Well folks I am making my first trip to NHQ to do some research. I will be going monday afternoon and staying on base for the night. I am going to do research at the AF Historical Building, meeting with NHQ people about high res contemporary member photos, and researching all Medal of Valor recipients. Plus a couple of smaller tasks.
I am sure it will be interesting. I am also going to try and get some photo updates on the NHQ building and look at the two rooms slated for historical displays.
Jim;
Things to consider at NHQ. Tuskegee Airmen tie-in in 1935/36 with Claire Chennault and JF Curry. Bomber Mafia Debates as outlined on the Curry Thread. Tactical Air School '32-36. See if we can get some space for a permanent exhibit at NHQ - You've got my pictures. Make some friends at the Air Force Historical Society and Air University. Tell'em there will be other CAP Historians coming soon. There is much dormant and yet to be discovered about all of these topics. CAP Historians can rewrite Air Force History if we dig a little deeper. Best New Years' Wishes.
It's a shame that it is off-season for the Montgomery Biscuits (http://www.biscuitsbaseball.com/). Try to arrange your next visit for Opening Day, April 8th. It's both a fireworks night AND Thirsty Thursday!
I live in Atlanta. When the CAP Bookstore was at Maxwell, A couple of us used to drive down there all the time. Last time I was down there was Oct 2008 for the Tuskegee Airmen dedication at Tuskegee. They are renovating the place now.
Don't let them stick the needle in your forehead. I've never been quite the same after my first trip. :D
I think there's a bunch of us who will be interested to see what you turn up. I've been intrigued by the history thread.
I'd be interested in hearing what sort of CAP historical materials are available at NHQ (other than what is in the AF library). Just what do we have of our own? Has the NHQ remodeling effort resulted in any access issues for this material?
While there see if you can disable the black vans so we can all rest easy for the new year ;D
Jim doesn't have clearance to the secure area the vans are stored. The only people that have clearance is the National Legal and IG staffs. Besides, he's ONLY a Major
Well folks I spent part of the day at Maxwell and it was VERY productive. First they had me reserved for the Distinguished Officers Quarters. That was thanks to Don Rowland and Ryan Easterling. Nice job from the start.
When I got to NHQ Don Rowland was there and he was very helpful and asked if there was anything I need while I was there. He even got me a cup of coffee and we chatted in his office for a few minutes. He then made a copy of the offices list so I could find everyone I was supposed to meet with.
My first meeting was with Neil Probst, he is one of the people involved with Cadet Programs. He is a great person and offered to show me some of the places I needed to go. People were spread all around the base.
My next meeting was with Julie DeBardelabean. We talked about some of the historical stories that had been done and ideas for future stories. While I was talking to her I also had the chance to meet some of the staff writers. Dan Bailey, Kristi Carr and Steve Cox. All of them were extremely helpful and thankful for all of the members and what they do. Not a single sour comment from anyone.
After I left the PA bunch I went and had a great conversation with Susie Parker, Francis Sides, and Jennifer Carroll. Susie and Francis did a fantastic job of getting me the most comprehensive list of Medal of Valor recipients. They put all of the lists they had on a single CD and even gave me printouts. I also had the chance to see them make a certificate with a "repeatograph" that does the signatures automatically. It was a very cool machine. I was even able to get a new set of full size and mini SMV's.
My next task was to visit the NHQ building and see the progress. It looks very nice. The new front door is very ornate and will make the building that much better. The space they are giving me for historical display is about 100 square feet of wall space, as well as 2 large glass display and 2 small glass displays. Johnny Dean stopped what he was doing and took me to the building. He even went through the task of making copies of the plans so the historical folks can plan a display.
I had a surprise visit with Bobby Tourville, she is the director for professional development and we talked a pretty good bit about CAP history and how we can incorporate it into both the cadet and senior program. Great meeting and many new ideas came out of the time.
One of the main focuses for this trip was to get images for the various historical projects. High res and a span of many years. I was supposed to meet with Jim Tynan but he was ill and did not come in. I had the chance to meet with Barbara Pribulick. She does a lot of the graphics and layouts for the Volunteer Magazine and is responsible for a ton of artwork that you see all over the place for CAP. She spent a solid hour with me and we looked at and downloaded 2.32GB's of images and info. She was a fantastic person to deal with and very appreciative of the members.
I know that there are members that have varying opinions about the people who work at NHQ. I expected the trip to be good but it turned out to be a great trip. Everyone I talked to or needed to work with was there for me and what I was doing. They all appreciated the effort and not a single person had any level of resistance towards me. They were all very professional and friendly.
From my visits to NHQ, I've seen the hard work the staff does. And if you need an answer to ANY question, Susie Parker had the correct answer. Of course I hated the building NHQ was in. The area that the Commander CAP-USAF had used to be the Base Hospital Dental area. Had four windom teeth pulled in that area.
Jimlet us know what historical materials you found. Why not the Historical Staff do a monthly page on CAPTalk?????