From Pat’s Pen:

By Pat Murphy

The Board joins Brig. Gen. Wilma Vaught and the Directors of the Women’s Memorial thanking all our members who contributed so generously and proudly to the recognition of Major General Norma E. Brown, USAF (ret.). We have included General Vaught’s letter in this newsletter.

On a separate note, the new Wing Headquarters at Goodfellow Air Force Base, Texas, will be dedicated honoring General Brown later this year. We will advise you of the date when it is set.

We have begun our planning for our reunion in San Antonio, April 21-23, 2006, at the Crowne Plaza Hotel. If you have any comments or suggestions for the weekend activities, please let us know as soon as possible so we can respond to your comments.

We have posted the story on our website of the first woman Thunderbird pilot and proudly salute her accomplishment.

Our congratulations to Lt. General (select) Terry L. Gabreski who becomes the second Air Force woman to be selected for lieutenant general. She will move from Commander, Oklahoma Air Logistics Center to Vice Commander, Air Force Materiel Command, Wright-Patterson AFB, Ohio.

As always, we appreciate your support and comments.

Pat

Reunion 2006

April 21-23

210-354-2800

Ask for Air Force Women Officers Associated special rate

Join us for the annual city party known as Fiesta!

Registration packet to be mailed to all members in October

Our apologies to: Helen O’Day, Washington, D.C., and Betty Ann Patterson-Pope, University Place, Wash. When we published the AFWOA directory and listed our members who have donated to our general fund, we left them off the list. Helen included a special donation in memory of LtCol Katherine Parrish Lewis, USAF, Ret. Helen and Betty Ann have been faithful donors for years. We sincerely apologize for the oversight.

AFROTC Awards: The 2005 Major General Jeanne M. Holm Leadership Excellence Awards were awarded to the following AFROTC cadets:

• AFROTC NE Region: Cadet Melissa A. English, Rochester Institute of Technology, Det 538.

• AFROTC SE Region: Cadet Michel Lopez, Florida State University, Det145.

• AFROTC SW Region: Cadet Aaron G. Kinsey, Texas A&M University, Det 805

• AFROTC NW Region: Cadet Randall D. Todd, Brigham Young University, Det 855.

Reunions: At next year’s reunion, we’ll be exploring some ideas for future reunions. As you know, we’re meeting again in San Antonio due to the financial commitments we were unable to meet with the hotel in 2003. So put on your thinking caps and let us know where you’d like to meet next time. New Orleans? Perhaps on a cruise ship out of Galveston, Texas?

Letters: We’re enclosing two letters with this newsletter. One from Brig. General Wilma Vaught, USAF, Ret., about the Major General Norma E. Brown chair in the memorial theater at the Women’s Memorial. The second letter is from Congressman Bill Young, Fla., in response to our concern about the Federal employees, including retired military, insurance premium conversion.

News From Our Members

Gloria Makowski, Indian Harbour Beach, Fla., left her hurricane-damaged home last year (Hurricane Frances) to visit Prague, Vienna and Budapest. She reports that the most memorable evening was a concert in the large magnificent ballroom in the Schronbrum Palace. While in Europe, Hurricane Jeanne visited Florida and Gloria had to spend a few days on her return trip with good friend Gerry Frehof, Great Falls, Va. When Gloria finally made it home to Florida, she found more damage to her house.

Carol Habgood, San Antonio, Texas, was elected as the 53^rd National President of the Women’s Overseas Service League at its annual convention in June, held in Glendale, Calif.

Betty Ann Paterson-Pope, University Place, Wash., and her husband, John, traveled to China, Vietnam and Cambodia last year. John speaks fluent Chinese and served as a translator in the service. Betty Ann served in Vietnam and wanted to return. They also visited Anghor Watt in Cambodia. This year they plan to take a river cruise in Europe from Amsterdam to Budapest, with a four-day trip to Prague.

Died

We regret to inform you of the deaths of the following AFWOA members: