DOVER AIR FORCE BASE, Del. -- Team Dover hosted a tour of base maintenance facilities for honorary commanders July 17 here.
Nineteen Dover community leaders assigned to Dover Air Force Base as honorary commanders toured a C-5M Super Galaxy aircraft and maintenance facilities and spoke with Airmen about their everyday operations to gain an understanding of Team Dovers' maintenance groups' mission.
“Everyone talks about air power, but what is it,” said 2nd Lt. Ekaterina Thormann, 436th Aerial Port Squadron officer in charge. “Air power is the muscle our Airmen put into making the mission a success.”
Thormann said the purpose of having the honorary commanders visit for a tour was to bridge the gap between the military and local community, and give local leaders a glimpse of how Dover Airmen work diligently to ensure aircraft take to the skies day-in and day-out.
David Repass, 512th Operations Group honorary commander, said the hard work of Airmen should be echoed across the Dover community.
“The Airmen do everything with such professionalism and detail,” said Repass. “I definitely want to do more in spreading the word about their hard work.”
The honorary commanders toured the inside of a C-5M and stood on its left wing.
Additionally, they explored maintenance facilities such as the fuel cell, the Consolidated Tool Kit de-icer simulator, crash and recovery, the aerial port and two other sites.
The honorary commanders also received lunch at the dining facility where commanders of both the 436th and 512th airlift wings thanked them for their support.
Repass said getting the opportunity to be a part of the HCC program changed his life.
“I was never in the service,” said Repass. “The program is my way of giving back. I’ve always had a strong sense of patriotism but seeing the behind the scenes down-and-dirty of what keeps those colossal C-5Ms in the air has skyrocketed my love for this country out of this world.”