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Longhorn Flight 38 The Daedalian General Membership Meeting was held at the Crowne Plaza Hotel in North Austin on Thursday, 08 April 2010. It was a dinner meeting with coat and tie that began at 1830 Hours. The Hotel provided a Cash Bar. At 1915 Hour's, after the cocktail period, Colonel Mike Rhodes, Provost Marshall, requested all members and guest to please be seated. Colonel Dan Waddle called the meeting to order. His first order of business was to welcome the few ladies who accompanied their husbands or friends. In order to achieve maximum attendance and to assist members who may need their wives or girl friends to drive or assist them to our meetings or just to hear certain speakers, Flight 38 has adopted a policy of welcoming the ladies. This was our first attempt to pre-seat these couples together and it seemed to work fine. The invocation was given by a new Daedalian, Lt. Col. JR Howard, and the Flight Captain led the pledge of allegiance. The Flight toasted departed Brother and Sister Daedalians and the Commander-in-Chief, the President of the United States. The Flight Captain thanked all members and guest for coming to the meeting and he called on members to introduce their guest going from table to table. He told us that our Speaker, sitting at the head table would be introduced later. A list of guest follows:
Honored Guests were toasted. The Flight Captain requested everyone to be seated and to enjoy their dinner. The entrées for dinner were Homemade Chicken Cordon Bleu and Slow Roasted Prime Rib with Au Jus and Horseradish Sauce. Each entrée was accompanied by roasted new potatoes and a medley of fresh vegetables. There was a very nice salad; chocolate cake with ice cream and coffee was served later. The Flight Captain temporarily adjourned the meeting for a 10-minute break. Colonel Dan Waddle reconvened the meeting and called on the Adjutant to read the Minutes of the last meeting. A motion was made to accept the Minutes as written. The motion was seconded and approved by the members. At this time the Flight Captain called on two new members to be inducted into the Order of Daedalians, They were Lt. Col. JR Howard and Lt. Col. Billy Trimble. The Flight Captain reviewed the tenets of the Order of Daedalians, such as to place nation above self, to be worthy of the trust and confidence of fellow Daedalians, before administering the oath. The new Daedalians were toasted and they were congratulated by other members. There were three raffle drawings with the profits going to our Scholarship Fund. Ticket sales were $180 less cost of prizes. . The Flight Captain requested Lt. Gen. Brett Dula to introduce the Speaker, Dr. Hans Mark, who is also a "Friend of the Flight" member of Longhorn Flight 38. Dr. Mark has so many titles and has had such a distinguished career it was a challenge for General Dula to cover them all. He was the 13th Secretary of the Air Force; Chancellor of the University of Texas System; NASA's Deputy Director; Director of the National Reconnaissance Office to name his major assignments. The introduction ended with a statement that Dr. Mark is still teaching a course at the University of Texas. Dr. Mark's subject was the Airborne Laser that he helped to develop. Using an overhead projector, he gave us the same briefing he gave at the Air War College several years ago. He started with the early history of the Laser giving credit to the scientist who advanced the technology. Step by step he walked us through the problems and solutions of installing a powerful Laser in a transport aircraft that was capable of destroying air to air and ground to air missiles. At the present time there is only one fully equipped airborne Laser Weapon System and one other partially equipped. The test results were highly successful with five missiles destroyed out of five fired, but ranges and some other capabilities are still classified. Dr. Mark emphasized that Lasers on the ground are ineffective because they rapidly lose their power penetrating the atmosphere. The Flight Captain thanked Dr. Mark for his interesting presentation and Dr. Mark was toasted by the members and guest. A motion was made to adjourn and the Flight Captain closed the meeting at 2120 Hours.
FUTURE MEETINGS
Cecil H. Rigsby Colonel, USAF (Ret) Adjutant |