Hangar Digest THE AIR MOBILITY COMMAND MUSEUM Page 1 Hangar digest VOLUME 19, NO. 2 APR—JUN 2019 THE AMCM HANGAR DIGEST IS A QUARTERLY PUBLICATION OF THE AMC MUSEUM FOUNDATION INC. Page 2 Volume 19, Issue 2 Air Mobility Command Museum Mission Statement The mission of the Air Mobility Command Museum is twofold: ● To present the history and development of military airlift and tanker operations. ● In a goal closely aligned with the first, to portray the rich history of Dover Air Force Base and its predecessor, Dover Army Airfield. AMC Museum Staff AMC Museum Foundation Director Board of Directors The AMC Museum Hangar John Taylor President Digest is published quar- Deputy Director Col. Don Sloan, USAFR (Ret.) terly and is dedicated to Eric Czerwinski Vice President the preservation of our Senior Archivist Lt. Col. Paul Gillis, USAFR (Ret.) airlift and tanker herit- Lt. Col. Harry E. Heist, USAF (Ret.) Secretary age. All articles, unless Photo Archivist MSgt. Jeff Brown, USAF (Ret.) otherwise noted, are writ- SMSgt. Larry Koewing, USAF (Ret.) Treasurer ten by the editor. Collections Manager Mrs. Chris Godek Viewpoints in this publica- Hal Sellars Members tion are those of the contrib- Educator Mr. Robert Berglund uting authors and do not nec- Tricia Upchurch Mr. Carleton E. Carey Sr. essarily reflect the opinions of Museum Store Manager Lt. Gen. Bob Dierker, USAF (Ret.) Kelly Hurlburt The AMC Museum Founda- CW4 Jim Fazekas, USA (Ret.) Volunteer Coordinator/Scheduler Mr. Skip Ford tion or of the Museum’s staff. Paul George Subscriptions are free and CMSgt. George Roof,, USAF (Ret.) Librarian CMSgt. Paul Roy, USAF (Ret.) are mailed via nonprofit MSgt. Bob Wikso, USAF (Ret.) Col. Jim Schultz, USAF (Ret.) standard mail to paid-up Membership Manager MSgt. Phyllis Scully, USAFR (Ret.) members of The AMC Muse- MSgt. Jeff Brown, USAF (Ret.) Mr. Kevin Taha um Foundation Inc. Website (www.amcmuseum.org) Contributions. Reader com- Hal Sellars Chaplain ments, articles and ideas are Chaplain (Lt. Col.) John Groth, USAFR (Ret.) solicited for future issues. Restoration Chief Mail to The Hangar Digest, Les Polley 1301 Heritage Road, Dover AFB DE 19902-5301; fax 302- 677-5940; or email piff- brown1898@ gmail.com. What is the Air Mobility Command Museum? Contact Editor Master Sgt. Jeff Located in Hangar 1301 on Dover Air Force Base, Kent County, Delaware, the AMC Museum is part of the National Museum of the United States Air Force’s field museum Brown, USAF (Ret.) via email at system. [email protected]. One of the reasons your AMC Museum continues to provide a great educational expe- Photos are by Jeff Brown, rience is that we stick very closely to our reason for being. unless otherwise noted. So exactly what is our mission? Broken down by numbers our mission is 70 percent airlift and air-refueling, 20 percent Dover AFB history and 10 percent Air Force general history. Our aircraft and artifact collection sticks very closely to that breakdown. But we Cover: Attired in a flight suit and work hard to be much more than numbers. We tell the stories of the people who have decidedly non-regulation high served in our nation’s Air Force, and we offer the only opportunity for many visitors to heels, Joan Rochelle surveys see the actual aircraft and meet the people who have served our country. the Edwards AFB ramp in 1959. Hangar 1301 was placed on the National Register of Historic Places in 1994. Several months earlier, Rochelle Although located on Dover AFB proper, entrance to the Museum must be made from had won a beauty contest at Delaware Route 9, south of the base. Admission to and parking at the Museum is free Dover AFB and had a new F-101 and military identification is not required. The Air Mobility Command Museum is open named in her honor. Photo cour- from 9 a.m. to 4 p.m., Tuesday through Sunday. It is closed on Mondays and all federal tesy of the Rochelle family. holidays except Veterans Day. For more information, call 302-677-5938 or 302-677-5991. We like to say we are a window to your Air Force. Let us know how we can continue to improve our outreach and family-friendly experience. The Hangar Digest is printed and mailed by Delmarva Printing, Salisbury, Md.. Hangar Digest Page 3 Meet the staff Deputy Director Eric Czerwinski is on the job Eric Czerwinski lives in the present but is good mechanic one of those people who has his eye on both because the slot the past and the future. Czerwinski need- Perhaps it’s those qualities that have ed suddenly brought the retired master sergeant to the post opened up. He of deputy