Every Golden Bear counts in challenging times

  • Published
  • By Col. Corey Martin
  • 60th Air Mobility Wing commander
TRAVIS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  On 23 April 1965, Military Air Transport Service Commander, Gen.l Howell Estes Jr. piloted the Air Force's first C-141A Starlifter from Lockheed's plant in Marietta, Ga., across the country to Travis AFB, Cali. A crowd of 3,500 welcomed the newest heavy airlifter that would come to be known as the Golden Bear.

In its first 11 months, the Golden Bear endured a relentless operations tempo accumulating an astonishing 2,500 flight hours. That is an average of 7.5 flight hours every day in its first year. During this time period, the Golden Bear participated in Operation Blue Light in support of the Vietnam war effort, which was the largest airlift of troops and equipment into a combat zone to date. The battle-hardened C-141 would go on to support almost every major contingency and humanitarian operation that Travis was called on.

The Golden Bear is a part of our rich heritage and represents the selfless, relentless spirit that has driven Travis Airmen to success over the past seven decades. When I pass by the Golden Bear static display on Travis Ave. every morning, I think about the brave soldiers that sat in its cargo compartment, the personnel that supported the Golden Bear's mission, the dedicated maintainers that kept it in the fight and the hundreds of aircrew members that operated this iconic aircraft into harm's way.

Today, the Golden Bear spirit is stronger than ever in you. As golden bears, you defend our country with selfless dedication and a relentless pursuit of excellence while delivering hope and fueling the fight.

What truly inspires me about the Golden Bear spirit is that it remains a steady guide through both successful and challenging times. At this moment, our Air Force faces a variety of challenges to include fiscal uncertainty, civilian furloughs and the very serious issue of sexual assault.

Last month Vice Chief of Staff of the Air Force Gen. Larry Spencer sent a clear message that this criminal act has no place in our Air Force. He announced the "Every Airman Counts" initiative that builds on the momentum from our recent Sexual Assault Prevention and Response down days. This initiative is about you , the Airman. Our leadership has challenged every one of us to eliminate this crime from our ranks and I accept that challenge.

At Travis, every golden bear counts," and that means that every single member of our team has to accept the challenge and respect their fellow Airman. If we confront this issue with the same spirit that we take to the fight, I have no doubt that we will eradicate this crime and send a clear message that sexual assault will not be tolerated within our Travis family. Understand that this will be an enduring fight because the moment we lose focus on this issue, we risk another Airman becoming a victim of sexual assault.

The Golden Bear spirit has guided our team through daunting challenges in the past and I assure you that our team will grow even stronger as we face this challenge together.