Fellow Missileers:
On Saturday, 11 May 2024, @ 0900, there will be a muster ceremony for ICBM missile community members (missileers, maintainers, security forces, facility managers, military family members, etc.), lost to probable service-related cancer and other illnesses. It will be held at Pikes Peak National Cemetery, Colorado Springs, CO, Section 6, near site 193 (Mark Holmes’ gravesite). Mark Holmes was a former 10th Missile Squadron, 3 SOPS and 19 SOPS member. He died on 12 May 2020 after a short battle with non-Hodgkin Lymphoma. We will use the anniversary of Mark’s death to remember him and the many others that were lost to similar circumstances, the fallen Airmen of 20 AF. (Note: the ceremony is being held 11 May instead of 12 May to deconflict with Mother’s Day.)
This will be a 10 min ceremony to remember those ICBM community members who have passed. Their names will be read and a roll call answered for them in their absence.
You are welcome to forward the invitation to other missile community members that may want to attend This will not be a formal event, and you can wear business casual or casual attire.
Making It Better!
Imagine you’re driving to your first assignment with your new bride in the middle of winter. You left your home in Florida, went to training in California, got married, and now you’re pulling up to the Minot AFB main gate. Emblazoned across the gate are the words “Only the Best Come North”. As you lower your window to show your ID, the cold wind smacks into your face. The Security Forces guard smiles, and says, I noticed your Florida plates, are you new to Minot?” You reply “yes”, and she directs you to the Welcome Center.
You casually glance at the outside temp gage on your convertible Mustang instrument cluster and it reads minus 21 degrees. Your bride looks at you, and says “don’t worry, I’ll be ok, I just need to buy some warmer clothes”. Warmer clothes are not the only things that families have to buy when moving to a cold weather assignment. How about an engine block heater to keep the car engine warm so your car will start on cold days...and don’t forget that heavy duty extension cord required to plug your car into the parking lot outlets. Other costs for families could include warm boots, gloves, “long johns”, snowsuits, and possibly a humidifier for your home.”
Effective April 1, the Department of the Air Force approved a new incentive pay for Airmen assigned to qualifying bases in the U.S. where the temperature is expected to drop below minus 20 degrees Fahrenheit.Cold Weather Assignment Incentive Pay is a single lump sum payment given to Airmen after signing an agreement to serve a prescribed tour length of at least 12 months, depending on the qualifying location. Currently, locations that meet this threshold include Minot and Grand Forks Air Force Bases and Cavalier Space Force Station in North Dakota, Clear Space Force Station, Eielson Air Force Base and Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson in Alaska, as well as Malmstrom AFB, Montana.
The AF has recognized there are expenses that Airmen and families incur at some bases that are not reimbursed with travel pay. Cold Weather Assignment Pay helps our Airmen and families. The one-time stipend ensures service members and their families stationed at these critical installations have the support needed to be successful.
Want to know more? See Baby Its Cold Outside
Malmstrom AFB made Montana News
Montana Right Now posted a video highlighting our great people serving in the ICBM fields. You may recognize at least one of the missileers in the news. The video is only 3.5 minutes long, will take you into A01, and is pretty cool!
Want to know more? See This Force is With You!
Nuclear and Missile Operations Promotions:
Selection rates to Major for missileers and information warfare Captains remained steady while all other AF career fields dropped. It’s becoming harder to get promoted to Major, but missileers are faring better than other career fields. In April the Air Force released the promotion stats for the ‘23 promotion boards. In all, 1,995 new majors were selected out of 2,367 captains considered at the 23-selection board. The overall selection rate was about 84 percent. According to data provided by the Air Force Personnel Center, the 2022 promotion board process resulted in 2,177 new majors from a field of 2,531, for a selection rate of 86 percent.
Since 2020, officers are now put into six categories: Air operations and Special Warfare, Combat Support, Force Modernization, Information Warfare, Nuclear and Missile Operations, and Space Operations (see Categories ). Prior to this, missile officers were lumped into a single massive Line of the Air Force group, regardless of specialty. Now officers compete against officers in the same profession. Missile officers compete against Missile officers in their same year group.
So, how is it working out for active duty missileers. The answer is better compared to when Missileers were lumped into a massive group. For missileers competing for Major against other missileers, the promotion rate was one of the two career fields that did not drop from the previous year.
Want to know more? See Selection rates fell in 2024 for all captains except those in nuclear and missile operations, and information warfare
Family of Hellhounds--
This is a great story about triplets who went though High School together, joined the Air Force together...But wait there’s more and if you want to read about them, go to the link below.
See their story: Hellhounds
What Does Joint Base San Antonio (JBSA), Vandenberg Space Base, AF Nuclear Weapon Center and Sentinel Have in Common?
The Air Force Installation and Mission Support Center ( AFIMSC) at JBSA, San Antonio is executing a multi-year design and construction program to provide beddown for the Department of the Air Force nuclear deterrence mission. Under the program, AFIMSC recently spearheaded the award of a $120 million contract to deliver a new Sentinel test infrastructure at Vandenberg Space Force Base, California. The award is the result of the collaborative partnership between the Air Force Civil Engineer Center, Air Force Global Strike Command, the Air Force Nuclear Weapons Center, Vandenberg Space Force Base, AFIMSC’s Detachment 10 and the California District of the U.S. Army Corps of Engineers to deliver a 148,444 square-foot, consolidated maintenance facility to support testing and launch operations for the Air Force’s Sentinel Intercontinental Ballistic Missile Program. Below is a proposed illustration of the Sentinel Launch Center.
“Be Authentic”—Major General Stacy Huser, Commander 20th Air Force
In May 2023 then Brig. Gen. Stacy Jo Huser was the Principal Assistant Deputy Administrator for Military Application, with the National Nuclear Security Administration, Department of Energy in Washington, D.C. She was the guest speaker at a Tea talk held at White Sands Missile Range where she spoke about her leadership perspective. Many of you may have met her at AAFM’s last meeting in Utah and hopefully we can hear her 20th Air Force perspectives at our October meeting at Vandenberg Space Base.
Want to know more: See Be Authentic
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20th AF 80th Anniversary Celebrated:
Maj. Gen. Stacy Huser, Twentieth Air Force commander, and former Alabama state senator Henry Erwin, remove the covering of a stanchion recognizing Erwin's father, Henry "Red" Erwin, during a ceremony at the newly dedicated Erwin Hall Twentieth Air Force headquarters on F.E. Warren Air Force Base, Wyoming, April 4, 2024. Erwin Jr. visited the base as part of the rededication ceremony event renaming the Twentieth Air Force headquarters building to honor his father, the NAF's only Medal of Honor recipient. To honor his memory, 20th Missile Boosters, a separate nonprofit organization, has developed memorial patches, coins, and stickers to raise money for a permanent memorial plaque. The flyers below tell you how to obtain these limited-edition commemoratives.
Sincerely,
Jim
James F. Warner
Executive Director
