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The 86th Airlift Wing’s Special Observance Council hosted a Diversity Day at the Kaiserslautern Military Community Center Mall, March 24.
After nearly three years since the last Diversity Day, this event provided a venue to increase awareness and highlight the impact each diverse group has in cultivating our nation’s culture.
U.S. Air Force Brig. Gen. Josh Olson, 86 AW commander, opened the event emphasizing that diversity in the community is what gives it strength.
“If we want a culture of diversity and inclusion, we must practice it daily, and instill it in our Airmen and our people, to set the success for our replacements and in our kids,” Olson said. “Diversity and inclusion is also about connecting with one another and being committed to taking care of each other.”
The event’s theme, “Contributions of us ALL that makes US who we are today,” showcased music from around the world, a base honor guard demo, a poetry reading, salsa dancing, a bachata performance, Irish dancing and Polynesian dancing performed by community members throughout the seven-hour event.
“We all come from different backgrounds,” said U.S. Air Force Maj. Beverly Meister, 86th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron flight nurse and Team Ramstein Diversity Day 2022 chair. “You might know or learn something others don’t already know, but your diverse background helps keep the mission going. We form connections with each other and within our host nation partners to the global achievement of airpower.”
Diversity Day emphasizes that diversity isn’t something to be kept within the same circles, but to be shared with the greater world community.
“The diversity day event matters,” Meister said. “We haven’t had any sort of base-wide event in this capacity in the past few years. I know we’re all excited to come together, and it’s a good way to meet people within our community and form connections.”
Some of the ways the Air Force identifies diversity are personal life experiences, race, culture, spiritual perspectives, socioeconomic status, cognitive, behavioral, and occupational skills.
The event’s goal was to enhance cross-cultural and cross-gender awareness while promoting harmony among military members, their families and the DOD civilian workforce.
“This is what matters at the end of the day; being committed to each other,” Olson said. “It means treating each other with dignity and respect. It means appreciating the differences that make us unique. In the end, it’s about doing the right thing. It’s about making us stronger as a community and, even more, it makes us more flexible, agile and powerful as we help the U.S., Europe and our NATO allies and partners.”
