Hundreds gather for ACC fundraiser

  • Published
  • By Kathy Gattis
  • AEDC/PA
ARNOLD AIR FORCE BASE, TENN --  
The room was packed with people eager to celebrate AEDC and the contributions made by its highly skilled workforce during this year's Arnold Community Council Banquet held in Manchester. The ACC, a support group for the Complex, drew almost
300 people to their annual fundraiser.

Members of the sponsoring organizations listened as the Tennessee. Economic and Community Development Commissioner, Randy Boyd, talked about AEDC's impact and the role it plays in attracting other high technology businesses to the state and the region.

While the ACC is not officially part of AEDC, members of the council are strong supporters of the world's largest aerospace ground testing complex. Part of the ACC mission is to improve awareness of AEDC and the testing done here. Each year a group of about 20 volunteers travel to Washington, D.C. to meet with elected officials and discuss issues involving AEDC. The group also donates to a variety of causes: the AEDC Veterans Picnic, the annual military award winners, the Honor Flight for veterans, care packages for AEDC's active duty deployed personnel, Franklin County High School's Junior ROTC and the AEDC Children's Christmas Party.

The annual banquet includes a transfer of power with the new officers beginning their terms at the event. Pruda Ross will continue as treasurer; Claude Morse continues as secretary; Brian Skelton becomes the Vice President and Jim Herron is the incoming president.

Outgoing ACC President Jim Jolliffe, USAF Retired, noted one of the group's major
accomplishments is the trip to D.C. which he says was "outstanding."

"We continued building stronger relationships with our community counterparts at both Edwards and Eglin Air Force Bases by attending joint visits (with elected officials) and sharing lessons learned to ensure our strategies benefit and protect the Air Force Test Center and its test assets at all locations," Jolliffe said. "It was a pleasure to have Congressman Diane Black join us on both our Pentagon visit with the Secretary of the Air Force Deborah James and DoD's Dr. Brown and at a variety of venues on Capitol Hill."

Incoming ACC President Jim Herron echoed the importance of the trip to DC.
"We need to continually remind decision makers of the critical role test before flight plays in keeping the United States in the lead technologically. While AEDC continues to test conventional systems and components, AEDC now houses the Air Force Research Laboratory's High Speed Experimentation Branch," Herron said.

Herron vowed the ACC will continue to support the Congressional Range and Test Center Caucus in the coming year. During his term, he plans to press for increased cooperation between AEDC, AFRL, UTSI, local, state and national leaders and industry partners.

Everyone who attended the ACC Banquet received a free membership to the organization. For those who attended, but didn't complete the form, it's not too late. You can still submit your membership information and mail to ACC, PO Box 553, Tullahoma, TN 37355.

Be sure to check out the ACC web site at www.arnoldcommunitycouncil.com.