FLYING FORWARD WITH AIR FORCE REUNIONS
AFR was founded in 1988. With our headquarters in Norfolk, VA. much of our early experiences came with planning Navy reunions, but it wasn’t long before Air Force reunion groups were knocking on the door in a big way. The breakthrough came in 1992 when we planned Stalag Luft III Former POW Assn.’s reunion in St. Louis and the P-38 National Assn.’s reunion in Colorado Springs. In 1993 we added the 8th Air Force Historical Society’s Louisville reunion to our resume. The reputation we built with these groups led AFR to working with dozens of Bomb Groups, Fighter Groups, and other Army Air and Air Force groups.
Over the past decade AFR has developed partnerships with the Air Force Retired Judge Advocate Association and the Society of Air Force Nurses, in addition to groups such as The Misawa Project, Inc. AFR joined with the Department of the Air Force when we were awarded a contract to handle the planning the 2011 Air Force Public Affairs Professional Development Seminar in Washington DC. Then Director of Public Affairs BGen. Les A. Kodlick praised AFR for its “outstanding support and exceptional service.” Our longstanding reputation recently led to a relationship with the United States Air Force Academy Association of Graduates, to plan all USAFA Class Reunions that return to Colorado Springs every 5 years.
Some of the more popular Air Force reunion destinations are:
- Colorado Springs: home to the U.S. Air Force Academy, Peterson AFB, and the Peterson Air and Space Museum
- Dayton: home to Wright Patterson AFB and the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force
- San Antonio: home to Lackland AFB (AF Security Forces Museum) and Randolph AFB, and a short daytrip to Fredericksburg and the National Museum of the Pacific
- Seattle: home to Joint Base Lewis-McChord and the Museum of Flight
- Savannah: former home to Hunter AFB and home of the National Museum of the Mighty Eighth Air Force
- Washington DC: a magnet for any reunion group, and now the home of the U.S Air Force Memorial
- Las Vegas: home to Nellis AFB and the Air Force Thunderbirds Museum
- Omaha: home to Offutt AFB and the Air Force Strategic Air and Space Museum
- Norfolk/Va. Beach: near Langley AFB, and home to the Military Aviation Museum
- Albuquerque: home to Kirtland AFB and the National Museum of Nuclear Science & History