433RD HOSTS FORMER FLYERS' MONTHLY LUNCHEON Published April 18, 2013 By Elsa Martinez 433 AW JOINT BASE SAN ANTONIO-LACKLAND -- Forty-two former flyers of the "Alamo Wing" held their monthly alumni luncheon April 16 here at the 433rd Airlift Wing's new headquarters building. The event was hosted by 433rd AW senior leadership. The informal group meets every third Tuesday of the month. The common denominator for all members is their flying heritage which spans the 433rd AW's ever-changing fleet and missions of training and airlift. Larry Bortness was a navigator aboard the C-119 Flying Boxcar and C-130 Hercules in the late 1950s until his retirement in 1961. A regular luncheon attendee, he remarked about the changes within the wing. "A whole lot of new buildings," he said, "and of course, the planes I flew weren't as big." Bill Ghedi, a former C-119 pilot in the early 1960swhen the wing was still located at what is now Brooks City-Base, also noted the numerous facility additions, said he "missed the smell of JP-4 fuel." Perhaps the most interesting reunion was that of former 32nd Aeromedical Evacuation Group (now 433rd Aeromedical Evacuation Squadron) commander Col. Thomas Spruiell, who served with the unit until 1992, and Chief Master Sgt. Rodney Christa, 433rd AES superintendent. Christa recalled the day he turned in his paperwork to Spruiell to leave the squadron and the Air Force Reserve. "I had just arrived at AEG, had gone through my first three drill weekends, and I wasn't happy," Christa recalled. "So I went to Col. Spruiell with my paperwork and told him, 'Sir, here's my paperwork, I'd like to leave.' But he never raised his head to look at me." However, Christa never anticipated Spruiell's eventual reaction. "He threw a baseball at me and said, 'How do you expect to know what you're doing, son, when you haven't even done it yet?'" "Now, 27 years later," Christa mused, "I see where he was right." Spruiell declared proudly, "It took some effort to get him (Christa) motivated, but it was worth it, and I'm so proud of who he has turned into."