Hill First Four was an example of citizenship in action.
“I am honored I get to serve with these amazing Airmen,” he added.
In addition to the Utah Military Academy, ABUs will be donated to Northridge High School in Layton, Wasatch High School in Heber City, and the Utah Wing of the Civil Air Patrol.