230109-F-YM631-1122.JPG

Gina Ortiz Jones, undersecretary of the Air Force, meets with aeromedical evacuation and staging Airmen from the 445th Airlift Wing on Jan. 9 at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The 445 AW mission is to attain and maintain operational readiness; provide strategic transport of personnel and equipment; conduct medevac; and recruit and train toward these objectives. (U.S. Air Force photo by Hannah Carranza)

Undersecretary of the Air Force visits 445th AW Airmen

Capt. Nathaniel Copen, 445th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron director of operations, and Tech. Sgt. Marjorie Butcher, 445th AES AE technician, show the Honorable Gina Ortiz Jones, Under Secretary of the Air Force, some of the equipment the squadron uses and what their squadron’s role in the wing is during her visit to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio Jan. 9, 2023.

Undersecretary of the Air Force visits 445th AW Airmen

Published Jan. 23, 2023
445th Airlift Wing Public Affairs

WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --

The Honorable Gina Ortiz Jones, Undersecretary of the Air Force, visited the 445th Airlift Wing and various base units Jan. 9 during a day-long tour of Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

Capt. Nathaniel Copen, 445th Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron director of operations, shows the Honorable Gina Ortiz Jones, Under Secretary of the Air Force, some of the equipment the squadron uses and what their squadron’s role is in the wing during her visit to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio Jan. 9, 2023.

The Honorable Gina Ortiz Jones, Under Secretary of the Air Force, poses with the 445th Airlift Wing's 89th Airlift Squadron aircrew (left to right: Tech. Sgt. Zachary Webb, Lt. Col. Dustin Johnson, 1st Lt. Logan Sisca, Master Sgt. Spencer Fischer (assigned to the 445th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron) and Senior Airman Isaac Smith) Jan. 9 as part of her visit to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio. The Airmen were part of the aircrew of Reach 828 and delivered the first Afghan baby, Reach, onboard a 445th AW C-17 Globemaster III during the evacuation in August 2021.

Col. Raymond A. Smith Jr., 445th Airlift Wing commander, talks about the mission of the 445th Airlift Wing to the Honorable Gina Ortiz Jones, Under Secretary of the Air Force during her visit to Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio Jan. 9, 2023.

During her visit at the 445th, she was given a wing mission brief by Col. Raymond Smith Jr., 445th AW commander, met with 445th Aeromedical Evacuation and Aeromedical Staging Squadrons Airmen, as well as crewmembers from the 445th Airlift Wing’s 89th Airlift Squadron and a crew chief from the 445th Aircraft Maintenance Squadron who worked as a team to deliver an Afghan baby onboard a 445th C-17 Globemaster III during the Afghanistan evacuation in 2021.