NASICAA hosts annual meeting

  • Published
  • By Master Sgt. Tammie Moore
  • National Air and Space Intelligence Center Public Affairs
WRIGHT-PATTERSON AIR FORCE BASE, Ohio --  Current and former National Air and Space Intelligence Center members gathered for their alumni association’s annual meeting and to reconnect with one another here, Oct. 23.

The NASIC Alumni Association, a social organization that honors the legacy members, meets annually to remain current on Center happenings.

The current NASIC commander, Col. Leah Lauderback, gave the group a center update highlighting the current operations and plans through 2023. She discussed the expansion of the foreign materiel exploitation facility, along with her hopes for the approval of future construction projects.

“This is a team,” she said, as she had the Center’s chief scientist, Curtis Rowland, join her in front of the group. “While we have different lanes in the road, we are both leaders in the organization.”

Rowland shared his knowledge creation plan, designed to move analysts away from ad hoc work and focus their efforts on key intelligence products. After the duo concluded their comments, Larry Benson, NASICAA senior operations advisor, turned the floor over to the event guest speaker.

“His story begins on the wrong side of American air power,” Benson said of author and former NASIC executive officer Wolfgang Samuel.

Samuel, the son of a German officer, was a young boy during WWII. He shared the story of how he went from being a German refugee to becoming an American Airman. The story was full of low and high moments, as Samuel’s family struggled survive after fleeing Berlin in 1945.

Samuel dreamed of going to the U.S. and flying with American forces. A dream which became reality after his mother met and married an American service member. Samuel retired from the U.S. Air Force as a lieutenant colonel with 30 years of military service in 1995. At this point he decided to write the book “German Boy” to help him deal with his mother’s death nearly a decade before.

“She wasn’t just my mother, she was my combat buddy,” he said. “I can’t remember ever hugging her and telling her thank you. We never looked back, those were awful times. We just looked to the future.”

The NASICAA hosts events like this to link current and past employees and preserve the center’s heritage. For more information about NASICAA and upcoming events visit http://www.nasicaa.org/index.html.