San Diego Padres GM, former MLB players visit
Lt. Col. Gary Edwards, 433rd Airlift Wing safety officer and a C-5A Galaxy pilot, explains the vast instrumention panel to San Diego Padres' General Manager Josh Byrnes (far left) and Glen Barker, former Major League Baseball outfielder and currently the Padres' outfield/ baserunning coordinator, on a visit to the "Alamo Wing" April 24 at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. (U.S. Air Force Photo/Elsa Martinez)
San Diego Padres GM, former MLB players enjoy C-5 simulator 'flight'



by Elsa Martinez
433rd Airlift Wing Public Affairs

4/25/2013 - JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND -- A small contingent of Major League Baseball's San Diego Padres management and former MLB players visited here April 24 with the assistance of an Alamo Wing honorary commander.

Bill Gerlt, the assistant general manager of the San Antonio Missions baseball team, is also the 433rd Airlift Control Flight honorary commander. The Missions are the minor-league Class AA affiliate of the Padres. The visitors included the Padres' General Manager Josh Byrnes and former MLB players:  third baseman Randy Johnson; outfielder Glen Barker;  pitcher, Mike Cather and outfielder, Jacque Jones. All are now members of the Padre baseball organization.

Gerlt wanted to share a small part of the wing's mission with his fellow Padres members while they were in San Antonio.

"I've seen and done so many things with the 433rd, and their mission that I wanted Mr. Byrnes and the others to see it, too," he said.

"We were all really looking forward to this," declared Jacque Jones, a nine-year MLB veteran as he was seated behind the simulated cockpit. Jones played for the Minnesota Twins, Chicago Cubs, Detroit Tigers, and Florida Marlins. He is now the hitting coach for the Fort Wayne TinCaps, the Padres' Class A affiliate.

Col. Jeffrey T. Pennington, 433rd Airlift Wing commander, greeted the guests upon their arrival at the wing's C-5 simulator training building. Lt. Cols. J.C. Miller, 68th Airlift Squadron operations officer, and Gary Edwards, 433rd Airlift Wing safety officer, led the players into the simulator for their C-5 "flight."

Following the demonstration, guests left the simulator slightly winded from the motion but thrilled by the experience.

"We were all looking forward to this experience, but nothing prepared us for it," Byrne remarked. "What a ride that was!"

The members concluded the event with an actual tour of the Air Force's largest transport aircraft, a C-5A Galaxy.