A half-century of service: F-15 to be honored next week

ROBINS AIR FORCE BASE, Ga. — On July 27, 1972, Irving L. Burrows — McConnell Douglas chief experimental test pilot — flew the prototype YF-15A-1-MC Eagle for the first time at Edwards Air Force Base in California. This past Wednesday marked a half-century of the F-15 and its use in the U.S. Air Force and among various foreign partners.

In light of the occasion, the F-15 Division at Robins Air Force Base will be hosting a 50th anniversary celebration of the first flight of the F-15 on Friday, August 5, from 11 a.m. to 3 p.m. inside the Century of Flight Hangar.

Randi Jean Dees, F-15 legacy program manager and event coordinator, spoke with The Journal on Thursday about the history of the aircraft and what the celebration will have to offer for those attending.

“[The F-15] has been going at such a great rate and doing very good for the U.S. and defense, the fact that we’ve hit 50 years and we’re developing and about to produce a brand-new aircraft — the EX — just goes to show how much people want to appreciate the aircraft and what it does, and two, [it shows] how well it’s actually doing what it’s going to do in the future,” Dees said. “An example is, you see a lot of aircraft come out, and they don’t last as long as the F-15. But the F-15 is still here, and we’re still being able to develop more and encompass more missions utilizing the F-15 than what we originally thought we were going to do.”

She elaborated on what happens at Robins involving the aircraft.

“We can fix the aircraft here, we can develop newer, modernized aircraft here and we can actually modify and also fly it from here, which is amazing,” she added.

At the event, three food trucks and one shaved ice truck (Orleans on Wheels, Salsa’s Mexican Grill, King’s Qui & More, Shiver Shack Shave Ice) along with ABC Catering will be available from 11 a.m. until 2 p.m.

Ret. Brig. Gen. James Sehorn will be speaking from noon until 1 p.m. with “Reflections, The Best Tour I Ever Served.” The 50th anniversary ceremony will take place from 1 p.m. to 2 p.m.

A cake cutting and social will be offered from 2 p.m. through 3 p.m. Between 11 a.m. and 4 p.m. various activities, a scavenger hunt, coloring and the STEM Academy will be there making paper planes and offering more games.

Also, Dees said there will be 50th anniversary commemorative coins available for sale at the event.

“It’s also a chance for the public to be able to come out and see how many people are actually supporting the F-15 and everything that we do on the base,” she said. “We understand that there’s a lot of people that don’t really realize how much is actually done on this base, so we really are looking forward to inviting the public to come and see the people and everything that we do and ask whatever questions they want to ask for this event. So we’re very excited to have the public and community involved.”

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