CSAF honors hometown heroes at Air Force Week

  • Published
  • By Staff Sgt. Mareshah Haynes
  • Defense Media Activity San Antonio
COCOA BEACH, Fla. (AFNS) --  Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Norton Schwartz helped honor some of central Florida's hometown heroes during a dinner Oct. 29 at Air Force Week Cocoa Beach 2010 here.

Air Force Week is a public communication program that allows community members the opportunity to meet Airmen and learn about the Air Force mission. Air Force officials join with local community leaders to host Air Force Weeks at locations throughout the United States.

"Air Force Week gives Airmen the opportunity to tell their stories so that members of the community can have a better sense of the role, the mission and the value of our Air Force," General Schwartz said. "At the same time, it allows us to say 'thank you' to the communities that support our Airmen and our families."

Air Force Week Cocoa Beach 2010 was Oct. 26 to 31. It included Air Force-themed days at Walt Disney World, Sea World and the Kennedy Space Center, as well as performances by Air Force bands and demonstrations by honor guard and pararescue Airmen in central Florida communities.

General Schwartz highlighted the Air Force Thunderbirds performances at the Cocoa Beach Air Show on Oct. 30 and 31.

"This is an opportunity to demonstrate our precision and our excellence," the general said. "It is an opportunity for the American people to take stock of their Air Force, and that's a good thing."

The dinner on Oct. 29, held in honor of local hometown heroes, gave area civic leaders an opportunity to hear about the accomplishments of Airmen from their very own communities.

"The thing that's the most fun for me is to hear the hometown heroes tell their stories," General Schwartz said. "It's important for the community to know that their local heroes are doing important things for America."

The general also thanked the Airmen of Patrick Air Force Base, Fla., for their outstanding support of this latest Air Force Week iteration.

"I'd like to say thank you to the Patrick AFB family for working so hard to put on Air Force Week here in Cocoa Beach," he said. "It was a very successful effort and one that we, the Air Force leaders, very much appreciate."