I hope everyone had a great holiday season and is enjoying the beginning of 2020. With each New Year comes many changes. However, in my lifetime I never envisioned the United States would have a U.S. Space Force, but here we are. For the first time since 1947 we have a new armed service. The U.S. Space Force is organized as one of two co-equal military service branches within the Department of the Air Force, with the other being the United States Air Force. Several bases to include Vandenberg [Calif.] and Patrick [Fla.] Air Force Bases (among others) will re-designate as “Space Bases.” It’s safe to say that there will be many changes happening within the Department of the Air Force in upcoming years.
Perhaps Star Trek and Captain Kirk’s famous monologue wasn’t so farfetched after all:
“Space: the final frontier. These are the voyages of the starship Enterprise. Its five-year mission: to explore strange new worlds, to seek out new life and new civilizations, to boldly go where no man has gone before.“
As you ponder the beginnings of our new Space Force, I’d like you to all do me a favor. Take you cell phone out and download the USAF Connect App from the Play Store (Android) or App Store (Apple). I cannot claim to be a techie, but this is actually a very good application that serves numerous functions. There are news links, publications, information on medical services, safety, social media and a physical fitness tracker calculator on the main page. The best part is that you can link to the best unit in the Air Force, the 301st Fighter Wing. Go to favorites at the bottom of the page, click on ‘Add more’ and search for 301. Select our wing and now you are connected to local resources within our wing. The Air Force plans to keep adding functions to the app including personnel sites and even finance. Perhaps one day you will even be able to file and submit your travel voucher via the app. I hope this app helps you stay better informed and connected to our unit as well as the Air Force in general.
Happy New Year Airmen of the Mighty 301st! Thank you for your continued hard work and sacrifice to keep our nation safe!