Icemen aim high and fly for Wounded Warrior Project

by Senior Airman Ashley Nicole Taylor
354th Fighter Wing Public Affairs

6/5/2014 - EIELSON AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska  -- What began as an opportunity to fly to Oshkosh, Wis., to attend Experimental Aircraft Association's AirVenture, two airmen saw as the perfect chance to take their love for general aviation and use it to spread knowledge about an organization catering to military families.

Senior Airman Alex Mumley-Dupuis and Airman Brian Jones, 354th Operations Support Squadron airfield management shift leads, initiated One Flight for Warriors, a 5,000 nautical mile round-trip flight meant to increase awareness about the Wounded Warrior Project and what the organization entails.

The duo hopes to raise at least $10,000 for the WWP, a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that has helped tens of thousands of wounded service members and their families with the goal of successfully returning them to civilian life.

"With us being in the military, we have a sense of helping each other and putting service before self," said Mumley-Dupuis. "Brian and I are both people who can't sit on the sidelines and watch, so we might seem like we're in over our heads with raising $10,000, but we're putting in every effort to try and achieve that goal and more."

The pair began their awareness campaign in early April and has since put over 100 man-hours going throughout the community and hosting a booth at various events with intent to spread the word about the trip and WWP.

Their biggest event so far has been the Fairbanks Aviation Day where Mumley-Dupuis flew his 1973 Citabria for the Fairbanks Chapter 1129 Young Eagles program, giving a free flight to children between the ages of 8-17. While Mumley-Dupuis was flying, Jones and two other 354th OSS members hosted a booth to talk about WWP and their plan to fly to Oshkosh.

"We are setting up booths to continue our message and passion for making a difference in others' lives," said Mumley-Dupuis. "We chose the Wounded Warrior Project because we wanted to expand our efforts and potentially reach families located everywhere, not just here in Alaska."

The team has had a huge backing from fellow squadron members and has currently raised over $5,000 for the WWP, but Mumley-Dupuis and Jones hope this isn't the end of their charity work.

"We're hoping this starts a trickle effect. If two 22 year-olds can raise $10,000 by knocking on doors and hanging up flyers, imagine how much a community can do," said Jones. "I just think the world could be a much be better place if everyone caught on and did something like what we're trying to do but at a larger scale."

For more information and to follow Mumley-Dupuis and Jones on their journey, visit www.oneflightforwarriors.org. (You are being directed to a nongovernment website that may have different privacy policies from those of http://www.eielson.af.mil/)