WASSUP??? June-July 2019 · His resume is impeccable, but more importantly he lives core values and will demand that of all of you.” ... He was special,” Forlini said after the

WASSUP??? June-July 2019

VOLUNTEER AWARD WINNERS Volunteer of the Quarter Awards: Team Chiefs, though award winners have not been selected over the last couple of years, please keep on submitting your choice for Volunteer of the Quarter and Volunteer of the Year according to the following schedule. To all Team Chiefs, please make your nominations for the Volunteer of the Quarter awards to Lou Nigro no later than (NLT) the 15th day of March, June, September, and December. If we do not receive nominations by the date above of each of the specified quarters, we will not name a Volunteer of the Quarter.

NEW VOLUNTEERS We are continuously blessed with new people volunteering their time to help us here at the Museum. Since the last issue of the WASSUP, we have not added to our team of volunteers. The Museum is always looking for a “few good men & women” to add to our team. New volunteers joining our team since the last newsletter are:

Fred Joyner – Special Projects Francis Joyce – Host

Elmer Zurakowski – Host Max Lyszczyk – Host

Richard Vanderhoof – Air Park Displays

Please recruit your family members and/or friends to volunteer @ the Museum. We are always in need of weekend docents especially and a couple of our Tuesday/Friday teams are

also in desperate need of volunteers.

LONG-TERM MUSEUM VISITORS PASSES

For those who do not use a Government ID card to access the Base, a revised list of volunteers has been sent to the Base Access Control Officer for the new Defense Biometric Identification System (DBIDS) card that will allow you access to the base. This list includes the name of volunteer’s spouses, if applicable, or the parent/guardian of volunteers who have not already reached driving age. The Air Force-mandated background check on the individuals

listed will be accomplished, at the Visitor’s Center when the DBIDS card is issued. When you come thru the Gate, just show them that card. They will scan the bar code on the back, and you will be on your way. THINGS TO REMEMBER: (1) DBIDS cards will be issued ONLY to the persons on the validated list allowing them access to the Base; (2) If your spouse needs unescorted access to the Base to drop you off or pick you up, he/she will need to get his or her own DBIDS card. The DBIDS cards were requested for the current period, BUT if you picked up a new DBIDS card before the expiration of the old one, the new one will expire one year after the issuance of the new one. (3) Keep your eye on that expiration date as they are not all the same. Do not forget to get your “NEW DBIDS” card before your current one expires! (4) Your Social Security number will be required to be confirmed before your DBIDS card can be issued, so you will have to present either your physical Social Security card or a copy of a physical IRS Form (such as a W-2) to confirm that number.

DBIDS cards are issued at the Vehicle Registration desk in the Visitor’s Center north of the Main Gate at the intersection of M-59 and Jefferson Avenue. NEW HOURS: Hours are generally from 8:00 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Monday and from 7:30 a.m. to 3:00 p.m. on Tuesday thru Saturday. Due to staffing limitations, the Visitor’s Center is closed the Saturday before a Federal holiday, Sundays, Federal holidays, and on Saturdays and Mondays for lunch (time varies depending on their workload). It is recommended that you call before you try to get your pass, regardless of the day you plan to arrive. Their phone number is 586-239-6849. DBIDS cards have been requested solely for participation in Museum activities, the performance of Museum business at other on-Base locations, and transportation to/from on-Base eating establishments. Do not use this pass for any other reason!

127th Wing – New Commander

Selfridge Air Base Welcomes New Leader: Mammen ‘humbled’ by ceremony to replace retiring Slocum

