Warbirds give back during service day

Members of the 450th Intelligence Squadron spread themselves across the KMC to give back to the community Dec. 4.

The Airmen of the 450th IS, also known as the Warbirds, are on duty at all hours of the day, and squadron leadership wanted to give their Airmen a break by allowing them the opportunity to give back to the community that supports them during their first “Warbirds’ Service Day.”

“With a mission that is 24/7, it’s hard to call time out and say, ‘Look at the community around you. You are not here to just come to your computer,’” said Capt. Shaun Lee, 450th IS flight commander. “It’s more than just us and our computers. We have a lot of people with enthusiasm and a lot of needs in the community. Today, we are matching those two.”

The 450th IS Airmen usually spend their day behind reinforced doors interpreting, analyzing and transmitting mission-essential data. However, during their Warbirds’ Service Day, they volunteered with the annual Special Olympics, augmented the Ramstein Northside Post Office, showed career paths to Junior ROTC members, and cleaned and served meals at the Landstuhl Fisher House.

“The fact that this group came out today not only helps relieve the staff’s stress but also helps the residents,” said Tara Redmond, Landstuhl Fisher House assistant manager. “I am able to now put people in the rooms (the Airmen) cleaned today. To me, them coming and helping means we have an amazing community that loves to support each other.”

The members volunteered more than 250 hours to the different organizations. According to many of the Airmen, it was time well spent.

“It’s great that we got to get out of the office and interact with people, not just our computers,” said Senior Airman Bridgette Hemmerich, 450th IS multi-source analyst. “A lot of us are really excited to get out and have some interaction with the community and give back above and beyond what we do every day.”

Event organizers hoped the Warbirds’ Service Day gave their Airmen a break and maybe inspired others to continue helping their local community.