TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Fellow Airmen,
As 2016 draws to a close, the holiday season offers us a time for reflection and celebration. As we look back over the last twelve months, you should be enormously proud of your accomplishments. Together, as one team, you helped the Air Force achieve Initial Operational Capability for the F-35, you celebrated 60 years of KC-135 operations, you broke ground on the KC-46 sustainment facility at Tinker AFB, you accelerated AC-130 depot maintenance to meet Air Force Special Operations Command mission requirements, and you restored a B-52H to combat ready status after seven years of desert storage in the Aerospace Maintenance and Regeneration Group at Davis-Monthan AFB, AZ. You produced aircraft, components, software, engines, vehicles, parts, fuel, and countless other critical items to deliver combat power for America. This, and so very much more, is what you do...making the herculean look easy.
I fully recognize none of this is possible without you... our total force Airmen, who keep the Air Force Sustainment Center driving forward. The sacrifices you and your families make day-to-day bear true witness to your love of country, defining the phrase “service before self.” No matter what the global challenge or the demands from the warfighter, you deliver.
I ask that during this season, let us continue to maintain our culture of being a great wingman and remember those away from their families or struggling during this time of year. As many of you know, there are more than 22,000 deployed Airmen supporting combat operations around the world.
These Airmen will be spending this special time of year far from those they love most, defending a way of life we all enjoy.
Being away from loved ones during the holidays is not new. In fact, during Christmas 1914, along parts of the Western Front of World War I, unofficial truces between British and German soldiers took place. In the trenches on Christmas morning, carols were sung and rations thrown across the opposing lines. It was not long before the more adventurous soldiers started to take matters into their own hands and venture into “no-man’s-land.” Here they exchanged food, tobacco, cigarettes, drink, badges and buttons. Both sides saw the lull in fighting as a chance to find the bodies of their comrades and give them a decent burial. The story is one where man’s humanity overtook the acts of war, and the holiday spirit shined. You can read more about the Christmas Truce of 1914 in the attached 2011 article from The Smithsonian Magazine.
As our nation’s servicemen and women engage in conflict during this holiday season, keep them and their families foremost in your hearts. My greatest holiday wish for them is peace and a safe return.
Finally, my family and I also wish for you and yours a happy, peaceful holiday season and a 2017 that brings you joy. We are proud to serve alongside you, and look forward to the coming year as we continue to deliver unmatched combat power for America.
Your fellow Airman,
Lt. Gen. Lee K. Levy II
Air Force Sustainment Center Commander