Close to 1,000 airmen in the 127th Wing at Selfridge Air National Guard Base delivered their first unified salute Saturday to the new commander, BG Rolf E. Mammen. Mammen responded, “Wow, this is quite the honor. This is amazing to look out over everybody here. I’m just humbled to be here.” Mammen took over the Harrison Township base to replace retiring BG John D. Slocum, in a ceremony in a hangar at the base that was also attended by dignitaries, former Air Force brethren and family of both men. Slocum served as commander for more than four years, leading the 2017 effort, albeit unsuccessful, to land the F-35A, increasing the base’s connection to the community and guiding it through its 100th anniversary celebration, also in 2017. Mammen who resides in Grosse Pointe, said while the ceremony honored the transition, it really was about the 1,400 or so airmen in the wing, about three-quarters of who were standing at attention behind more than 100 people seated in front of the stage. “I see my job first and foremost as to help you do your job,” Mammen told them. “I want to get in the way of any detractor from keeping you as doing your job. That way you can do your job, take care of yourself and take care of your family.” He noted most of the airmen are part-timers who work in all types of professions and should be recognized for their sacrifice. “They work in the community, they live in the community. They’re our neighbors,” he said. “We cannot get a bomb on target or an aircraft refueled without every one of those members back there doing their job. “What we do isn’t normal. And what we do is not routine. It is not easy. It is hard. It is absolutely necessary. Our communities, our nation depend on us to stand ready as part of our national security structure.” Mammen and speakers said everyone should pay tribute to the approximately 350 reservists currently deployed overseas, “probably 10 or 12 time zones away.”

Mammen, who had been the Director of Operations at the Headquarters Michigan Air National Guard in Lansing, was promoted from Colonel to Brigadier General earlier Saturday in a smaller ceremony. Prior to his latest assignment, Mammen spent 22 years at Selfridge, serving in many capacities, more recently as vice commander for less than a year in 2016 and before that more than three years as commander of the 127th Wing Maintenance Group. He also piloted C-26 and C-130 aircraft at Selfridge. He described his reaction when Major General Leonard W. Isabelle, Jr., assistant adjutant general and commander of the Michigan Air National Guard, called him to offer him the post. “I think I actually jumped out of my seat and I said, ‘You bet,’ he said. I was ready, I was excited to come back to this organization.” Isabelle praised Mammen’s pedigree and values saying, “He’s always made organizations better.” “He’s my No. 1 choice,” Isabelle said. “He’s tailor-made to be your Wing commander. He has probably the best understanding of the 127th Wing of anybody in the state. You’re in very good hands. His resume is impeccable, but more importantly he lives core values and will demand that of all of you.” Slocum, befitting his reputation, kept his comments brief and direct. He said the airman during his tenure “reached new levels of excellence.” “Men and women of the 127th Wing, you have done exactly what I’ve asked you to do,” he said. “When we started 4-1/2 years ago, you didn’t know what to expect, and I really didn’t know what to expect from you. I had no idea you are as good as you are.” He credited the airmen with setting standards that he said makes the wing the best in the country. Under Slocum, there were more than 2,400 deployments of wing members. Everybody in here is a warrior,” he said. “It has been my pleasure, my honor to serve you.” The event was attended by U.S. Rep. Any Levin and Tony Forlini, former state representative and current aide to U.S. Rep. Paul Mitchell, among others. Folini praised Slocum who began when Forlini was in the Legislature, for his efforts to reach out and get things done. He was special,” Forlini said after the ceremony. Sgt. Dan Heaton served as the master of ceremonies. Members of Slocum’s and Mammen’s families were presented bouquets of flowers. (Source: The Macomb Daily, Sunday, 5 May 2019, page 1A and 4A)

FAREWELL, BG SLOCUM

Brig. Gen. John D. “Odie” Slocum, former 127th Wing commander, concluded a 35-year Air Force career during a retirement ceremony at Selfridge Air National Guard Base, Michigan on 5 May 2019. During Slocum’s tenure, the 127th Wing earned the Spaatz Award, presented to the top flying wing in the Air National Guard; earned an Air Force Meritorious Unit Award; and celebrated milestone anniversaries of the base (100 years) and the 127th Wing’s two flying units, the 107th Fighter Squadron (100 years) and the 171st Air Refueling Squadron (75 years). Check out the video on the 127th Wing’s Facebook page for highlights of these accomplishments: (https://www.facebook.com/127thWing/?__tn__=%2Cd%2CP-R&eid=ARDsf6vmypIOKUTnK8dUIDt-StPtncJpVv6Z20Ox4LtHfEqD_OHAazptXomTjW-Z1v773j1WJJtplUWu). Since he’s staying in the area, hopefully he won’t be a stranger to the Museum. Hmmm…think maybe we can get him on-board as a volunteer?

Museum Happenings

Museum Fundraising Efforts:

Museum Memorial Wall

If you or a loved one served in any branch of the military, active-duty, reserves or guard, you can purchase a brick in that person’s memory or honor of their time served and have it placed in the Museum’s Memorial Wall. A form for ordering bricks is located at the end of the newsletter.

