Fighter wing sends Christmas presents to its biggest fans

by Tech. Sgt. Emily Alley
442d Fighter Wing

12/18/2014 - WHITEMAN AFB, MO. -- A lot of Airmen are football fans. And the feeling is mutual.

The Kansas City Chiefs requested thirteen XXXL T-shirts from the 442d Fighter Wing , which they promised to "wear with pride."

Chiefs chairman and CEO Clark Hunt expressed his support of the relationship in 2012 by writing, "For more than two decades, the Kansas City Chiefs have cherished our relationship with Whiteman Air Force Base and the 442d Fighter Wing."

In fact, the unofficial logo of the 442d Fighter Wing is a variation of the KC Chiefs logo, an A-10 Thunderbolt II superimposed over the KC Chiefs distinctive arrowhead. The floor of the main aircraft hangar here is marked with the emblem and, while resting, the A-10 engines are covered and wear the logo, which was also blessed by Hunt.

"As the 442d defends our great country, it gives me tremendous pride to know that you're displaying our colors," he wrote.

When the team's general manager, John Dorsey, saw the 442 FW arrowhead logo during a recent base visit, he was intrigued. The logo had been printed on morale T-shirts for wing members and Dorsey requested 13 of the T-shirts, in size XXXL, for his offensive line. Both the KC Chiefs players and the fighter wing share the nickname the KC Hogs.

"If you asked 30 active duty Airmen at Whiteman who their favorite football team is, you'd get 30 different answers," said 442d Fighter Wing commander Col. Hubie Hegtvedt, as he spoke to Dorsey during the visit. "If you asked our reservists most would probably say the Kansas City Chiefs. They're locals."

Eleven new members of the 442d Fighter Wing took the opportunity to make their first oath of enlistment on the field during the pregame at Arrowhead Stadium Nov. 2, then were invited to the game to watch the Chiefs defeat the New York Jets.

"What better way for young people to begin their career than walking down the players' tunnel into a veritable gladiator's coliseum?" said Master Sgt. Kent Kagarise, manager of the support program for new Airmen, who helped supervise the enlistment.

When the Dorsey received the T-shirts for his offensive line, he asked for another shirt for himself, which he promised to "wear with pride."

Hegtvedt gifted the shirts to Dorsey and challenged him to friendly fighter pilot competition in the A-10 simulator.

In the photo, the XXXL shirts fit snugly on the linemen. While many Airmen at the 442d Fighter Wing are fans of the Kansas City Chiefs, the linemen may be the wing's "biggest" fans.