director of the AMC Museum. was assigned to The 49-year-old Czerwinski was appointed train as a C-5 to the job in January 2019. mechanic instead That selection is both an honor and a chal- of his preferred lenge, Czerwinski said. aircraft, the C- “So many people have had their input at the 130, but he was- Museum, and many of them are now gone. n’t about to quib- Living up to their legacy is really important,” ble. he said. “I went right "I want to make sure that I meet the expec- over and signed tations of those who came before me, and up,” he said. those who will come afterward.” Before heading into his dream As the AMC Museum’s new deputy director, Eric Czerwinski is work- Starting early job, however, ing on plans to expand the Museum’s reach to its visitors. A native of Milwaukee, Wisconsin, Czer- Czerwinski first winski comes from a family that actually has had to get past the TIs at Lackland Air Force tasks, a job normally reserved for staff and no long-standing military tradition. Base, Texas. technical sergeants. He was loving it. “My father was in the Army but only for “I only had two weeks of basic because I’d An overseas assignment to RAF Mildenhall two years,” he recalled. “I was one of seven been in the CAP,” he said. “It’s called profi- in the United Kingdom followed, where he kids and I was the weird one who knew he ciency advancement, and the TIs didn’t have finally achieved his goal of working on the would be joining the military ever since he to let me do it, but they did and they made my Hercules aircraft, specifically the MC-130P was five years old. I just liked tanks and air- life hell while they were at it.” Combat Shadow. planes.” Czerwinski was assigned both as a chow His assignment to Dover Air Force Base Czerwinski essentially started his military hall runner and his flight’s guidon bearer. followed, with the Czerwinski family arriving career by joining the local Civil Air Patrol Like all basic trainees, he also carried several in Delaware in August of 2001. What fol- when he was 12 and remained a member of the dreaded old ATC Form 341 discrepan- lowed, especially in the aftermath of the ter- through high school. It’s where he learned to cy reports in his pocket – and he needed a rorist attacks of Sept. 11, 2001, was a flurry of fly – soloing at age 17 – and where he met his large supply. job assignments. future wife, Kim. “I had 14 341s pulled, and you only needed Czerwinski was assigned as a C-5 flight “There were only five cadets, four guys, two to get recycled. I think they did that as a line production supervisor, a line chief and and one girl. Her,” he said. The future Mrs. mind game to make think I was going to be went on to be the maintenance operations Czerwinski eventually became a flight in- held back.” center superintendent. After a year at Quality structor. The couple also has a daughter. But he wasn’t, and Czerwinski escaped Assurance, he was assigned as the first lead Being in the CAP taught Czerwinski a lot Lackland with an extra stripe on his sleeve. production supervisor and acting first sergeant about discipline and a lot about the military After tech school, he drew his first assignment for the new 736th Aircraft Maintenance could do. at Travis AFB, California. Squadron which was activated April 30, 2007. The unit had five former Air Force vehicles Czerwinski also designed the unit’s squadron and three aircraft that they used for CAP’s Rapid advancement patch and motto. primary mission, which was performing California proved to be the beginning of a emergency services. long career working on aircraft. But before he A groundbreaking study “It was pretty cool,” Czerwinski said. really could get going, however, Czerwinski Finally, after more than 20 years in uni- “We’d go out and look for missing airplanes had to overcome another hurdle: acrophobia. form, Czerwinski decided it was time to and missing people. It was pretty heavy He quickly learned it wasn’t easy being on move on. stuff.” a C-5’s tail and looking down at the ground, Retiring in 2009, he pursued a history de- Graduating high school in 1987, Czerwin- 65 feet below. gree at Dover’s Wesley College, graduating in ski took classes in airframe and aircraft pow- “I have a fear of heights,” Czerwinski said. 2011, and taught as an adjunct professor there erplants in college and then went to enlist. “But I didn’t want to be that guy who said, until 2016. While teaching, he completed his But then it seemed the Air Force didn’t ‘No, I’m not going up there.’ master’s degree in historic preservation from want him.