Go-Fund-Me

The Selfridge Military Air Museum has launched a “Go-Fund-Me” initiative to raise funds for improvements to the Museum’s infrastructure. We’re hoping that we will be able to build a “new” home for the USMC FG-1D Corsair that is currently being restored by our restoration team. Please help if you can!! For more information, watch the video by clicking on the link below or copying and pasting the link into your URL bar:

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_bRupDKhHHU&feature=youtu.be. If you’re interested in helping us out with this project, you can make a donation by clicking on this link or by copying/pasting the link into your URL bar: https://www.gofundme.com/7tqvzq-maghaselfridge-military-airmuseum.

2nd ANNUAL HISTORIC TEA

The Selfridge Military Air Museum has planned and scheduled our 2nd Annual Historic Tea with TSgt Dan Heaton as our guest speaker. TSgt Heaton will be speaking on Selfridge history – ‘Home of the Generals:’ Carl Spaatz, Curtis LeMay, George Scratchly Brown, to name a few.

Date: Saturday, 20 July 2019 Time: Gates open @ 10 a.m.

Cost: $40 Contact: [email protected] to register and receive your vetting form & invoice.

See attached flyer for more information.

Museum Happenings (cont.) Fundraiser with Panera Bread

Come and join the Michigan Air Guard Historical Association and the Selfridge Military Air Museum @ their first fundraiser with Panera Bread on Friday, 7 June 2019 from 4 to 8 p.m. Panera is located @ 51490 Gratiot Avenue, Chesterfield, Michigan (in the Target shopping center). Please bring along the flyer below to give your cashier to insure that MAGHA and the air museum get credit. MAGHA will receive 20% of the proceeds. Please share this flyer with your friends and family and encourage them to come out and join MAGHA @ this “new” fundraiser.

Museum Happenings (cont.) Partnership with Texas Roadhouse, Chesterfield Township

Our first event partnering with the Texas Roadhouse, located on 23 Mile Road, Chesterfield Township, Mich., was a success! We have another event scheduled for Monday, 2 December 2019. Please stay-tuned for additional details in the next newsletter, or check-out the Events & Fundraising page of the Museum’s website (http://www.selfridgeairmuseum.org) for additional details and to print/download a copy of the flyer closer to the date of the event. PLEASE SHARE THIS upcoming event date with your friends and family and encourage them to come out to support the Selfridge Military Air Museum with our second fundraiser with Texas Roadhouse.

Visitors:

On 10 May, the Museum had some special guests who stopped by to see the museum display and air park. Ed Kaminski was on-hand and gave them a personal tour.

Pictured above are: SGM Mike Spalding (left), 46th MP Command; RAF Visitors: LCpl Christina Roberts, 222 Medical Squadron; Cpl Will Salt, 3rd BN Royal Military Police; and CPT Mike Beasley-Wood, 27th Royal Signal Regt.

Museum Happenings (cont.) Library Research Team: The Library Research team is continuing work on the digitization of the photos and documents in our multiple file cabinets and the creation of an index of our archival holdings. Regular volunteers, Pat Williams and Mary Lou Pearsall along with Team Chief, Lori Nye are the ones working on this project. Joe Mazzara is conscientiously and diligently scouring the Museum’s collection of Air National Guard Yearbooks, Selfridge Field history articles and books, and the Internet on his research to build a biographical sketch of the Base Commanders @ Selfridge Field from its beginning through the present day. Patrick, our newest volunteer, because of his expertise as an architect, has been re-assigned to the Special Projects Team under Assistant Director, Bob Hudson. Team Chief, Lori Nye will tackle the inventory of the existing book collection and rebuild an accurate listing of the Museum Library’s reference collection adding in all the new titles that have been waiting while the Library Team waits on the upgrade of software/hardware or replacement of the computer used for this project. Now that our ‘open season’ is here, this upgrade will be put on hold once again while Dave Leasia, Team Chief of Information Technology dons his hat as Team Chief of Grounds. The Library Team has sorted a large bag of military patches that was donated to us, sorting out those patches that specifically apply to the history of the squadrons either currently, or once stationed at Selfridge. The rest of the patches will eventually be photographed in batches and uploaded to eBay for sale. The patches pertaining to the history of squadrons at Selfridge will eventually be added to the inventory of artifacts and hopefully make it out on display in the near, not too distant future. In the process of sorting the patches, the Library team responded to a request for information on 191st AMX patches. I scanned the patches I found in the donated ones that may fit this request of Josh Camp and emailed him the image. [CLOSED]. The Library Research Team and Visual Information Team received a request from Chris Meister for photos of buildings designed

by Albert Kahn. The teams supplied him with photos from the Library’s Archives.. See some of these photos below. [CLOSED] The early construction was designed by Albert Kahn and Walter Tower, Architects from the Detroit area.

