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Shaw detachment displays AF pride, heritage

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  • By Senior Airman Kenny Holston
  • 20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs
SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --  Shaw detachment displays AF pride, heritage
By Senior Airman Kenny Holston
20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

Heritage, remembrance and pride are three words that aren't taken lightly by Airmen assigned to the 372ndTraining Squadron Detachment 2 here.
 
The 372nd TRS is a small detachment from Sheppard Air Force Base, Texas, and are a part of Air Education Training Command.

Their squadron is located just outside the gates of Shaw and is often overlooked by folks who don't have a hand in any type of aircraft maintenance.

Airmen assigned to DET 2 are F-16 maintenance instructors who ensure all maintenance Airmen assigned to Shaw and surrounding guard units are equipped with the advanced maintenance skills needed to get the job done.

While many around base might have never heard of the 372nd TRS, it hasn't stopped their Airmen from taking pride in their facility.

Within the past year, the training squadron's personnel have completed a few rigorous self-help projects. One of the more time-consuming and intensive projects was the constructing of their very own Air Force enlisted heritage hall, said Master Sgt. Matthew Martin, production superintendent.

The three-phase project consumed more than 360-man hours, with two 372nd TRS instructors, Staff Sgt. Joshua Davis, and Staff Sgt. Mitchell Baker, leading the way.

With the direction of Martin and other senior leaders in the unit, Davis and Baker developed a vision for the heritage project and ran with it.

"We had somewhat of an enlisted heritage display prior to the completion of the hall," explained Davis. "But, we felt that it just wasn't doing the Air Force enlisted heritage justice, so Baker and I bounced ideas off of our peers and superiors on how to improve what we had; resulting in a more respectful and pride filled display."

Near the beginning of the reconstructed hallway, all 16 Chief Master Sergeants of the Air Force are recognized and remembered with framed photos and biographies.

Toward the end of the hallway is a large unit and squadron patch display with multiple wall-mounted display cabinets built by hand.

The middle of the hallway features wooden handmade cabinets displaying various enlisted heritage uniforms provided by past and present 372nd TRS instructors to commemorate Air Force enlisted heritage. The vast uniform display includes all types of uniforms from green fatigues to the tan desert combat uniform.

But, like most projects, the process wasn't easy. Davis and Baker, along with other members of the unit, experienced turbulence along the way. The project, in itself, was very time consuming. None the less the prideful detachment continued to press.

"Nothing ever goes according to plan," Davis said. "But this is something that we wanted to achieve, so we continued pushing through the rough spots. Our work center is like a second home to many of us, and we take pride in our jobs and our home."

As hundreds of students pour through the hallways of the 372nd TRS Detachment each year, instructors not only teach the advanced maintenance skills Airmen require, but they also continue to set high standards by displaying Air Force enlisted heritage and their pride in the very hallways those Airmen pass through.

"Several of the students who have come through here since the completion of our display have been impressed with what our instructors have worked so hard on," said Martin. "Being a part of AETC, we strive to set the standard. We feel we have done so with our enlisted heritage display."

True to the historic love of the Air Force heritage, the local detachment rang in their own bit of history when all members of the detachment wore their Battle Dress Uniforms before the final phase-out date.

While every member of the detachment wore the BDU one last time, they can rest assured it won't be far from them when it takes its place in the hall, next to the other articles of Air Force heritage.