Whiteman celebrates 20th Anniversary Gala

  • Published
  • By Capt. John Severns
  • 509th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
WHITEMAN AIR FORCE BASE, Mo. --  Members of Team Whiteman, the 509th Bomb Wing, the 131st Bomb Wing, Northrop-Grumman Corporation, and guests across the country gathered here Sept. 28 to celebrate the 20th anniversary of the arrival of the first B-2 Spirit stealth bomber.

The Year of the B-2 Gala celebrated the day 20 years ago, on Dec. 17, 1993, when the Spirit of Missouri touched down at Whiteman Air Force Base and was delivered to the 509th BW. Over the next several years, the rest of the B-2 fleet arrived at Whiteman and was put to work defending America with its dual missions of strategic deterrence and global strike.

The event also celebrated the Air Force's 66th Birthday.

Retired Lt. Gen. Ron Marcotte, who commanded the 509th as a brigadier general in 1993 and received the first B-2, attended the Gala as the keynote speaker and reminisced about the experience of preparing a new wing for a revolutionary aircraft.

Getting Whiteman ready for the arrival of the B-2 required millions of dollars in construction, and saw the base's purpose shift from supporting a missile wing to a bomber wing. The airfield, which was used only intermittently during the 351st Missile Wing's tenancy, had to be ready to support the world's most sophisticated and advanced weapon system.

All of this was possible through the hard work of a team of dedicated Airmen, the general said.

General William Fraser III, commander of U.S. Transportation Command and a former B-2 pilot and 509th BW vice wing commander, was also present, as were nearly a dozen other previous 509th commanders and vice commanders.

Former Congressman Ike Skelton spoke briefly toward the end of the program. It was Mr. Skelton who announced, back in 1988, that the Advanced Technology Bomber, as the B-2 was then known, would be based at Whiteman AFB.

Being able to see Team Whiteman develop from those humble beginnings into the bomber force that celebrated 20 years of success was a tremendous gift, Skelton said.

Among the 500-some attendees were members of the Gala Committee, who dedicated countless hours as volunteers transforming Bldg. 52, an old aircraft hangar, into the formal ballroom used for the event.