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Honoring the Fallen: Port Dawgs Memorial Run

U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Timothy Anderson, AFCENT A4 aerial port operations non-commissioned officer-in-charge, and Airman 1st Class Aaron Gentry, 20th Logistics Readiness Squadron air transportation apprentice, participate in a memorial ceremony at Shaw Air Force Base, March 22, 2025. A ceremony and run has been held across the Air Force in May every year since 2013 in honor of fallen air transportation specialists, known as Port Dawgs.

Honoring the Fallen: Port Dawgs Memorial Run

Airmen from the 20th Logistics Readiness Squadron and Air Forces Central A4 pose with a commemorative flag before a memorial run at Shaw Air Force Base, May 22, 2025. A ceremony and run has been held across the Air Force in May every year since 2013 in honor of fallen air transportation specialists, known as Port Dawgs.

Honoring the Fallen: Port Dawgs Memorial Run

Airmen from the 20th Logistics Readiness Squadron, Air Forces Central A4, and the 20th Mission Support Group start running together at Shaw Air Force Base, March 22, 2025. A ceremony and run has been held across the Air Force in May every year since 2013 in honor of fallen air transportation specialists, known as Port Dawgs.

Honoring the Fallen: Port Dawgs Memorial Run

Airmen from the 20th Logistics Readiness Squadron, Air Forces Central A4, and the 20th Mission Support Group gather before a memorial run at Shaw Air Force Base, May 22, 2025. A ceremony and run has been held across the Air Force in May every year since 2013 in honor of fallen air transportation specialists, known as Port Dawgs.

Honoring the Fallen: Port Dawgs Memorial Run

A line of MB-1 devices, which are specialized equipment used to tie down aircraft cargo, hang on a chain as a part of a memorial ceremony at Shaw Air Force Base, March 22, 2025. A ceremony and run has been held across the Air Force in May every year since 2013 in honor of fallen air transportation specialists, known as Port Dawgs.This year the Port Dawg community paid tribute to nine airmen.

Honoring the Fallen: Shaw AFB Port Dawg Run

Published May 30, 2025
By Airman 1st Class Nyanda Walker-Potts
20th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

SHAW AIR FORCE BASE, S.C. --

For those who work as air transportation specialists, also called Port Dawgs, the month of May is a time to gather and pay tribute to fallen members of their career field. Port Dawgs from the 20th Logistics Readiness Squadron and Air Forces Central (AFCENT) A4, along with Airmen from the 20th Mission Support Group, upheld this year’s tradition here on May 22, 2025.

The tradition originated at Kadena Air Base, Japan, in 2013 in honor of Technical Sgt. Kurtis E. Eccleston, an air transportation specialist assigned there who tragically passed away in 2011. His teammates at Kadena began the tradition, and the Port Dawg community has held a ceremony and memorial run every year since across the Air Force.

The ceremony began with opening remarks, given by Chief Master Sgt. Javier Orozco, AFCENT A4 Distributions Branch Chief.

“It is surreal to me as I look back to when I first joined,” Orozco said. “I remember my recruiter mentioning the job to me and telling me, ‘you can’t understand what it means to be a Port Dawg until you work with them and become one’.”

Following the remarks, Master Sgt. Timothy Anderson, AFCENT A4 aerial port operations non-commissioned officer-in-charge, gave background on the history behind the day’s event, and called the names of fallen Airmen from the past year as participants took turns linking an MB-1 device, a type of aircraft cargo tie-down equipment, onto a chain. There was one device attached to the chain for each fallen Port Dawg.

This year, there were nine devices linked in memory of the following Airmen:

Tech. Sgt. Kathryn Glance
Staff Sgt. Abbey Berg
Staff Sgt. Edgar Guadarrama
Staff Sgt. Reuel James
Staff Sgt. Quazay Jones
Staff Sgt. Koy Sauer
Staff Sgt. Jacob Spletzer
Staff Sgt. Manville Stalcup
Senior Airman Christopher Wagner

After the ceremony, the group completed a 2.2 mile run in their honor.

“Thank you for being here.” Orozco finished. “It’s always great to see so much support from our Port Dawg community. I look forward to seeing everyone next year. POOOOOORT DAAAAWGS!”