Museum Happenings (cont.) Construction of the base in 1917 was done by Walbridge – Aldinger, Builders also from Detroit. Walbridge is still in operation today, celebrating more than 100 years of business. This next photo, though quite a bit later in time, than the first two photos, shows the early construction of the base into the 1930s. The aircraft in the aerial photo below are Curtiss P-6E Hawks of the First Pursuit Group and the 17th Pursuit “Snow Owls” Squadron. The aircraft in the lower right is believed to be a Boeing P-12B. Hopefully the Selfridge Military Air Museum will receive mention in Chris Meister’s upcoming book on Albert Kahn. (Note: Photos are from the Museum’s Library/Archives. Please do not use without permission.)

Museum Happenings (cont.) Restoration Team: The Restoration Team led by Darrel Rohrbeck is continuing their steady progress on restoring the Museum’s FG-1D Corsair. Steady progress has been made and one wing is done with maybe some additional minor work, ready to paint, and work is progressing on the 2nd wing. Check out the Museum’s website @ www.selfridgeairmuseum.org, if you’re interested in donating to this worthy cause. The Team Chief’s at their last meeting voted to pursue additional fundraising and quotes for the building of an addition to our SPAD Hangar to house the restored Corsair. Grounds Team: The Grounds Team volunteers are back in full swing with grass mowing, weeding the flower beds, and trimming around the aircraft. We’re all hoping for a successful year on getting some

projects completed that have been hanging around on the ‘Projects List’ for a couple of years: sump pump area, windows & floors repaired/replaced with awning of trailer installed that house the public restrooms, etc. Hopefully with collaborative effort between the Grounds, Restoration, & Maintenance Teams we can be successful in getting our F-16 restored and replaced on its pedestal following its short, brief flight into the garden at its base, back in the Fall 2017.

Visual Information Team: Jon Earl, Visual Information Team member has returned from a winter hiatus to continue work on his uniform project that he restarted chronicling a while back. While off on hiatus he was not idle, though, as he continued work on the scanning of large format films from the Library’s archives using his home-based equipment. Next on his to-do list is scanning & indexing 4x6 negatives in the Library’s archives. This project will benefit both the Library Team and Visual Information Team in having a digitized copy of the negatives and an index for easy access to those photos. Team Chief, Rob Sandstrom is taking the summer off from active, on-site volunteering as he is back to work for a few months.

Museum Happenings (cont.) Redesign of Museum Display: Over the last few months the museum display has been undergoing a redesign. So make sure you stop by during our ‘Open Season’, April through October to check it out! Here are some highlights:

Our ‘temporary display’ team has finally completed a three month project depicting the aircraft of the 107th Tactical Reconnaissance Squadron in WW II. The diorama depicts RAF Membury, the airfield that it was initially based out of from 1943 till two weeks after D-Day when it moved to France. Aircraft depicted range from the very first front line fighter (the Spitfire Mk V) thru the different variants of the North American F-6s (Photo Recon versions of the P-51 Mustang). We want to thank the following individuals who made this project a reality: To Patrick Kopytek and Fred Schwarz, Team Leads who gave this project it's vision and expertise over and above their collective modeling skills. We also salute and thank the master Model Builders: Blane Zublin, Glen Broman, Dr. Bill Kalmar, Kevin Kenny, Ron Lebert, MSgt (Ret'd) James Ashford, CDR Lynn Baughman (USN Ret), and John Robbins. For a close-up view of the artistic design and creativity of this display you will truly have to visit the museum during our ‘open season’. Other additions and changes have also been made, so please make a point to put a visit to the Selfridge Military Air Museum on your calendar.

Museum Happenings (cont.)

