334th TRS honors AF Hall of Famer

Staff Sgt. Amy Gardner, 334th Training Squadron air traffic control instructor, provides tour to retired U.S. Air Force Col. Derrel Dempsey during a room dedication ceremony in his honor March 9, 2015, at Cody Hall, Keesler Air Force Base, Miss. The 334th TRS dedicated the building’s conference room in honor of Dempsey’s military accomplishments. The Air Force's award for the most outstanding air traffic control officer manager of the year is named in his honor. Dempsey has 30 years of Air Force aviation experience. During the Vietnam Conflict, he logged 1,000 combat-coded flying hours in the C-140A Jetstar and eventually earned pilot qualifications in 10 different Air Force aircraft. As chief of air traffic control and landing systems at the Air Force Communication Service from 1977 to 1979, he defended Air Force budgets of more than $200 million to modernize tactical and fixed air traffic control and landing systems. (U.S. Air Force photo by Kemberly Groue)