By AIRMAN 1ST CLASS KEVIN SOMMER GIRON
19th Airlift Wing Public Affairs
Col. Charles Brown, 19th Airlift Wing commander, gave his farewell remarks as the guest speaker at the monthly retiree breakfast June 16 in Hangar 1080 on Little Rock Air Force Base.
“I’m here to say thank you,” Brown said. “The priorities we’ve laid out as a team start with people – from my airman and their families, to everyone who’s served.
“You deserve the best for what you provide and that’s support, so we can sustain our next priority, which is readiness,” Brown added.
The monthly retiree break-fast helps to foster close relationships with service members and to disseminate information from units to the retired community.
“Even though we’re re-tired, we still feel like we’re a part of the military family,” said (Ret.) Chief Master Sgt. Donald Smith, 19th AW Retiree Activities Office assistant retiree activities director.
“Once you’ve served for 20 to 30 years, you want to retain the relationships you’ve made with your fellow military members,” Smith said.
During the breakfast buffet, speakers from the 19th Medical Group, and outside organizations spoke as well to the audience about service updates and offers.
Arkansas has more than 58,000 retired service members who provide support to the Combat Airlift mission and the many amenities on base, such as the commissary and base exchange.
“We’ve had excellent support from the 19th Airlift Wing leadership,” Smith said. “Col. Brown and (Vice Commander Col. Christopher) Bennett have been huge supporters — they realize the importance of what retirees brings to the base.”
Brown will relinquish command Col. Gerald Donohue in a change of command ceremony on July 11.
Brown has been named senior assistant to the Supreme Allied Commander at the Supreme Headquarters Allied Powers Europe in Belgium.SHAPE, as the command is known, is the headquarters of Allied Command Operations, which controls all NATO operations.
Donohue is 86th Opera-tions Group commander at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.