Region Review: The Great Lakes Region

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Region Review: The Great Lakes Region

The Great Lakes Region (GLR) is comprised of four states, Indiana, Kentucky, Michigan, and Ohio. We currently have 18 chapters -- six in Indiana, two in Kentucky, five in Michigan, and five in Ohio. Total membership is over 7,900.

The only active Air Force Base in the region is Wright Patterson AFB in Ohio. WPAFB is also home of the Wright Memorial Chapter 212 which is the largest chapter in the region and one of the largest in AFA with over 2,200 members. Chapter 212 has an outstanding relationship with Wright Patterson and works closely with the senior leadership at the base to support our Air Force family with programs such as Heroes Welcoming Heroes which is a reception held several times a year to recognize our returning deployed troops. In addition, Chapter 212 sponsored 228 Visions classrooms in 2008.

Many of the other chapters are located near Air National Guard and Air Force Reserve Installations and focus their efforts in supporting their operations. Indiana works closely with Indiana Air Guard Headquarters each year to jointly sponsor a chalet at the Indianapolis Air Show. Many of our Chapter and State leaders come from their local guard and reserve units.

The GLR was one of the earliest active areas when AFA was founded. One of our charter members recently provided us with copies of a newspaper article from the AFA National Convention held in Columbus, Ohio in 1947 which was chaired by President Jimmy Doolittle.

We would like to recognize our charter members who are still with us in the GLR. They are Harold Henneke from Indiana; Frank Ward from Michigan; Steve Uminski, Lloyd Blackford, R. Dunkel, Ralph Sims, Edward Davis, William Schubert, Bob Dean, Bryon Solomondies, Jack Reed, Theodore Elsasser, Paul Koerner, T Tomko, Frank Bartkowicz, Bruce Mathis, Milton Kult, Peter Mier, Willam Barrows, C Furman George Dippel, Russell Larue, Harold Welker, James Gorman, L Rockwell, Robert Meer, D Hutchens, Ned Ailes, Kenneth Graham, Lawrence Grayson, F McNamara, Martin Hertz, Robert Kuhnert, Charles Frey, Judson Dailey, Carroll Irvine, and Willam Runser from Ohio. We are honored to have them in the GLR and hope that we have identified them all.

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AFA is a non-profit, independent, professional military and aerospace education association. Our mission is to promote a dominant United States Air Force and a strong national defense, and to honor Airmen and our Air Force Heritage. To accomplish this, we: EDUCATE the public on the critical need for unmatched aerospace power and a technically superior workforce to ensure U.S. national security. ADVOCATE for aerospace power and STEM education. SUPPORT the total Air Force family, and promote aerospace education.