Congratulations to JSUPT graduates

  • Published
  • By Col. Bryan Benson
  • 71st Flying Training Wing
Vance Air Force Base, Okla. --  Congratulations Class 05-07 upon your graduation from Joint Specialized Undergraduate Pilot Training. Many of you thought this day would never get here or at the very least, wouldn't get here soon enough but alas, you did it! Your achievement today is tremendous, and you should be very proud of yourselves.
It took a large team effort to get you to this point; a team composed of many people including parents, family members, spouses, friends, classmates, instructor pilots, maintainers, support personnel and the list goes on.
This team that made the commitment to see you successfully finish pilot training is also very proud of you. Let me take this opportunity to thank all of you, the unsung heroes that composed this team and for your tireless efforts, your commitment to these young men and women and to our great country. It fills me with a great sense of pride knowing these world-class aviators that we trained right here will be representing Vance Air Force Base and the United States of America. I wish all of you good luck and Godspeed.
April is National Volunteer Month, and I'm sure it is no surprise to anyone that Team Vance is a champion of volunteering. Every year, hundreds of Vance AFB people volunteer thousands of hours in the local community. You take every opportunity to show you are good neighbors and show such a positive force here that the community can't do enough in return to show their appreciation for your efforts.
In support of the spirit of volunteerism, Vance AFB will again host the annual Area 6 Special Olympics. The ceremony kicks off at 9 a.m. April 15 by the track behind the fitness center. I will be out there, and I look forward to seeing as many Team Vance personnel as possible support this very worthy and inspiring event.
Finally, you may have noticed our slogan change from "No March Madness" to "No Fools in April" regarding our commitment to remaining alcohol-related incident free. I have also included the number of days without incident on the front page of the Airscoop. Being good wingmen is as much a part of our mission as training pilots.
Thank you Team Vance for your continued attention and support of our on-going campaign, for being good wingmen, and please enjoy a happy, safe weekend.