Airmen mask-up for a night of mystery

  • Published
  • By 2nd Lt. Alexios Gavrilos
  • 71st Flying Training Wing Public Affairs
VANCE AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. --  Chapter 990 of the Air Force Sergeants Association hosted the first-ever Masquerade Ball, Jan. 11, at the Vance Collocated Club. Nearly 100 Vance team members attended the event in decorative masks, sharply contrasting the usually structured and scripted Air Force Birthday Ball or Dinings-out.

The event was the brainchild of Airman 1st Class Shalimar Figueroa, a 71st Logistics Readiness and Support Squadron logistics planner, and Senior Airman Eric Ruiz Garcia, a 71st Medical Support Squadron health services manager, who asked senior leaders for permission to host the event in mid-2013.

"We wanted to do a kind of social event that nobody had ever tried before," said Figueroa. "The Masquerade Ball was a chance to wear 'civvies,' let our hair down and have some fun."

Backed by Senior Master Sergeant Robert Woodin, the 71st Flying Training Wing Inspection Team superintendent, and Chief Master Sergeant Mark Aman, the 71st Flying Training Wing command chief master sergeant, Figueroa and Ruiz Garcia led nine different planning committees to pull it all together.

"There wasn't a precedent we could follow, so we pretty much made it up as we went," said Ruiz Garcia.

Figueroa and Ruiz Garcia received some funding through the Air Force Sergeants' Association, but set up many of their own fund-raisers.

In order to encourage participation, monthly dance classes were held leading up to the event, featuring instruction in hip-hop, line, and country and two-step dancing. The first class had 40 participants, and the second had more than 30.

"Building up to [the ball] with dance classes ahead of time was a great idea," said Woodin. "At the actual ball people were much less nervous about hitting the dance floor. I'd rather have fewer folks attending but everyone on the dance floor than have three hundred people there with everyone on their smart phone."

Woodin, with years of experience in planning events like this, had a difficult time "staying out of the weeds," as he put it, but he trusted the Airmen to take the initiative and figure out the process.

"The Wing Mission is to develop Airmen," he said. "What better way to do that than let them run with their own idea? Now they have a whole new perspective on how to plan and run a successful wing-level event."

Originally planned as a New Year's party, Figueroa and Ruiz-Garcia chose Jan. 11 to hold the event in order to maximize participation, while not scheduling too close to the Annual Awards Banquet Feb. 6.