Friends of Seymour Johnson AFB gala to be March 12
By Steve Herring
Published in News on March 4, 2016 1:46 PM
Heading into its third annual gala, the Friends of Seymour Johnson AFB has even more to celebrate -- Goldsboro and Wayne County were recently designated as a "Great American Defense Community" by the Association of Defense Communities and the Defense Communities Caucus.
Lt. Gen. (retired) Ralph Jodice will be the keynote speaker for the semi-formal gala to be held Saturday, March 12, from 6 to 9 p.m. at the Walnut Creek Country Club.
Jodice is the former commander of the NATO Allied Air Command Headquarters Izmir, Turkey, and of the 16th Air Expeditionary Task Force, U.S. Air Forces in Europe, Izmir, Turkey.
Attendees also will hear briefings from the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce's Military Affairs Committee and from consultants with the Roosevelt Group.
Tickets are $100 per person, and proceeds from the gala will fund the Friends of Seymour Johnson AFB's efforts in support of the base.
A raffle and cocktails will start at 6 p.m. followed by dinner at 7:30 p.m.
For more information call the Wayne County Chamber of Commerce at 919-734-2241 or visit www.501auctions.com/friendsofseymour2016.
Goldsboro was one of only 10 communities across the country to receive the "Great American Defense Community" designation, and the only community to receive the designation in North and South Carolina.
Aside from one community in Florida, Goldsboro and Wayne County area was also the only community to receive the "Great American Defense Community" designation on the entire eastern seaboard.
Communities awarded this designation are acknowledged for unique contributions the areas make that improve the quality of life for service members, veterans and their families.
That is a vital part of the mission of the nonprofit Friends of Seymour Johnson AFB, formerly known as the Seymour Support Council.
It works to ensure the Goldsboro/Wayne County community remains a premier host of Seymour Johnson Air Force base the "Crown Jewel" of the U.S. Air Force.
It also pursues enhancement opportunities including military construction and off-base infrastructure improvements that can enhance mission capabilities, increase installation efficiency, and promote military quality of life.
One of its primary accomplishments was stopping the installation of a wind farm that would have endangered the base's use of the Dare County bombing range.
It continues to monitor agendas for the state Department of Energy and Natural Resources and the N.C. Utilities Commission to ensure its membership is aware of any applications for wind farms that would impact Seymour Johnson.
"It is kind of an effort to make sure that we have the city and county and the private sector all on the same page -- all pulling in the same direction," Seymour Johnson AFB Chairman Jimmy Edmundson said. "It has worked pretty well. We have gotten a lot of things accomplished. We did change horses as far as our consultant is concerned.
"We had Cassidy, and Cassidy has spoken at our last two events, and we will have a new consultant there this year. We went with the Roosevelt Group. We did that for a couple of reasons. One is they are representing the state. I think to some people it looked like, with the state having this consultant and the state trying to represent all of the military installations, and us having Cassidy, that we were not in locked step with what the state was trying to do."
Edmundson said he thinks there were some who thought Wayne County was trying to go off in a different direction.
That is not the case, he said.
"Although early on we did have some concerns with the state Military Affairs Committee," Edmundson said. "It didn't seem like Seymour Johnson was getting the attention that it should get. But I will give Roosevelt credit for bringing the state around and getting them to recognize how important Seymour Johnson is to our national defense, national security."
Now, the base is receiving the attention it deserves, he said.
"That is what we wanted," Edmundson said. "We have gotten that accomplished, and I give Roosevelt a lot of credit for that."
Switching to Roosevelt also saved money because it already had the state contract, he said.
"We will take that money and use it on other things we didn't have the money to do before," Edmundson said.
Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James visited the base earlier in February.
"I think she was impressed by what she heard out at the base and about our community's relationship with the base," Edmundson said. "She was really impressed with that. She understands the issues facing the Air Force and the services in general.
"So I think her being here and getting to see first hand -- she had never ridden in a KC-135 (tanker). She got to do that while she was here. So hopefully she learned some things that she didn't know."
The city of Goldsboro and Wayne County have been "great" to work with, he said.
"They truly understand the importance of Seymour, what it means to this county, what it means to this country," he said. "They are supporting it wholeheartedly.
"Our goal is not only to strengthen the relationship we have with Seymour, but that we have with the Air Force and DOD (Department of Defense)."
That includes two or three trips annually to Washington, D.C., where Friends of Seymour Johnson AFB members meet with the local congressional delegation to discuss issues affecting the base.
They also meet with their contacts at the Pentagon, he said.
"We do this one fundraiser a year," Edmundson said. "Some people get confused when you are talking about FOS and the Military Affairs Committee. The difference is, the Friends of Seymour, we kind of work things outside the boundaries of Wayne County, and the MAC kind of works things inside Wayne County.
"Now if the MAC needs money for something here that is needed at Seymour, then we will use some FOS funds to support the MAC -- to make sure they can do what they need to do. They are doing a great job. The membership has grown and continues to grow."