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President: Brig. Gen. Karen Rankin, USAF Ret. July 2003 Greetings! Hot enough for you? I’m usually making smart remarks about someone suffering from the cold when I write these items but, and I am not complaining, summer in San Antonio has been wonderful and NOT very hot. We have yet to suffer our first 100+ day for which I am grateful. Of course, we still have humidity. What we don’t have is rain! Some came with Hurricane Claudette along with some winds but we are still about 10 inches below what we could use. I imagine those of you in the Northeast would be pleased to send some of your rain to us. Having beaten the horse of weather, what I am really getting at is November. Carol Habgood and Wanda Seals as cochairs are doing a wonderful job preparing for our 2003 Reunion and Convention. We are so fortunate to have the Adam’s Mark as our hotel. Their location is perfect and the folks there have been very accommodating. If you have not yet made your reservation, please do so. Carol’s Reunion Update will give you the details. I know that there are many of you out there who are fully computer literate and do a great deal of business and pleasure on the Internet. How many of you have gone to our website www.afwoa.org? Our web mistress, Linda Allen, is doing a great job. She is incredibly knowledgeable and interested in presenting AFWOA in a good light. Linda recently linked AFWOA to the WIMSA website which will give us much needed visibility. You know, we never have achieved our 2000 Goal of 2000 members. Internet links are an excellent way to achieve that goal. Our active duty members and potential members use the web the way many of us use the telephone, the library, the encyclopedia, the mall and all other information sources. I have heard that folks have gone looking for women’s military-connected groups but could not find us. No more! Take the time to visit Sad news now…we heard yesterday that Major General Norma Brown died while on vacation in Wyoming. Her daughter Bunny told us that she became ill and died relatively quickly of a pulmonary embolism. Services were held in San Antonio, with private burial to be arranged later. Those of you who knew Norma, recall what a vibrant force she was in the growth years of women in the Air Force. Her strength and skills were recognized at a time when many women were overlooked. Mary Turner wrote a wonderful tribute which is included in this newsletter. Send a card to her family at the address in our Directory. My meeting with Secretary Roche that I mentioned in my last letter was very interesting. He was very interested in our organization and was willing to share his thoughts on the recurring USAF Academy issues. I am pleased that we had the opportunity to present AFWOA to Secretary Roche. Enough
from me! I am looking forward
to seeing all of you in November in San
Antonio. Please join us. Karen  Tribute to Norma Elaine Brown Feb. 11, 1926 - July 22, 2003 by Mary Turner Norma Brown was many things to many people: she was Brownie to this community, Elaine to her family members, Norma to her military associates, and General to a vast number of airmen and officers. She was proud to be a sharecropper’s daughter, and to have grown up in a loving family. She loved her children and grandchildren, her parents, her sisters, her cousins, and nieces and nephews. She gave fully of herself to all of them. One of her cousins once remarked that all the cousins were close, but that probably each of them was closer to Elaine than to any other. It was the same in this community where many called her best friend. She loved Florida State University and participated in many of the alumni events. She was particularly proud to have been a 4F member, meaning that she lettered in all four women’s sports She loved the Air Force. You could say that the Air Force suited her, and she suited the Air Force. From the very beginning to the end she excelled, and she had a great time doing it. She had many good memories: as a young lieutenant she was chosen to escort Cardinal Spellman to all the northern tier Air Force units for Christmas services; As a captain she led her squadron of women through the snow in parade down Pennsylvania avenue for the inauguration of President John Kennedy; while on exchange duty in England she was invited to the Queen’s birthday reception and ended up in the garden drinking beer and telling jokes with Prince Phillip. During her 32 years in the Air Force, she got to fly in almost every aircraft in the inventory. She loved flying in jets and she loved adventure. When invited by the Navy to visit, she flew in a COD aircraft and landed on a carrier underway in the Atlantic. She loved it all.She liked doing things that were adventurous and different. She drove a big tractor in a tractor pull in Illinois. She drove an M-1 tank in an Army exercise. (she drove it into the ditch.) She drove a big fire truck and tried to master the art of handling the hoses at the fire school at Chanute. She tried everything. Enjoyed everything. But if you asked her what she had enjoyed most in life she would have said “the people, and especially the young people.” She loved talking with a group of young airmen just starting out in the military; Or a group of young women considering the military; Or a group of junior officers seeking advice about their careers; Or a group of NCO Academy graduates; and on and on. She loved people more than anything. In the last few years Norma suffered a lot of illness but she bore up under it all. She lost some of her spunk, but she was still adventurous. At the time of her death we were off on a month long tour of the west, looking for cowboys, having fun, living it up, and she exaggerating everything she saw. She never stopped loving life. And she never stopped loving people, the Air Force, Florida State, her family and friends, and the Lord.
