'To honor our fallen heroes, step by step'

by Senior Airman Joe McFadden
1st Special Operations Wing Public Affairs

2/4/2013 - HURLBURT FIELD, Fla. -- In the same park that enshrines the memory of the first Air Commandos, sixteen Hurlburt Airmen set foot on a 450-mile march to honor their fallen brothers during a kickoff ceremony at the Hurlburt Airpark Feb. 3.

The second annual Air Commando Ruck March and Climb encompasses a nearly one million-step trek from Hurlburt Field, home of the Air Force Special Operations Command, to MacDill Air Force Base, Fla., the home of U.S. Special Operations Command.

In addition, two more Hurlburt Airmen will simultaneously ascent Mt. Kilimanjaro in Tanzania, Africa, as part of the dual effort to pay tribute to the sacrifice of deceased Airmen.

"We're motivated by the memory of our brothers," said Maj. Tom Leyden, 34th Special Operations Squadron and ruck march participant. "When I think about their sacrifice, how they loved this country, their families and their friends - they truly lived 'service before self.' And when we get down there for the memorial, we'll remember their sacrifice, knowing that our country is a better place because of their service."

Tech. Sgt. Deon McGowan, 1st Special Operations Wing and lead coordinator of the march, said the project originally began in 2011 after 31 American service members, including three Airmen from the 24th Special Tactics Squadron, lost their lives in an Aug. 6 Chinook helicopter crash.

Yet after completing the march, McGowan said the losses of Capt. Ryan Hall, 319th Special Operations Squadron, Capt. Ryan Whitlock, 34th Special Operations Squadron, 1st Lt. Justin Wilkens, 34th SOS, and Senior Airman Julian Scholten, 25th Intelligence Squadron, in a Feb. 18, 2012 U-28A crash in Djibouti, Africa, as well as the Feb. 25, 2012 death of Lt. Col. John Loftis, 866th Air Expeditionary Squadron, in Kabul, Afghanistan, demanded his team commit to a second march.

"This is the reason why we're out here today," McGowan said. "These Air Commandos are dedicating their time, their bodies and their feet to this event to honor those five Air Commandos."

McGowan reaffirmed his fellow ruckers' commitment to respecting the fallen as he described the challenges his team would encounter.

"For the rest of our journey, it's going to be tough," he said. "But we have a motto 'Honoring our fallen heroes, step-by-step.' And when you walk through the gate [at MacDill Air Force Base] and the big memorial comes up, you'll see it's an overhead shot of a spade, the symbol for USSOCOM. And as you enter that and see the black marble with the names on the walls, you can take your hand over the names on the wall of those who have fallen and made the ultimate sacrifice-- I will tell you, it's quite moving. That's what's going to get you through this march."

Among the dozens of well-wishers at the Airpark included Loftis' widow, Holly, who thanked the team for their tribute to her husband's memory.

"It means a lot that they would do this and walk to remember them-- it's very meaningful to us as families," she said. "But my hope is that everyone will remember they gave their lives for our freedoms and not to take that for granted."