Keesler couple earns 2007 O'Malley award

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WASHINGTON (AFPN) --  The former Keesler Air Force Base, Miss., commander and his wife, who led the base's recovery efforts the two years following Hurricane Katrina, recently won the 2007 Gen. and Mrs. Jerome F. O'Malley Award.

Brig. Gen. Paul Capasso and his wife, Laura, received the award that recognizes the wing commander-and-spouse team whose contributions to the nation, Air Force and surrounding community best exemplify the highest ideals and positive leadership of a military couple serving in a key Air Force position.

General Capasso, who led the 81st Training Wing from November 2005 to October 2007, and his family are now based in Stuttgart, Germany, where Capasso is the director of command, control, communications and computer systems for the new U.S. Africa Command.

The couple arrived at Keesler AFB just weeks after the hurricane caused more than $900 million in damage to the base alone, as well as devastated the local community.

"We knew there was a lot of work to be done," said General Capasso, "but we had an excellent team of people down there who were willing to do whatever needed to be done." 

The first challenge the couple faced was to get the 81st TW programs up and running again. Many predicted it would take at least six months. In fact, it only took six weeks. Since then, more than 50,000 Airmen have graduated from Keesler and have joined the Air Force ranks.

The husband-and-wife team also led massive reconstruction efforts around the base as part of Operation Dragon Comeback, resulting in new family housing, a family birth center and countless other facilities around the base. Also, about 190,000 new plants, including about 700 trees, were replanted as the Keesler landscape was whipped away by the storm.

The Capasso's leadership didn't end at the base gate, either. Under their leadership, more than 600 humanitarian missions were performed along the Gulf coast during the first year after the storm, from rescue operations to clean-up.

"The communities down there depend on Keesler," said General Capasso. "They looked to us to help get them through the disaster."

He said he and his wife are humbled by the award, and give a lot of credit to the Keesler Airmen and their families.

"Katrina was one for the record books," he said. "So is Keesler's comeback."

The award is named after General O'Malley and his wife, Diane, who were killed in a 1985 aircraft crash while en route to a Boy Scout fund-raising banquet in Scranton, Pa. The couple was known for their leadership and contributions to Air Force families and communities.

The award was presented to the Capassos by Air Force Vice Chief of Staff Lt. Gen. Frank Klotz at the Pentagon. 

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