Volunteers Needed!

Please recruit your friends & family to volunteer as a weekend docent in the Gift Shop, Flight Training area, SPAD Hangar, or as an Inside/Outside floater. Their volunteering will continue to promote the history of the Air National

Guard @ Selfridge and the history of Selfridge Air National Guard Base for the next 100 years. We’re also looking ‘for a few good men & women’ to serve as volunteers on the Tuesday & Friday gigs, but our weekend docents really need a “boost” in numbers!!!!!!!! If volunteering as a weekend docent, standard procedure is about 10 days per season, but if you can only give the museum two to four, don’t let that stop you from applying. We may have funds to keep the Museum operational, but without volunteers, we don’t have a Museum! You can obtain the Volunteer Application Form from the Museum’s website http://www.selfridgeairmuseum.org, or call the Museum Director and he’ll send you the application (586-239-6768; or email: [email protected]. If you can recruit friends and family, to volunteer as a weekend docent or on one of our Tuesday/Friday group of volunteer teams, here are the areas where we desperately need help. Look for the areas with an asterisk *.

Please sign up today!

Museum Happenings (cont.) Selfridge Retirees Association: The Selfridge Retirees Association will be having their quarterly meeting at the Museum on July 18th. Watch the Selfridge Military Air Museum Facebook page https://www.facebook.com/events/298158117737518/ for registration details. This is open to all those who served at Selfridge and all branches of service are welcome.

Michigan Activity Pass: In the near future, well before our ‘open season’ ends in October, the Selfridge Military Air Museum will have joined the Michigan Activity Pass. These passes will be available at your local public libraries for a 7-day check-out period. The pass will be: Buy one Adult, Get One Child (ages 4-12) Free. Check the Michigan Activity Pass website for locating the Museum’s available pass in the near future. https://tln.lib.mi.us/map/ Paperwork still has to be completed on our end and submitted to finalize our inclusion in this project – stay tuned.

EDITORIAL This is where our beloved Museum Director gets a chance to vent. Please do not take these ramblings personally…

• I’ll say it again and keep saying it until everyone gets the word! ONLY THE CURATOR (DICK SOULES) OR THE EXECUTIVE DIRECTOR (THAT’S ME) CAN ACCEPT A DONATION TO THE MUSEUM! Do not bring anything from your home or from others that is to be donated to the Museum unless you first come thru me or Dick! We keep getting stuff that I have to back door thru the review, acceptance and inventory process and it’s getting a little old trying to figure out what happened and when after the fact.

• For those of you who have our Museum Master Card number memorized or on a piece of paper, it has changed! See me or call me and I’ll share it with you.

• Please consider becoming a member of the Michigan Air National Air Guard Historical Association (MAGHA). Membership in our parent organization is certainly not a requirement to be an Air Museum volunteer, however, the membership donations we receive are a significant part of our yearly income and provide us with the financial wherewithal to reimburse you for purchases you make on our behalf and to fund needed improvements to our operation. We presently have over 110 volunteers on our rolls and over 50% have chosen not to become members of MAGHA. Please consider joining our Historical Association…a membership application is on the last page of this newsletter.

• For those of you that purchase from Grainger, we now have our own account instead of sharing the Base Supply account. Our account number is 884941782.

• If I sometimes seem a little frazzled or annoyed, please forgive me as I sometimes feel like I’m getting ready to fall into my full plate. I can’t begin to count the number of times that a conversation begins with “Wouldn’t it be great if we…” and “we” usually translates to me!

2019 GOALS It never ends…

• Purge our storage areas of assets that are excess to our current and future needs, a long-term and ongoing effort.

• Training more of our “full-time” volunteers on aircraft corrosion control. • Training our weekend hosts • Cataloguing, digitizing, and filing historic photos. • Restoring the FG-1D “Corsair” using industry-standard components. The “plan” is

to restore portions of it in Bldg 1007 for final assembly in Bldg 1045. Expect the Corsair to be moved out of the Air Park when the AT-6 gets placed in the Air Park and to be moved back to the Air Park in the summer/fall of 2015.

