Colorado S prings M ilitary Newspaper Group
Thursday, December 20, 2018
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Vol. 12 No. 50
First Friday rings in holiday season
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HOLIDAY GATE CLOSINGS HHHHHHHHHH
Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, gates will be closed the following dates: The West Gate and the Commercial Vehicle Search Area will be closed Dec. 24- 30 due to construction. All traffic to include commercial vehicles will need to go through the North Gate. The North Gate will be closed from Dec. 31 – Jan. 5 due to construction. All traffic will need to go through the West Gate, which will be operating as the 24/7 gate during this period. Visitor Control Center services at Building 15 will still be open and unaffected.
Base Briefs Spouses are invited to events marked with
HOLIDAY CLOSURES Clinic announces closures
The Schriever Air Force Base Clinic is closed on the following dates/times: Monday — All day Family Day Tuesday — All day Holiday Dec. 31 — All day Family Day Jan. 1 — All day Holiday Jan. 10 — 11 a.m. — 4:30 p.m. Training day Jan. 18 — noon — 4:30 p.m. Family Day Jan. 21 — All Day Holiday Jan. 24 — All Day Wing Function Note: Walk-in services end at 3:30 p.m. Normal clinic hours are 7:30 a.m. — 4:30 p.m., Monday — Friday. For emergencies, call 911. For appointments, call 719-524-CARE.
U.S. Air Force photo by Kathryn Calvert
Airmen enjoy games of corn hole during the monthly First Friday at the event center at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, Dec. 14, 2018. First Fridays are designed to give Airmen and their families a chance to unwind and relieve stress, which is particularly important during the holiday season.
MORE PHOTOS ON PAGE 11
Humble beginnings set stage for future leader
More Briefs page 12 Sign up for weekly Schriever announcements, news and more. Visit www.schriever.af.mil and click “Public Affairs” under featured links.
Public Affairs U.S. Air Force photo by Kathryn Calvert
Inside
Hiking can turn treacherous............. 3 3rd SES blazes new trails................. 5 One wounded warrior’s story........... 6
Col. Jacob Middleton, 50th Space Wing vice commander, speaks to Airmen during the Wingman Day opening ceremony at Schriever Air Force Base, Colorado, Nov. 9, 2018. Middleton spoke to Airmen about his time as a plumber at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, and overcoming the hardships he faced in his youth.
By Halle Thornton 50th Space Wing Public Affairs
SCHRIEVER AIR FORCE BASE, Colo. — Col. Jacob Middleton, 50th Space Wing vice commander, was the keynote speaker for the biannual Wingman Day, Nov. 9. Middleton spoke about resiliency, sharing his personal experiences growing up below the poverty line. “For those of you who don’t have experience in this area, just keep living,” he joked as he often does about the life’s more serious moments.
He looked forward to going to school not for the learning but for the free lunch. “Most people learn something from going to school,” he said. “But that’s not what I was worried about back then. “One of the things I remember my dad telling me was it was OK we didn’t have multiple changes of clothes,” he continued. “He explained why it was OK to come home and wash and wear them the next day. I thought that was a horrible idea, not because I didn’t have multiple pairs of clothes, but because I didn’t want to wash the clothes.” Reminiscing on his days as an airman 1st
class at Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina, Middleton spoke of his struggles passing his Career Development Course as a plumber, and how his leadership steered him in the right direction. “I won the 12 Outstanding Airmen of the Year for the Mission Support Group at Shaw, but that year I also failed my CDCs,” he said. “I just didn’t want to study. What I didn’t know is that if I didn’t pass, it would have been really bad.” See Beginnings page 4