Tell Us How to Spend It

  • Published
  • By Chief Master Sgt. Herb Hanson
  • 43rd Airlift Wing command chief
On the final day of the Match-up competition, Pope surged into the lead but couldn't quite hold on to the No. 1 slot. We ended the day at No. 2, just 2/5 of a percentage point out of first place. This was an amazing accomplishment considering we hovered between fourth and sixth place for most of the competition. We registered more than 7,000 entrants from a base of 5,400 and earned $22,500 for quality of life programs or projects. 

I have to say, however, I was not surprised at our tremendous sprint down the back stretch. The reason is simple: We hate to lose. Over the past two years we've experienced a level of success that is the envy of most...the 43rd Airlift Wing, 23rd Fighter Group and 21st Special Tactics Squadron all earned "excellent" ratings on Operational Readiness Inspections, the 18th Air Support Operations Group earned an "excellent" rating on their Unit Compliance Inspection, we won the Air Mobility Command Commander in Chief Installation Excellence Award for 2005, along with the 2005 Match-up competition. Team Pope also captured 21 AF-level awards and 59 command-level awards in 2005 alone; we've grown very accustomed to tasting the fruits of victory. 

Last year, after winning Match-up and the AMC IEA, we asked you how to spend the $130,000 we earned. As you may remember, we gave $10,000 to the library so they could update their books and recordings, provided $35,000 to the new Airmen's Center, gave $5,000 to purchase items for the kids playroom at the fitness center, bought over $115,000 worth of aerobic equipment, spent $91,000 to pave the parking lot between the fitness center and the bowling alley, and more. In fact, the $130,000 you earned for Pope got you more than $1.1 million in quality of life projects because you had GREAT ideas...we call this Pope math. 

Now it's your turn to tell the commander how to spend the $22,500 we will get for Match-up. E-mail your suggestions to 43aw.ccx@pope.af.mil. 

Thank you for making Pope the PRIDE of Air Mobility Command and the United States Air Force.