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Gates pins on eagles

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Andrew Crawford
  • 434th ARW Public Affairs
GRISSOM AIR RESERVE BASE, Ind. --  Airmen and family members filled Gus Grissom Hall to witness a long-standing tradition as one of Grissom's own was pinned with an eagle.

Col. Hiram P. Gates III, 434th Air Refueling Wing vice commander, was recently promoted to the rank of colonel in front of family, friends and peers during a pin-on ceremony held here recently.

Col. Doug Schwartz, 434th Air Refueling Wing commander, presided over the ceremony thanking the newly promoted colonel for his military service and dedication to the Air Force.

"I am so excited for Colonel Gates promotion today," said Schwartz. "The wing will be lucky to have him."

Gates thanked everyone that was in attendance and mentioned that his success was partially owed to his friends and family who supported him along the way.

The history of the prestigious rank of colonel dates back to around 1505, when the Spanish King Ferdinand reorganized part of his army into twenty units called colunelas. These consisted of about 1,000 to 1250 men further organized into companies with their commander being named a coronel.

The French, and later the British, adopted the title, and although initially retaining the original Spanish pronunciation, the British soon used the pronunciation of 'kernel' we're familiar with today.

U.S. military colonels rank above a lieutenant colonel and below a brigadier general. The modern day insignia for a colonel is a silver eagle with a U.S. shield on its chest and holding an olive branch in one talon and a bundle of arrows in the other.

The eagle insignia led to the informal term 'full bird colonel.'

Grissom is home to the 434th Air Refueling Wing, the largest KC-135R Stratotanker unit in the Air Force Reserve Command, as well as three Army Reserve units. Airmen, Soldiers and Marines routinely deploy from Grissom around the world in support of the Department of Defense mission and U.S. strategic objectives.

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Public Affairs Staff

Material contained on the Official Grissom Air Reserve Base Internet Web Site is written and produced by members of the 434th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs Office. The award-winning staff includes:

Ben Mota
Chief, public affairs

Maj. Elias Zani
Public affairs officer

Master Sgt. Wendy Day
Staff writer

Tech. Sgt. Alexa Culbert
Staff writer

Senior Airman Elise Faurote
Staff writer

Senior Airman Benjamin Cowles
Staff writer