ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- Members of the 97th Operations Support Squadron hosted a heritage briefing at the Freedom Community Center Dec. 10.

The heritage brief gave Airmen the opportunity to experience the history of the OSS.

"If you don't know where you came from, you don't know where you have the opportunity to go," said U.S. Air Force Master Sgt. Lisa Blackwell, 97th OSS weather operations flight chief.

Airmen from airfield operations, weather, and aircrew flight equipment told the audience about significant events in the development of their flights. The audience also learned about Medal of Honor recipient Lt. William Lawley.

Robert Clark, a retired senior master sergeant in the U.S. Air Force, was the guest speaker for the event. He talked about many changes he saw in his time while stationed in Altus, including the changes in equipment for the weather flight and the flights forming the beginning of the OSS.

The OSS briefing was one in a series of heritage briefings at Altus AFB. The briefings teach Airmen how each of the squadrons work together to help accomplish the mission.

"It's good to learn about other flights in the squadron," said U.S. Air Force Airman 1st Class Yazmine Nanasca, 97th OSS air traffic controller. "I saw how much things have changed and it makes me wonder how it will be 10 or 20 years from now."

The 97th OSS provides direct mission support to all operational units assigned to the 97th Air Mobility Wing. The OSS mission includes air traffic control, weather, airfield management, intelligence, life support, tactics, flight records, scheduling and current operations services.

"We need to work together as a team to make the mission a success. All of the flights together help planes fly and contribute to our mission of forging combat mobility forces and deploying Airmen warriors," said Blackwell.