three silvery spires soar the vision of the dedicated group that enough money and win the necessary up, arching and narrowing navigated it from dream to reality. Ten permits to start construction. until they seem to disappear years on, it’s been embraced by the Air The National Park Service led the site in the air. They almost look like contrails, Force, other services, foreign airmen, and design committees on a tour of 18 but they’re stainless steel, not smoke. Yes, and random visitors to the nation’s possible locations in the Washington, you actually can hear aircraft engines— capital alike. D.C., area. The committee liked a usually from airliners approaching nearby “It has become what we had hoped number of them, including a small plot Reagan National Airport. for and expected,” said retired Air Force adjacent to the National Mall, near the This is the US Air Force Memorial Col. Pete Lindquist, who served as Air Smithsonian’s National Air and Space in Arlington, Va., designed to evoke the Force Memorial Foundation director of Museum. They settled, though, on an spectacular grace of fl ight and to honor operations from 1996 to 2012. area of Northern Virginia known as the commitment, heroism, and sacrifi ce Arlington Ridge. of all the men and women who have I N TH E G I N N I N G The site was directly in line with the served the cause of American airpower. The origins of the memorial began in east-west axis of the mall, just across Dedicated Oct. 14, 2006, the memorial, the wake of US victory in the 1991 Gulf the Potomac River. It was on land off set atop a hill overlooking both the Penta- War. A small group of Air Force Asso- the northern end of Arlington Cemetery gon and Arlington National Cemetery, is ciation leaders, headed by O. R. “Ollie” and between two existing attractions: now a decade old. In just 10 years it has Crawford, saw airpower’s dominance in the Netherlands Carillon—a thank-you become the Air Force’s ceremonial stage, that campaign as something worthy of from the Dutch for US aid during and hosting promotions and retirements, commemoration. after World War II—and the Marine historic commemorations, band concerts, Crawford helped form a foundation Corps War Memorial, the iconic giant and drill team performances. It is the that included himself, John R. Alison, statue that depicts raising the fl ag during scene of speeches, parades, and Honor George M. Douglas, Martin H. Harris, the battle for Iwo Jima. Coincidentally, Flight visits. Couples get engaged there. Thomas J. McKee, and Jack C. Price as it was only a short distance from the Spouses and children visit to remember trustees. The group was incorporated and site of the fi rst fl ight of a US military departed loved ones. Airmen—currently granted nonprofi t, tax-exempt status in airplane, on adjacent Fort Myer. serving, retired, and even those who 1992. Retired Lt. Gen. Robert D. Springer Given the proximity to the Iwo Jima served in USAF’s predecessor organi- accepted the job of executive director, Memorial, the foundation informed zations—come for inspiration. They and the Air Force Sergeants Association senior Marine Corps leaders of its plan show off the memorial to their families promised its full support. in February 1994. None raised objec- or just lean back and take in the majesty In 1993, business executive Joseph tions to the Air Force building its own of the spires. Coors Jr. came aboard as foundation memorial in the vicinity. The spires did not rise easily. Like chairman. H. Ross Perot Jr. agreed to serve More permission was needed, though. many monuments in Washington, the Air as chairman of the foundation’s site and Erecting memorials in and around the Force Memorial endured controversies design committee. Congress passed, and nation’s capital is a complicated pro- so heady that it changed shape and lo- President Bill Clinton signed, legislation cess, as a number of panels and commis- cation a number of times. It faced court authorizing the building of an Air Force sions have the power to say yes or no. challenges and congressional objections. Memorial on federal land. Within a year the foundation quickly But today it’s a place to celebrate the That signature started a clock ticking. won site approval from the National Air Force on a grand scale. That was The foundation had seven years to raise Capital Memorial Commission and A soaring inspiration, the Air Force Memorial celebrates its 10th anniversary this month. Staff photo