March honors fallen combat control warriors

Published Oct. 26, 2010
By Steve Hoffmann
81st Training Wing Public Affairs

KEESLER AIR FORCE BASE, Miss. -- It's 6:45 a.m. Oct. 19. The sun is just beginning to rise over the Gulf of Mexico as two men approached in the distance on Highway 90 near the Edgewater Mall in Biloxi. They are the first two of 14 marchers, one man for each of the 14 combat controllers who have died in Iraq and Afghanistan since 2001 -- two more than last year.

For the second year in a row, special operations Airmen have walked 860 miles from Lackland Air Force Base, Texas, to Hurlburt Field, Fla. It's a relay of six teams of two or three walkers each who are walking with 50-pound rucksacks on their backs, 24 hours a day across five states to honor the deaths of their comrades. The marchers hope to raise money for the Special Operations Warrior Foundation that gives money to the children of the men who have died as another way to honor them.

The walk is known as the Tim Davis Special Tactics Memorial March and was started last year by Master Sgt. Kenneth Huhman, chief of the combat control selection course at Lackland, to honor Staff Sgt. Tim Davis who was killed in action in 2009.

It also draws attention to the fact that the Air Force does have ground troops that go into harm's way. The two most recent special operations Airmen to lose their lives in the line of duty are Senior Airman Mark Forester and Senior Airman Daniel Sanchez.

The march began on Oct. 9 at Lackland and passed by Keesler Oct. 19. Nearly 130 students from the 81st Training Group were standing along U.S. Highway 90 to cheer on the marchers.

"It's really good for the students to see," said Tech. Sgt. Adam Malson, 334th Training Squadron combat control instructor. "It's important for them to see that there's a whole community that supports them."

Another 60 combat control trainees were present to witness the march.

The path of the march route is symbolic of a trainee's path as they progress through combat control school. Trainees begin at Lackland and end at Hurlburt Field, but spend 15 weeks at
Keesler learning such skills as air traffic control and tactical weather forecasting.

"There's a perception among the students and trainees that being on team and operational is so far away," Sergeant Malson said. "But it really isn't. One of the men who died last year graduated from Keesler in 2007 and was only on team for a year before he was killed. It's an eye opener. It's motivating but at the same time rather humbling."

The names of the men who were killed are engraved on 14 batons, one name on each baton.

"It gets people to think that these are not just random soldiers," said Sergeant Malson. "These were people we knew. For three months, these Airmen called Biloxi home."

In addition to Sergeant Davis and Airmen Forester and Sanchez, the marchers honor Senior Airmen Jason Cunningham and Adam Servais; Staff Sgts. Casey Crate, Juan Ridout and Scott Sather; Tech. Sgts. John Chapman, Scott Duffman and William Jefferson; Master Sgt. William McDaniel and Capts. Derek Argel and Jeremy Fresques.

For more information on the march, visit http://www.wix.com/trifectaconsulting/specialtacticsmemorialmarch.