JOINT BASE CHARLESTON, S.C. –
Today marks the full operational capability for our joint base as Naval Weapons Station Charleston stands down and 636 civilians and 55 Sailors join more than 1,700 Air Force teammates as part of the 628 Air Base Wing.
In addition to changing personnel, you'll also start to notice a few other changes as we look to standardize installation management across our Air Base and our Weapons Station. Some of these, such as eliminating the requirement for vehicle decals at the Weapons Station and a combined base newspaper, begin today, but others will take a bit longer as we work budgets and policy. In the end though, each change is designed to either streamline operations or improve service as we take the best practices from each location.
This will also mean change for many of our civilians as well as some of our Sailors and Airmen as they take on new responsibilities, but the opportunities are exciting. For example, Erika Figueroa is doing fantastic work as she transfers from serving as the NWS commander's secretary to joining our amazing wing protocol team led by Kathy Knichel and 1st Lt Lauren Wilson.
Lt. Col. Stevan Kaighen, 628 Logistics Readiness Squadron commander is also broadening his horizon as he recently found himself with others of his logistics readiness squadron standing at the Weapons Station waterfront. Each was observing crane and ship operations as the 628 LRS prepares to take on oversight of our sea ports with the help of their new teammates like Navy Lt. Marvin Robinson and Chief Warrant Officer 3 John Wilson.
Marie Roberson has definitely made a difference in our commercial data and voice services as she and the entire NWS Information Technology team have led the way on ensuring continued connectivity to more than 40 Navy, Army and Marine partners and now join our Air Force communications squadron. Finally, Selwyn Stephens and the 628 Medical Group has been outstanding as they take on oversight for drug demand reduction testing for all of the 53 tenant organizations who call Joint Base Charleston home.
Your base is changing as we bring "Joint-ness" from the battle front to home front and the talented men and women of this joint base will make it a success. To give you an example of what talent and dedication can achieve, let me pass along a true story about another superb team of professionals who made the most of their own personnel ... Vince Lombardi's Green Bay Packers.
In 1957, the Green Bay Packers drafted Heisman winner, Paul Hornung from Notre Dame. What some might not remember though was he was a quarterback for Notre Dame, not the runner and kicker that got him into the Hall of Fame.
However, when Green Bay drafted him, they already had a great quarterback in Bart Starr. So, for a couple of years, Green Bay had a Heisman-winning quarterback riding the bench. But when Vince Lombardi arrived in 1959, he knew Hornung was too talented not to play, so he began to look for options. Lombardi knew Hornung was big and he found out that not only could Hornung pass, he could run with the ball as well as kick.
Hornung's main assignment from then on was not a quarterback but as running back and place kicker and the results were dramatic. In 1960 and '61, Hornung was named the National Football League's Most Valuable Player and Green Bay was on its way to four championships. Some of our greatest achievements are based on people doing things they never considered before.