GOLF SHIRTS One of the ways we say “thank you” to our volunteers who do more than just say they want to volunteer and then either don’t show up or come in one time and then leave is to provide them with a golf shirt in a size of their choice with the Museum logo and their name embroidered on it. The initial golf shirt is free. If additional or replacement shirts are needed, we’ll order and mail them to you with an invoice for just our cost for the shirt(s) requested. It’s hard to keep track of who wanted a shirt (some don’t) and who received one already, so until I hear to the contrary, I’m going to assume that all of our current volunteers have already received their shirt. If my assumption is incorrect, and it probably is, please call me and we’ll get it on order.

From the Archives – 1917 construction

Kroger Community Rewards Program

HELP Support the Selfridge Military Air Museum!

Support the Selfridge Military Air Museum & enroll in

Kroger’s Community Rewards Program

Kroger Community Rewards Program: This program will link purchases made with your Kroger’s Plus Card to the Selfridge Military Air Museum so that a portion of the sale is donated back to the Selfridge Military Air Museum.

Please note — Once you have enrolled in the program and identified the nonprofit organization of your choice, you do not need to re-register annually. Step by step instructions if you have never registered online 1. Go to www.krogercommunityrewards.com

2. Create an account by entering your email, a password and your zip code.

3. Select your preferred store location.

4. Click on the “Create Account” button.

5. Enter your Kroger’s card number and your last name.

6. Click the “Save” button.

7. At the bottom of the next screen, click on the “Enroll button”

8. Enter in your contact information.

9. Click on the “Save” button.

10. In the “Find Your Organization” box, enter the number LI431 and click “Search”.

11. Click on circle/dot next to “Selfridge Military Air Museum”.

12. Click on the “Enroll” button. You are now registered to support the Selfridge Military Air

Museum.

Amazon Smile:

For information about the Amazon Smile Program that the museum is enrolled in, check out the website: http://selfridgeairmuseum.org/support_AmazonSmile.htmClick on the link here in order to sign into If you already have an Amazon account, then log in to your account with your email/user name and password from the link on the museum’s website. If successful, you should receive a notice saying “Thank you” and that your purchases will be in support of the Selfridge Military Air Museum. If you need to create an Amazon account, click on the link to “create an account”. You will need to have an email account to participate and have the following information to fill in: Type your name, email, retype your email, create a password, and retype your password. If it all matches, click “Create Amazon Account”. Amazon will donate 0.5% of the price of your eligible Amazon Smile purchases to the charitable organization of your choice.

The Selfridge Military Air Museum says, “Thank You for Your Support”!!

MAGHA MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION I believe that my support for the goals of the Michigan Air Guard Historical Association and the Selfridge Military Air Museum will attest to my commitment to the Michigan Air National Guard, Selfridge Air National Guard Base, and the thousands of dedicated men and women who have served our great nation and the State of Michigan. I wish to demonstrate this commitment by becoming a member of MAGHA as follows: � NEW MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION � RENEWAL MEMBERSHIP APPLICATION � PATRON MEMBERSHIP ($1,000.00) � SUSTAINING MEMBERSHIP ($500.00) � LIFE MEMBERSHIP ($250.00) � REGULAR MEMBERSHIP ($25.00) � DONATION ONLY RANK & NAME __________________________________________________________________

UNIT OF AFFILIATION (ONLY ONE PLEASE) _______________________________________

MEMBER OF THE MI ANG (YEARS ONLY) FROM ___________________ TO ____________

ADDRESS ________________________________________________________________________

CITY ____________________________________________________________________________

STATE ___________________________________ ZIP CODE ___________________________

E-MAIL ADDRESS _________________________________________________________________

HOW WOULD YOU PREFER TO RECEIVE YOUR NEWSLETTER (check one)

� BY EMAIL � BY US MAIL � OFF THE WEB SITE (www.selfridgeairmuseum.org) Complete your payment information below and mail to: 27333 C St, Bldg. 1011, Selfridge ANG Base MI 48045

WE appreciate YOUR support of MAGHA. REMEMBER your membership donation is 100% TAX DEDUCTIBLE.

MICHIGAN SOLICITATION LICENSE NUMBER: MICS 26603

O Check #__________ dated _______________ enclosed. Checks should be made payable to “MAGHA”. Please charge my: O VISA CARD O MASTER CARD O AMERICAN EXPRESS CARD O DISCOVER CARD Account # _______________________________________________ Expiration Date ___________________________________________ Signature: _______________________________________________