Here are some of the more significant news highlights from the base (and affecting the base) in the past year.
Former AFRL commander faces historic court-martial
Former Air Force Research Laboratory (AFRL) Commander Maj. Gen. William Cooley is the first Air Force general to face court-martial.
In April, Gen. Arnold W. Bunch Jr., commander of Air Force Materiel Command (AFMC), acting as the Court-Martial Convening Authority, referred Cooley to stand trial on one charge of sexual assault with three specifications, under Article 120 of the Uniform Code of Military Justice.
Bunch relieved Cooley of his duties in January 2020.
The court-martial has been scheduled for Jan. 10 at Wright-Patterson, where both AFRL and AFMC are headquartered.
>> FORMER AFRL commander at Wright-Patterson faces court-martial
Dayton sues Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Department of Defense
The city of Dayton formally filed a drinking water contamination lawsuit against Wright-Patterson and the U.S. Department of Defense in May, seeking damages of up to $300 million.
“The city absolutely did not want to file this lawsuit,” Dayton City Manager Shelley Dickstein said at the time. “We’ve invested more than four years trying to get (Wright-Patterson) and the DoD to agree to take steps to mitigate ongoing contamination coming from the base into the city’s Mad River Wellfield and the aquifer that supplies those wells.”
In mid-August, the city’s lawsuit against Wright-Patterson was transferred to a federal court in South Carolina. Recent available filings on that court’s docket are August filings noting the transfer and assignment to a judge in South Carolina.
>>Why Dayton says it had to file $300M lawsuit against Wright-Patt over water contamination
False alarm leads to four-hour lockdown at Wright-Patterson
Shortly after 9 p.m. Sept. 9, two people approached the security desk at the National Air and Space Intelligence Center (NASIC) at Wright-Patterson. They informed a security officer they thought they heard one gunshot.
What followed was an intense four-hour search through, and clearing of, the three-story, 850,000-square-foot NASIC complex, a big, secure structure with a 24-hour workforce that defies quick or easy walk-throughs.
In the end, no shooter was found, no one was hurt, arrested or detained, base leaders said. And it is believed that the report of a gunshot was made in good faith, Col. Patrick Miller, commander of the base’s 88th Air Base Wing, said at the time.
>> What happened: 4-hour search finds no threat after report of shooter at Wright-Patt
Air Force discharges 27 who refuse vaccine
In mid-December, the Air Force has discharged 27 service members for refusing to receive a COVID vaccine, marking the first service members to be involuntarily discharged for not obeying the order.
The Air Force gave its forces until Nov. 2 to get the vaccine, and thousands either refused or sought an exemption.
>> Those refusing vaccine subject to discharge, Air Force says
Ohio works to make itself more welcoming to military families, vets
For military families, retirees and veterans, Ohio leaders want the Buckeye State to be the heart of it all.
Quality of life, a lower cost of living, employment and education opportunities and more beckon, state leaders say. And legislators have made efforts to pass bills that the Department of Defense says is important to military families moving to a new duty assignment.
>> Buckeye State’s message to military families and retirees: Come home
Wright-Patterson-based 445th Airlift Wing has role in Afghanistan evacuation
As the 20-year war in Afghanistan arrived at its final hours in August, the Air Force Reserve Command confirmed that the 445th Airlift Wing, based at Wright-Patterson, played a role in the withdrawal and evacuation of Americans and Afghan nationals who allied with the U.S. in the past two decades.
The Air Force Reserve Command contributed 17 aircraft to the effort, including C-17 Globemaster III’s, C-130 Hercules, C-5M Super Galaxy’s, and the KC-10 Extender “with 73 aircrews and hundreds of maintenance, security, medical and support personnel,” the command said.
>> Wright-Patt air wing plays role as scheduled Afghanistan pullout ends
That’s All, Brother
Credit: Marshall Gorby
Credit: Marshall Gorby
The first Allied C47 airplane to fly over the Nazi-held Normandy beaches on D-Day nearly 77 years ago touched down behind the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in April, starting a three-day stay that will give visitors a glimpse of living history.
>>‘That’s All, Brother’ flies from history to Air Force Museum for three-day visit
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