NOTE: Norma was a member of the AFWOA Board of Directors from 1991 - 1996. ==============================
<> 2003 Conference/Reunion: Included with this newsletter is information about our November 7-9 gathering, along with the registration form. The information and registration form will also be on our website. It promises to be another fun-filled gathering. Come early and participate in the city’s Celebration of America’s Military. . .and join us in our Conference/Reunion. In case you’re wondering why the name change, we expanded our venue to meet Air Force requirements for our active duty ladies to use Permissive TDY to attend. <> AFWOA Web Site. . . . . . . . Linda AllenRecent changes to our website (http://www.afwoa.org) include a new calendar page and the addition of news items and alerts on the home page.
Our
webmaster can be reached at LMAXX@attglobal.net
or Webmaster@afwoa.org. <> AFWOA-sponsored awards: The 2003 recipient of the USAF Academy Col. Geraldine May Outstanding Swimmer Award (Woman) is Cadet Second Class Jessica Williams. Jessica says that she has been diving for 14 years, and this is the most recognition she has received. The 2003 AFROTC Major General Jeanne M. Holm awards for Leadership Excellence were presented to:
<> 2003 Directory in the Mail: The directory was mailing in June to those whose dues we received. If you didn’t get one, we don’t have a record of receiving your dues. Or, if you paid your dues, it was lost in the mail. (This happened with several people.) For more information, contact us at our post office box or email Carol Habgood at chabgood@world-net.net. <> News About Our Members
<> Blue Yonder We regret to inform you of the death of the following members:
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Join
Us for the 4th Annual Oct 1, Austin Convention Center Come join more than 4,500 women as they convene in Austin at the Fourth annual Texas Conference for Women. Hosted by Governor Rick Perry and First Lady Anita Perry, the one day event provides a forum for some of our country's rising female stars in the fields of international and national politics, health, media, business, finance and personal development to share their wisdom with thousands of Texas women. Among the impressive keynote speakers attending this year's conference are Karen Hughes, a key advisor to President Bush, and Cokie Roberts, the chief congressional analyst and a political commentator for ABC News. Hughes, often described as one of the most powerful women ever to serve in the White House, will provide an insider's perspective on how our leadership has dealt with a rapidly changing world. Cokie Roberts is part of a multigenerational trio of successful women in her family who will participate in the conference. She will be joined by her mother Lindy Boggs, a former Louisiana congresswoman, and her daughter Rebecca Roberts, a technology reporter for Public Radio International. In an effort to expand our mission, this year the Texas Conference for Women will begin awarding financial scholarships to four eligible Texas women currently enrolled in or planning to attend a Texas institution of higher education. The $5,000 scholarships will be awarded in each of the following career categories: business; education; health care; and math, science and technology. The scholarships, co-sponsored by State Farm Bank, will help to partially fund the academic pursuits of women striving towards professional excellence. For a complete list of speakers, seminar topics, and a schedule of conference events, please visit www.TXConferenceforWomen.org. Online registration is currently available. |