FEB 2013, VOL. 47, NO. 02 NIGHTNIGHT VIPERSVIPERS PagePage 77 CHAPLAIN’S CORNER Chaplain Henry McNeal Turner By Chaplain (Lt Col) Floyd White III the chief figure to do so in the late FEB 2013, VOL. 47, NO. 02 Today certainly is a great day as we are engaged in a Unit compliance nineteenth century; the movement grew after World War I. FEATURES: Inspection. My thoughts and prayers are with all participants of 177th FW and the Turner was a minister, politician, Pg. 4: Red Tail Angels unit inspection team. and the first southern bishop of the African Methodist Episcopal Church; he was a February is African American pioneer in Georgia in organizing new con- history month. A time to reflect upon the gregations of the independent black Pg. 6: Financing the Fight outstanding achievements that African denomination after the American Civil Americans have made to our country. War. Born free in South Carolina, Turner Pg. 8: New ANG Leaders The military has many noteworthy African Americans who have made significant learned to read and write and became a Methodist preacher. He joined the AME contributions to our country. Church in St. Louis, Missouri in 1858, where he became a minister; later he had And more... Chaplain Henry McNeal Turner pastorates in Baltimore, Maryland and (February 1, 1834 – May 8, 1915 first Washington, DC. black chaplain in the armed forces). Turner died while visiting Windsor, In 1863 during the American Civil Ontario in 1915. Turner was buried in War, Turner was appointed as the first Atlanta. After his death, W.E.B. Du Bois OVER IGHTIGHT IPERIPER C : N V black chaplain in the United States wrote in “The Crisis” magazine about him: AN F-16C FROM THE 177TH Colored Troops. These troops were FIGHTERIGHTER WINGING AWAITS A NIGHT OF "Turner was the last of his clan, TRAINING MISSIONS. PHOTO ILLUSTRA- regiments of the United states Army mighty men mentally and physically, men TION BY MASTER SGT. ANDREW during the American Civil War that were who started at the bottom and hammered MOSELEY composed of African-American soldiers. their way to the top by sheer brute First recruited in 1863, by the end of the strength, they were the spiritual progeny of Civil War, the men of the 175 regiments of African chieftains, and they built the the USCT constituted approximately one- African church in America." SOCIAL MEDIA tenth of the Union Army. This group of men gained popularity and later became Throughout the inspection the known as the Buffalo Soldiers. Find us on the web! chaplain section will be visiting various Afterwards, he was appointed to the units of our command. And although we Freedman's Bureau in Georgia. He settled www.177thFW.ang.af.mil may not be subject matter experts in your in Macon and was elected to the state legislature in 1868 during Reconstruction. specific fields we would like to provide a Facebook.com/177FW sense of motivation and confidence as you He planted many AME churches in do your work, May God bless the United Georgia after the war. In 1880 he was Twitter.com/177FW States of America and the 177FW. elected as the first southern bishop of the AME Church after a fierce battle within the Youtube.com/177thfighterwing Sources: denomination. Angered by the Democrats' regaining power and instituting Jim Crow “Turner, Henry McNeal,” Encyclopedia Americana, 1920. laws in the late nineteenth century South, “Henry McNeal Turner” by Courtney Vien, Turner began to support black nationalism Documenting the American South and emigration of blacks to Africa. He was This funded newspaper is an authorized monthly 177TH FW EDITORIAL STAFF publication for members of the U.S. Military Services. Col. Kerry M. Gentry, Commander Contents of the Contrail are not necessarily the official 1st Lt. Amanda Batiz, Public Affairs Officer Master Sgt. Andrew Moseley, Public Affairs/Visual Information Manager view of, or endorsed by, the 177th FW, the U.S. Gov- Master Sgt. Shawn Mildren:, Photographer ernment, the Department of Defense or the Depart- Tech. Sgt. Andrew Merlock Jr., Photographer Tech. Sgt. Matt Hecht: Editor, Layout, Photographer, Writer ment of the Air Force. The editorial content is edited, prepared, and provided by the Public Affairs Office of 177FW/PA the 177th Fighter Wing. All photographs are Air Force 400 Langley Road, Egg Harbor Township, NJ 08234-9500 (609) 761-6259; (609) 677-6741 (FAX) photographs unless otherwise indicated. E-mail: [email protected] 1 The Contrail A MESSAGE FROM THE VICE WING COMMANDER One of the newest initiatives in the Air Force is National Guard, ensuring that our workplaces foster an environment of but the total Air professionalism and respect. In an effort to ensure this is