Page 24 - South Mississippi Living - May, 2016

COASTNOTES CELEBRATING
75
Keesler Air Force Base kicks off 75th Anniversary
story by Lynn Lofton
photos courtesy of Keesler Air Force Base
Keesler Air Force Base is celebrating 75 years on
the Mississippi Gulf Coast. The first big event for the community will by June 3 at 6 p.m. at the Biloxi Visitors Center when the anniversary logo and a permanent historical display will be unveiled to the public. Biloxi Mayor FoFo Gillich will read a proclamation. Hors d’oeuvres will be served with a champagne toast.
“We hope to have a lot of people attend,” said 81st Training Wing Commander Col. Michele Edmondson. “The community has already been great about our anniversary.”
Edmondson assumed the Keesler leadership post nine months ago. “I’ve been doing this for 23 years, and I’ve never been at a base with a better relationship with the community than here. We feel the community support all the time,” she said. “Our airmen are embraced whether they live on base or off. I couldn’t be more proud of that relationship.”
Keesler Air Force Base employs a combined total of 12,000 military and civilian people. The base’s mission is to train airmen in 31 different positions. “We train, develop and inspire the world’s best airmen; 3,500 each day and close to 30,000 a year,” Col. Edmondson said. “We have a big impact on the entire Air Force.”
Training has always been the base’s mission. The first airmen arrived in Biloxi by train in 1941 for training in aircraft operation and maintenance. “The mission has grown but still has a lot of similarity to the original mission,” Edmondson said.
The base was named in honor of 2nd Lt. Samuel Reeves Keesler, Jr., a Mississippi native killed in France during World War I. On May 13 at 4 p.m. the base will commemorate the anniversary year with the Lt. Keesler Retreat Ceremony. This event centers around the Keesler Flag Pole in front of the 81st headquarters building. The purpose is to pause and formally give recognition to Lt. Keesler and honor his accomplishments as the flag is lowered and folded ceremoniously.
24 SOUTH MISSISSIPPI Living • May 2016
Keesler Air Force Base
www.keesler.af.mil
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