2024 State of the Foundation
Dear Foundation Members:
As I come to the end of my tenure as AFHF Chair, our President Jonna Doolittle Hoppes and I look back on our last 18 months with extraordinary pride. The Foundation’s growth and program development is soaring with help from our restructured Board of Directors and swelling membership.
Board Functions, while not the most glamorous part of Foundation leadership, have taken tremendous steps forward in both organization and governance. The Foundation bylaws committee, chaired by the Foundation Secretary, Frank Blazich, has updated and restructured the bylaws to comply with best practices for non-profit governance. You may review the final document on the members only webpage.
The Board of Directors has been restructured to support a more robust coverage of the history of the Space Force, to include a Foundation Vice Chair for Space, Stu Pettis. The Foundation is gearing up for the 5th anniversary celebration of the “Birth of the Space Force” on 20 December 2024. In recognition of this anniversary, the AFHF theme for 2025 will focus on the “Birth of the Space Force.” This will include a special “Space History” edition of the winter Journal of the Air Force Historical Foundation.
The Foundation Finance Committee has embarked on planning and executing a Campaign to boost our investment portfolio and secure a process to stabilize our operating budget each year. This effort is being spearheaded by Tim Fay from our Executive Committee.
Our team is continually searching for new additions to serve on the Board of Directors. If you are willing to volunteer and work toward growing and supporting the Foundation, we would love to hear from you. Membership in good standing for at least two years is required for this all volunteer working Board. Contact our Executive Director, Dik Daso, at xd@afhistory.org by sending a resume and statement of interest. The commitment is for a three year tour.
The Foundation’s most impressive projects in the past year are research related.
AFHF has established a tremendous working relationship with the Air University Library Archives. As part of this relationship, AU Library Archives has created an AFHF research button on the Archives website. Included in that link are collections of images from a variety of sources (AF Magazine, individual collectors, the Super Sabre Society, and the Doolittle family). These collections are growing every month. The documents and images stored in these collections are available for use by anyone who can access the Library Archives website.
For the first time since 2006, the AFHF is back in the publishing business. The Foundation has partnered with the Air University Press to create a new publishing imprint. Our goal is to publish one significant historical work each year. The first of these reprints is set to release in November 2024. A Few Great Captains, by the late Pete Copp, is one of the most significant works covering the birth of American Airpower prior to World War II. The reprint will include a new Foreword, Afterword, a research guide, and updated images. It will be available digitally and, if we are lucky, in print as well.
The research page on our website has expanded tremendously and includes several new sections: Symposium panel videos, AFHF author/member lists, links to AU archives, New World Vistas Study video program from 1995, and much more.
AFHF has moved into the modern era with its new Official Podcast: Know the Past…Shape the Future. You may listen to the episodes by clicking here https://www.afhistory.org/podcast/ , or by searching any other Podcast provider. We have also taken all our Book Club episodes and War Stories interviews and are releasing them as part of our podcast series. You can find all the current episodes at the link above. The inaugural Podcast featured astronaut Dr. Jan Davis, in two parts, followed by a discussion about Hap Arnold and the Birth of the Technological AF, and a fascinating examination of Dr. Theodore von Karman with Dr. Michael Gorn. Coming this fall, Mrs. Natalie Crawford and Gen. Ron Fogleman recall the creation of the New World Vistas technology study and how successful it has (or has not) been since its completion in 1995. You will not want to miss it.
With the dedication and skill of the Foundation Treasurer, Eileen Bjorkman, we began publishing a delightful Newsletter last February. “Raider Chronicles” features short articles like, “Ask a Researcher,” “When I Served,” a quiz, a feature article, and Foundation announcements. It is a quarterly feature, and we are seeking input from our membership for potential publication in the Newsletter. https://www.afhistory.org/research/newsletter/
The Foundation has been extremely fortunate to have the services of our Journal editor, Richard Wolf for more than two decades. He has announced his retirement by the end of 2025, and we will need a gifted replacement. Beginning in January 2024, the Journal became a full-color publication. The “Summer Special” edition for the past two years has been published as a 160-page softbound Journal. The 2024 edition featured a montage of aviation paintings by artist Rick Herter. Rick’s work headlines what may be the finest edition of the Journal of the Air Force Historical foundation yet published. If you do not receive the Journal, you may order one on the Foundation Book Sale web page. https://www.afhistory.org/programs/books/.
The Foundation’s morning release, This Day in AF/SF History, continues as our single best means of communication with our members and constituents. We have experimented with a variety of formats this past year with excellent reviews.
This past year saw the return of the AFHF Symposium. We also included museums from across the country and the result was a wonderful mix of academic, exhibit, and discussion panels which we were able to record and distribute on our website. While attendance fell short of our goal, the content was terrific.
Our annual awards banquet at the Army/Navy Country Club was a wonderful event and featured the USAF Vice Chief of Staff, Jim Slife. His dinner address was one of the best in AFHF history. The event included the change of command for the Foundation, presentation of the Spaatz and Holley awards, and great fellowship among air and space power advocates. Foundation “Challenge Coins” (nice ones) were part of the evening, and each attendee took one home with them. The awards committee and Board of Directors did a fantastic job with award selection—top notch.
AFHF Board President Jonna Doolittle Hoppes and Executive Director, Dik Daso, travelled to Creech AFB in March to present the Doolittle Trophy to the 432d Wing during an “all call” gathering surrounded by MQ-9s and wing personnel. They were then joined by Robert Arnold, Gen Hap Arnold’s grandson, in San Diego to present the Hap Arnold Award to the top Arnold Air Society cadet during their National Convention in front of 700 students. AFHF continues to sponsor awards across the spectrum of institutions and our program is managed by AFHF President’s Advisory Council member Mike Devine. Click here to see the rich history of AFHF student award recipients. https://www.afhistory.org/awards/student-awards/
The “9/12 Project” has launched, and details related to how to get involved are available on our website. The “9/12 Project” aims to collect and preserve the personal voices, stories, and perspectives of Airmen, Guardians, DoD Civilians, and Dependents on the Air Force’s experience in Afghanistan, beginning on September 12, 2001, through the end of the war in Afghanistan. These stories will help preserve individual histories and serve as a scholarly and educational resource to provide future audiences with a glimpse into the 20-year war both at home and abroad. PLEASE consider participating. https://www.afhistory.org/programs/9-12-oral-history-project/
By using creative programs that expand our ranks, the Foundation membership roll has grown from 950 to over 4,000 in the last 18 months. Importantly, most recent additions are USAF ROTC students and young lieutenants. One of our ongoing goals is to reach out to the younger members of both the USAF and SF as they embark on their careers. We are confident that by “Knowing the Past,” they will all be prepared to “Shape the Future” of our services.
Additionally, as directed by our Foundation charter, we rekindled our affiliation with the USAF Academy Department of History (USAFA/DFH) and made it possible for all DFH Alumni to join the Foundation as Associate members. Our affiliates continue to expand, and our membership continues to grow.
We would like to hear from you. Please share your ideas and consider getting involved. Opportunities exist by contributing to the Newsletter, authoring book reviews, attending AFHF events (particularly the membership meeting in the DC area in the spring each year). The continued success of many of our current and future endeavors depends on the support of our members. If you are not yet a member, we hope you will join the Air Force Historical Foundation.
https://www.afhistory.org/support/become-a-member/
Sincerely,
General Mike Holmes, USAF (Ret)
Foundation Chair