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Travis Week thanks Solano

  • Published
  • By Capt. Melissa Milner
  • 60th Air Mobility WIng Public Affairs
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Airmen from Travis Air Force Base and their families joined together to celebrate Solano County during Travis Week from Sept. 11 to 19.

Deemed 'Team Travis Salutes Solano,' more than 650 Airmen supported 20 events throughout the week that brought them to seven cities in Solano County and Sacramento to share the Air Force story and express appreciation for the tremendous community support Travis receives daily from the local area.

"The communities throughout Solano County have always supported Team Travis in amazing ways," said Col. James Vechery, 60th Air Mobility Wing commander. "We created Travis Week as an opportunity to engage with our local community on many levels and thank them for their outstanding support to the men and women of Team Travis."

The events included flyovers, static and volunteer support to the California Capital Airshow, a civic leader tour, a base fun run, and several events that raised funds for the Fisher House and the Combined Federal Campaign. Other events were tailored for a younger audience and included base Honor Guard and Band of the Golden West visits to high school students, a middle school career day at the base for 600 students, tutoring at the local Boys and Girls Club, and a Freedom Walk by Travis and Scandia elementary schools in honor of 9/11. The week also included outreach efforts for three community cleanup projects, support for the Vacaville POW/MIA ceremony, and a band and Honor Guard performance during a family fun event at Suisun Harbor.

Mike Browne, the executive director of the Vallejo Convention and Visitors Bureau, was invited to join the civic leaders' tour and had the opportunity to see Travis' mission first hand. The tour included a KC-10A Extender ride that highlighted the refueling mission, a tour of the David Grant USAF Medical Center that showed civic leaders the Air Force's amazing medical capability, and a walk through of the 615th Contingency Response Wing's line of fire that displayed the team's capability to deploy Airmen to quickly open forward airbases in an expeditionary environment.

Mr. Browne said it was a spectacular event and an amazing day. "It was certainly a privilege and an honor to be invited to experience something only a few people have a chance to do," he said.

Master Sgt. Tony Hairston, the 60th Civil Engineering Squadron structures Noncommissioned Officer in Charge, planned three community outreach events. The first event, held Sept. 14, was a cleanup effort at Mission Solano.

Ten Travis Airmen participated in the effort and spent the day arranging crates of donated clothing to be shipped to Mexico, sorting over 7,000 pounds of clothing and setting up a new facility for displaced families.

"The members of the Mission were very appreciative of the efforts our men and women put into the day," Sergeant Hairston said.

The next day saw another 30 Airmen from Team Travis working at the Vallejo Veterans' Memorial building to support Rebuilding Together Solano County, a non-profit organization that works to preserve affordable homeownership for low-income families and revitalize communities.

"We pulled weeds, set over 200 feet of landscaping stones, spread over five tons of mulch, painted ceilings and cleaned the kitchen from top to bottom," Sergeant Hairston said. "Our Airmen were able to spend time with some of our nation's heroes as well, talking about their days in the service."

He said by the end of the day the Travis volunteers were tired and dirty but had smiles on their faces, and Rebuilding Together couldn't believe how hard the Airmen were working throughout the day.

Elizabeth Hoffman, the executive director of Rebuilding Together Solano County, echoed Sergeant Hairston's comments.

"The Airmen were fantastic," she said. "We were very pleased with the tremendous amount of work they did, and the veterans were overwhelmed and ecstatic about the support. They couldn't believe that active duty Airmen had the time to come out to help."

Maj. Shawn Timpson, the Travis Week director, said the entire week was a resounding success.

"The community response was fantastic," he said. "From the civic leader tour to the community cleanup projects, from the airshow support to the career day, our local communities understood how important they are to Team Travis.

By the end of the week, we wanted Solano to know how much we appreciate their continued support and that we were dedicated to them just as they show their dedication to us," he said. "Based on their feedback, Team Travis was able to do that and more."

"The week was about reaching out to our communities in Fairfield, Suisun City, Vacaville, Rio Vista, Dixon, Benicia and Vallejo and expressing our appreciation in tangible ways that not only shared our mission, but also truly helped our local communities," Colonel Vechery said. "It was a team effort that was incredibly successful and showcased our Airmen in the professional, honorable way that we see every day at Travis. I couldn't be prouder of how much our team was able to accomplish throughout the week to support our cities in Solano."