by Mike Tsukamoto 2 A I R F O R C M a a in e / October 2016 These Magnificent Spires By Peter Grier A I R F O R C M a a in e / October 2016 21 1 Air Force Memorial illustration 2 Air Force Association photo 5 1 Sisson Studios photo via Centex Mid-Atlantic Construction the Commission of Fine Arts. The limits, architect James Ingo Freed had As Shaud recalls in a written refl ection National Capital Planning Commis- produced a design only 50 feet tall, with on the memorial’s construction, Gen. sion balked, however. The foundation space below for an interpretive center Michael J. Dugan, former Air Force worked with the group and agreed to and other functions (later eliminated Chief of Staff, was also present at the a number of design parameters that for practicality and cost). Viewed from fund-raiser and said, “I like the slogan eased its objections. above, the design was a fi ve-pointed star. ... ‘Soaring to Glory,’ but looking at the All signals seemed to say “go” in Not everyone in the Air Force loved model, that ain’t it.” 1996, as the foundation had all the site it. Retired Gen. John A. Shaud, former The more the guests looked at the de- and design approvals it needed. Fund- AFA executive director and memorial sign, Shaud wrote, the more “we tended raising started in earnest. foundation trustee, attended a fund- to agree with Mike.” The Secretary of This fi rst iteration of the Air Force raiser for the memorial entitled “Soar- the Air Force remarked, “It looks like a Memorial was quite different from the ing to Glory.” A model of the proposed moon lander.” Over time, a more pejora- one now standing. Due to the site height design was on display. tive nickname circulated: “the ashtray.” 22 A I R F O R C M a a in e / October 2016 3 Although it was 50 feet tall, it appeared stubby and squat. S I T B J E CT O N S Then a storm arose that the founda- tion hadn’t foreseen. It started small. Residents of the leafy neighborhood near the Arlington Ridge site began raising objections. They used the space as something of a neighborhood park for dog walking, Frisbee fl ying, and other activities. Some worried that the presence of a third memorial on the site would bring more people and vehicles and interfere with these activities. The opponents knew they needed al- Air Force Association photo lies. The objection of a neighborhood 4 Air Force Association photo association by itself wouldn’t derail the project. “They partnered with some retired marine folks and organizations and it certainly escalated from there,” said Lindquist. “We were portrayed as im- pacting the hallowed ground of the Marine Corps.” The opposition organized into a group called the Friends of Iwo Jima and began lobbying Congress. On July 30, 1997, Rep. Gerald B. H. Solomon (R-N.Y.), a Marine Corps veteran, introduced leg- islation prohibiting any new memorials near the Iwo Jima statue. A similar bill was introduced in the Senate in October. Opponents pursued court action via a civil suit as well. They got some support from active marines despite the fact that the corps had been consulted through- out the process, and the memorial had already received the explicit approval of the Marine Corps Commandant, Gen. Carl E. Mundy Jr. The foundation had followed the legal planning process by the book and successfully defended itself in the courts a number of times. In June 1998, a US District Court judge dismissed the Friends of Iwo Jima suit against the foundation via summary judgment. / 1/ A mod el of th e originally p rop osed Air F orce M emorial th at was to b e b u ilt on Arlington R id ge in V irginia. V isib le on th e righ t is th e M arine Corp s W ar M emorial, on th e lef t is th e N eth erland s Carillon. strto of the fi rst roose memorial at nigh t. / 3/ S p ires u nd er con- stru ction at M ariani M etal F ab ricators in 2 0 0 5 . / 4/ T h e sp ires are erected in 2 0 0 6. / 5 / An aerial p h otograp h of th e memorial constru ction site in N ov emb er 2 0 0 5 , with th e N av y Annex b eh ind it. A I R F O R C M a a in e / October 2016 23 1 2 USAF photo by TSgt. Cohen A. oung 6 P hoto by Navin Sarma An appeals court upheld this action in “There were some very concerned “The Friends of Iwo Jima, mainly May 1999. Meanwhile, the House and individuals at high levels in both ser- retired Marine generals, were each pre- Senate bills that would have blocked the vices—the Marine Corps and Air Force— pared to make a speech,” and they did, memorial went nowhere.