Wing/CC wishes Team XL a Happy Thanksgiving

  • Published
  • By Col. Tom Murphy
  • 47th Flying Training Wing
LAUGHLIN AIR FORCE BASE, Texas --  Team XL,

As another holiday season approaches, it seems like an appropriate time to be thankful and reflect on what Team XL has accomplished over the past year. We were named the busiest airfield in the Air Force, we graduated 358 pilots this year, which is the most in Air Education and Training Command. For the first time in Department of Defense history, our incredible team took incident command of a multi-jurisdictional event after a 30-car train derailed just five miles outside our gate. We hosted numerous distinguished visitors, to include the Air Force Chief of Staff, Iraqi Air Force Commander, Senator John Cornyn, Congressman "Quico" Canseco and former Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force Bob Gaylor. We exceeded expectations on numerous inspections, including the Environmental, Safety, and Occupational Health Compliance Assessment and Management Program, Health Services Inspection, Logistics Compliance Assessment Program Inspection, Aircrew Standardization and Evaluation Team and Consolidated Unit Inspection. We also renamed two of our streets, one for former Laughlin Senior Enlisted Advisor, former CMSAF Thomas Barnes, and one for 'our general,' Maj. Gen. Gerry Prather.

That's a lot of hard work. I can't thank you enough for the incredible job you all do in fulfilling our mission of graduating the world's best pilots, deploying mission-ready Airmen and developing professional, disciplined leaders.

This week, many of us will travel across the country to share Thanksgiving with friends and family. As we make those journeys, let's remember to keep safety first and foremost in our minds. Our lives and the lives of others depend on smart decisions as both a passenger and driver.

As always, let's continue to remember our fellow Airmen who are defending freedom from deployed locations during the holiday season. At this moment, we have more than 50 Laughlin Airmen deployed around the world. Let's keep them and their families in our thoughts and prayers.

I am honored to put on this uniform each day and serve with you as part of this fantastic team. Let's take some well-deserved time off with family and friends and return refreshed and ready to continue accomplishing our strategically important mission.

Sincerely,
Col Tom Murphy