Hanscom historian captures share of Air Force-level award

  • Published
  • By Mark Wyatt
  • 66th Air Base Group Public Affairs
HANSCOM AIR FORCE BASE, Mass. (AFNS) --  Base historian Randy Bergeron has earned a share of the Dennis F. Casey Award for Excellence in Periodic History in the Albert S. Simpson Category for co-authoring the Air Force Life Cycle Management Center's periodic history last year.

Bergeron was recognized for superior historical services in writing the AFLCMC periodic history along with Dr. Henry Narducci, the center's historian, who works at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio.

"Winning the award has extra special meaning because the award is named after Dr. Dennis Casey, who was my instructor while attending the Unit Historian Development Course at Maxwell Air Force Base, Alabama, in 1984," said Bergeron, who has worked at Hanscom AFB since 2013.

Hanscom's share included unit history on the Battle Management and Command, Control, Communications, Intelligence and Networks Directorates, as well as the 66th Air Base Group and other Hanscom AFB activities.

The award is part of the U.S. Air Force History and Museums Program Awards, and winners were announced by the Air Force History Office in April. The AFLCMC award was in the periodic history category named in honor of Albert S. Simpson, who was the first director of the Air Force Historical Research Agency.

As the installation historian, Bergeron is responsible for documenting and preserving the base's history and the history of other AFLCMC organizations that reside on Hanscom AFB. He also prepares special studies and answers historical queries.

As part of his responsibilities, Bergeron is required each year to produce a narrative report detailing the major programs and operations at the base.

"This award identifies those historians who submitted a periodic history that exceeded standards," Bergeron said. "While the award is given to the authors, credit should also be given to those units that submit information to unit historians to write this history."

The Air Force History and Museums program is responsible for preserving Air Force history. The program is comprised of historians and archivists, writers and editors, national and base museums, and research centers as well as command, base and unit history offices.

Bergeron is a retired master sergeant who spent all but three years of his 23-year active-duty career as a historian. He has served as a civilian in the career field since leaving active duty in 2004.

He is a five-time winner of Air Force-level awards and two-time winner at the major command-level in a variety of categories. He also twice earned special recognition awards for best studies while deployed.

"This is the perfect job for me. I love to research and write and this job allows me to do that," he said. "The Air Force Life Cycle Management Center at Hanscom is doing wonderful things every day, and I'm able to preserve those historical accomplishments in the documents I author."