Altus Air Force Base News

 

Spouses experience orientation flight

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Kenneth W. Norman
  • 97th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
ALTUS AIR FORCE BASE Okla. --  Air Force spouses Trisha Castle, Sara Birnbaum, Mandi Foster, Becky Sparks and Heather Vanderzel took off from here Oct. 27 for a four-hour Spouse Orientation Flight.

"The flight will enhance morale and unit cohesion, said Maj. Kay Hasson, Director of Resources 58th Airlift Squadron. "It will allow our Airmen to share with their spouses the challenges, rewards and aspirations that we experience each day, and the pride that we each take in serving our nation."

The spouses took off at 10 a.m. with Pilot Maj. Chad Harris, Co-pilot Capt. Kevin Jackson and Loadmaster Tech. Sgt. Doug Campbell, 58th Airlift Squadron.

The crew then conducted an Air Refueling Rendezvous with three contacts and a practice emergency separation, Major Harris said. A contact is when the aircraft comes into contact with the tanker's boom to receive fuel.

They then did a visual flight around the city of Altus and Quartz Mountain at 4,500 feet, followed by a Duke Beam tactical arrival and a full flap landing, Major Harris explained.

" We saw four states today," said Becky Sparks, one of the spouses on the flight.

"It is a way for each of us, in turn, to say thank you to the families who support us constantly with their love and understanding, and everything else they do for us to allow us to serve," Major Hasson said.