Force. happening, the Health and Welfare Inspection was created. The NJANG has embraced this initiative and tasked the Now on to the wings with performing this inspection. On 29 Jan, myself, good stuff. What Col Gentry, Chief Morales, and all of the group truly impressed commanders performed this inspection across the 177FW. us was the amount of items As per the instructions given to us by our senior leadership, we saw from we inspected all government work areas, including deployments, sensitive and secure facilities. This included break rooms, previous military locker rooms, heritage rooms and the like. We were service, from civilian jobs, and family. Most importantly, we directed to exclude places that an individual has a saw a tremendous pride in people’s work area and the reasonable expectation of privacy such as individual desk things they displayed. It was a real challenge to keep to drawers, locked lockers, private automobiles, briefcases our schedule as we toured everyone’s area. I can’t tell you and backpacks. how many times we would see something on a desktop and ask what the story was behind it. The breadth of Directly from the instructions we received from NGB: The experiences of all the members of the 177th was on full purpose of this inspection is to look for, document, and display, and it was an impressive story to hear. remove papers, books, journals, magazines, videos, song- books that would create a hostile or offensive work This is our heritage, and by no means are we asking any- environment to include materials containing lewd, one to remove or hide it. This wing is made up of a diverse pornographic, sexually suggestive or derogatory images, group whose experiences and background make us who words or lyrics. we are. None of us are asking you to sanitize your areas to the point where we can’t display our personal items. This th So, how did we do at the 177 ? As expected, we found an wing, like every military unit, is more than just the sum of its overall professional atmosphere. We did find a few minor parts. What makes us great is how we pull together as a things that we removed, but nothing that could be regarded group and perform at an extremely high level every day, on as particularly noteworthy. The men and women of the every task great and small. 177th Fighter Wing once again proved that they are among the best, most professional airmen not just in the Air What can we take away from this inspection? While we found that the 177th Fighter Wing has shown a high level of professionalism in the workplace, we must remain cognizant of our environment and the effect it has on all who serve here. If you have a question or concern about anything you see displayed in a public area, bring it to the attention of your supervisor. They will work within the chain of command to ensure we are complying with the intent of this initiative…to foster a professional environment for all. By doing this we will continue to foster an environment of dignity and respect for all we serve with. ANTHONY DEVITO Colonel, NJANG Vice Wing Commander Col Kerry M. Gentry, Commander, 177 FW (right) presents Lt. Col. Kyle Lindsay (left), an F-16C pilot with the 119th Fighter Squadron, with the Meritorious Service Medal. The Contrail 2 PA NCO AWARDED Story by Tech. Sgt. Matt Hecht, 177th FW/PA Master Sgt. Andrew Moseley, the 177th Fighter Wing Public Affairs Office PA/VI Manager, spent a good part of 2012 deployed to Southwest Asia. While working with AFCENT staff, Moseley worked as part of the Public Affairs team that developed materials for the Check Six program,. The Check Six program derives its name from an old military phrase that means “watch your back” and also be- cause the math adds up—three plus two plus one. The program emphasizes that during an insider threat or active shooter situation, Airman have three options: escape, barricade or fight back; two possible outcomes, live or die; and one chance to get it right. Moseley was humbled to learn that his efforts were lauded by AFCENT, and his team was awarded the 2012 ACC Public Affairs Award for Communi- cation Excellence. “I spent a great deal of time on my deployment on the Check Six command message video which I shot and edited,” said Moseley. “I also developed the program logo and several posters. I am hon- ored to have been a part of a great Public Affairs team that directly impacted the safety and security of our fellow Airmen.” The Check Six video is now seen by all deployers to the AOR. 3 The Contrail Red Tail Angels The story of the Tuskegee Airmen By Master Sgt. Mark Olsen, 108th Wing PA Prior to World War II, the situation for African-American military aviators was grim.