Program documents art of war

  • Published
  • By Bob Jensen
  • Combined Forces Air Component Commander Public Affairs
OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM (AFPN) --  Four aviation artists spent two days visiting Tallil Air Base in southern Iraq to visually document and experience firsthand bare-base Air Force operations there.

John Witt, Phil Weisgerber, Gregg Thompson and Harley Copic traveled to Southwest Asia to support the Air Force Art Program. Their job involved gathering pictures and information for creating artwork capturing the essence of the Air Force at war during Operation Iraqi Freedom.

Artists volunteer to participate in the program, which pays for their travel expenses but does not provide any compensation for their time or for the artwork they donate to the Air Force.

Upon arriving at the austere air base April 26 aboard a C-130 Hercules, the group stepped out into a surreal landscape of bombed munitions bunkers and twisted hangar frameworks. The backdrop was an orange-grey fog of dust still settling from the previous night’s major sandstorm.

Along the ramp area, Marines from the 15th Marine Expeditionary Unit were sitting in large groups waiting to ship out. The four artists wasted no time getting to work as they walked among the Marines. Talking with them and taking pictures of them and the C-130s taxing on the runway, the artists were immediately immersed in the atmosphere of a frontline base.

For Witt, a native of Yorktown Heights, N.Y., this took him back to 1969 when he went to Vietnam and produced nearly 400 pieces of art for the Marines. Today he's painting for the Air Force.

“There are many artists who are technical artists and those who love airplanes, but my love is drawing and painting people,” said Witt. “So I guess I’m the Air Force’s people artist. I try to include people in every painting.”

A portrait artist with his own business, Witt has been associated with the Air Force Art Program for more than 20 years. He was president of the Society of Illustrators of New York and learned about the program from his membership in that organization.

The artists visited the ramp where long rows the A-10 Thunderbolts from the 407th Air Expeditionary Group were parked. They spread out and started taking pictures of the aircraft and maintenance crews at work. These were reservists deployed from the 442nd Fighter Wing at Whiteman Air Force Base, Mo., who suddenly found themselves models for the artists.

Thompson, who lives in Rancho Santa Margarita, Calif., loves airplanes. This trip was all about that passion.

Connected to the Air Force Art Program for about 14 years, Thompson was introduced to the program through an old high school friend who became an F-15 Eagle pilot.

“I like military aircraft and technology, and the Air Force is the ultimate for that as far as the combination of aviation and technology goes,” said Thompson. “So it’s a give-and-take relationship; the Air Force allows me to be around the aircraft and the experience, and I provide this artwork to them as part of my appreciation.”

Later, after a bus ride over a moonscape of grayish dust, the group stopped at a remote aircraft bone yard. The skeleton frames of wrecked aircraft and helicopters spread for several miles.

It provided a rich creative environment for Weisgerber, a native of Redondo Beach, Calif., who does advertising and marketing illustration. Connected to the program since 1981, he was with the Society of Illustrators of Los Angeles when he found out about the art program.

“It gives you a chance to go to different places and see different things that you wouldn’t normally see,” he said when asked why he volunteered for the program.

“I tried it out and saw how it worked,” he said. “They told me you could paint whatever you wanted. It was a good place to try out experimental art without having an art director say, ‘No that’s not what we want.’ As long as it was in good taste and professionally done it was a chance to try something different.”

The evidence of battle was apparent around the base, although civil engineers and others support units had started turning things around. This included setting up a tent city and building the infrastructure needed to run air operations.

“I really gained a huge respect for the logistics required to run a war by this trip,” said Thompson. “I had no idea the magnitude of the logistical requirements to get these fighting men out here quickly and all the support that’s required. You just don’t think about that from the civilian viewpoint. It’s incredible what they do.”

The group was able to see firsthand all the many different types of skills and career fields it takes to go from a shattered, nearly destroyed air field to one that just weeks later is operating 24 hours a day supporting airlift and close air support missions.

Being in the middle of the hustle and bustle of reconstructing the base, Copic, from Lambertville, Mich., said it just reaffirmed why he has been a participant with the Air Force Art Program for 32 years.

“I do this because I admire the men and women in the Air Force,” said Copic, a newspaper graphic designer.

After spending a night in tent city, the group talked to airmen and wandered around while waiting for their flight out.

“You get ideas for painting everywhere you look because there are just so many things that stand out,” said Weisgerber. “Things that you wouldn’t even imagine, like the guy who was playing a saxophone all by himself up on top of a bunker just sounding off to the weather. It looked like it would make a great painting. Who knows, maybe that’ll be my donation to the art program this year.”

“The might and power of the Air Force is very evident here,” said Witt. “It’s a well -oiled machine. And from what I could see, the reports that we all heard about, the accuracy of the bombing and the people’s happiness about ridding themselves of Saddam seem to be all true.”

During the return flight, the artists spoke more about why they were happy to be a part of the art program.

“I think it’s a privilege to be invited by any military service to record them,” said Witt. “There’s nothing better than to know your works are appreciated. They’ll be exhibited and reproduced and kept for as long as our country exists. And also there’s a spirit of patriotism, we’ve got to give something back. The thrill of doing paintings, completing some new work and bettering yourself as an artist, these are all underlying reasons to do this.”

Together the four have donated nearly 60 pieces of artwork to the Air Force Art Program.

Today, there are approximately 8,800 pieces of art in the collection which are displayed at the Pentagon, the U.S. Air Force Academy, Air University, the Air Force Museum and at Air Force bases worldwide.

For more information on the Air Force Art Program and images of the collection, go to the program Web site at www.afapo.hq.af.mil.