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February 2023 in Review

  • Published
  • By Bradley J. Clark
  • 908th Airlift Wing

The 908th Airlift Wing spent the month of February highlighting important unit capabilities and award-winning unit members.

On Feb. 1, 2023, the wing remembered the 31st anniversary of the unit being re-designated as the 908th Airlift Group.

Then, on Feb. 4, the wing recognized 10 members who recently promoted.

Later that day, the wing welcomed 12 new members to its ranks.

During the last hour of the Saturday portion of the weekend’s Unit Training Assembly, the wing gathered for a Commander’s Call hosted by 908 AW Commander, Col. Craig Drescher.

The call focused on highlighting the 908th Airlift Wing’s Community Action Network, recruiting new first sergeants, introducing the wing’s new Inspector General, Lt. Col. Tonia Stephens, and a question-and-answer session with wing members and Drescher.

After the Q&A session, the call turned into a celebration.

First, Senior Master Sgt. Rory Lapres was awarded the Air and Space Achievement Medal for his actions following a car accident that took place Nov. 4, 2022.

Lapres was traveling south on Interstate 85 through Montgomery between 6 a.m. and 6:30 a.m., driving in the far-right lane of the four-lane road.  He was sipping on his coffee, when the unexpected happened.

“All of a sudden I just see this sedan just flipping over, rolling, across three, four lanes right in front of me,” he said. “It looked like a blue streak.”

Initially, the incident startled Lapres because he has been making that commute nearly every day for the past 14 years and had never witnessed anything like it.  He didn’t see who or what caused the accident and recalls he really didn’t have time to think about what to do.

“The car was just flipping so fast, and it looked really bad,” he said. “I just made the decision to pull over and see if I could help.”

Ultimately, Lapres pulled two individuals from the wreckage, freeing one whose foot had been trapped.

Then the wing recognized the quarterly award winners from the 4th Quarter of 2022.

Lastly the wing then announced the nominees and winners for the annual awards for 2022.

On Feb. 23, 2023, the wing held a civilian commanders call to remind members of the upcoming closeout for civilian performance appraisals and to thank the full-time staff for all their hard work keeping the wing running.