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More than 600 Ramstein members attended the Air Force ball at the officers’ club to celebrate the Air Force’s 70th birthday and the 65th anniversary of the base, Sept. 23.
Airmen commemorate the history and heritage of the Air Force in this longstanding tradition while building a sense of camaraderie and morale.
Lt. Gen. Richard M. Clark, 3rd Air Force commander, was the guest speaker for the ball. During his speech, four Airmen from the crowd recited the Airman’s Creed.
“We have 12 seconds of innovation that put us into a different era and that gave us the DNA to continue to innovate. We have five core competencies that we have done better than any other air force in the world since 1947, and we will always do them better than any air force in the world. We have three core values: integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all we do, and that’s what we live by and we will always live by because they will continue to make us the best ever. Twenty-seven years of war and we have more to come and we need to be ready for it. Eighteen Medal of Honor recipients who represent us well, who we look to for inspiration at every moment, but we need to hold them up because they mean something to us and our proud heritage. One constitution that we all serve. And then, the thing that makes it all work, is our Airmen. Those four Airmen who just recited the creed represent everybody in this room and everybody in our Air Force because that’s what makes all that other stuff work. That’s why we have been the best for 70 years. That’s the glue that holds all of this together, and that’s the glue that’s going to make us continue to be the best in the world.”
He then asked the attendees, “What does all of that add up to?” In unison, the crowd replied with “70.”
“That’s the formula,” he said, tying his speech to the 70th birthday theme.
Clark then thanked the Airmen and their families for everything they do.
After the speech, the U.S. Air Forces in Europe’s Wings of Dixie played live music while Airmen danced until the event’s end.
Some Airmen reflected on the night.
“I think tradition is extremely important, particularly within the branches of service,” said Senior Airman Corey Klucker, 721st Aerial Port Squadron air transportation specialist. “We have other branches of service that have had 200 years to establish traditions, and being that we’re such an infant service, we need to make sure that 200 years from now, those Airmen have a tradition where they can build morale and camaraderie and have a sense of identity.”
