The 510FS Buzzard Reunion
This past weekend Lana and I drove down to Destin, FL for a reunion of the 510 Fighter Squadron. As a reminder, I flew the F-16 at Aviano Air Base in Italy with the 510th April '06 - December '08. The 510th is at Eglin AFB right now for Combat Hammer, using the bombing ranges in preparation for their upcoming deployment to the desert. After Eglin, they will fly to Nellis AFB in Las Vegas, Nevada for a few weeks of Red Flag. This path is similar to the one I took back in the summer of '06 with the Buzzards where we flew to Hill AFB for Combat Hammer before going to Vegas and then on to the desert.
It was great for Lana and I to meet up with many of the friends we made during our time in Italy. I would venture to say we still knew about 60% of the pilots in the squadron, and one we had met during this past year in Korea...it's a small Air Force. Saturday night the squadron had a nice meal at the Eglin Officer's Club where much of the time was spent just chatting and catching up with friends. There were also past members of the 510th who flew and fought in Vietnam as well. It was very interesting to talk with them and listen to their stories. The history of the 510FS dates back to pre WWII and Lana and I both think someone should make a movie of the remaining war heroes similar to the Band of Brothers series made of the 82nd Airborne. Much of our squadron's history can be found here, to include pictures and videos.
On a smaller scale, we had a little Buzzard reunion here in Alabama last weekend as well. My squadron commander, Lt Col Landrum, from Aviano is here at Maxwell Air Force Base for Air War College (those who are going to make the rank of Colonel attend this school) and another good friend of mine was in the area...we all flew in Aviano together. We all got together for a BBQ and enjoyed catching up on what had happened over the past year.
SOS has been a good experience, not just for the lessons in leadership, but because we were able to see many of our Air Force friends. Thank you God for the this time!
It was great for Lana and I to meet up with many of the friends we made during our time in Italy. I would venture to say we still knew about 60% of the pilots in the squadron, and one we had met during this past year in Korea...it's a small Air Force. Saturday night the squadron had a nice meal at the Eglin Officer's Club where much of the time was spent just chatting and catching up with friends. There were also past members of the 510th who flew and fought in Vietnam as well. It was very interesting to talk with them and listen to their stories. The history of the 510FS dates back to pre WWII and Lana and I both think someone should make a movie of the remaining war heroes similar to the Band of Brothers series made of the 82nd Airborne. Much of our squadron's history can be found here, to include pictures and videos.
On a smaller scale, we had a little Buzzard reunion here in Alabama last weekend as well. My squadron commander, Lt Col Landrum, from Aviano is here at Maxwell Air Force Base for Air War College (those who are going to make the rank of Colonel attend this school) and another good friend of mine was in the area...we all flew in Aviano together. We all got together for a BBQ and enjoyed catching up on what had happened over the past year.
SOS has been a good experience, not just for the lessons in leadership, but because we were able to see many of our Air Force friends. Thank you God for the this time!
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