Elmendorf history office named best in Air Force

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Christopher Gross
  • 3rd Wing Public Affairs
ELMENDORF AIR FORCE BASE, Alaska --  The 3rd Wing History Office here was recognized as the best multiperson history office in the Air Force in early May. 

Joe Orr, Doug Beckstead, James Frank and Karen Miller, all 3rd Wing historians, attended the 2009 U.S. Air Force Worldwide History and Museums Program conference at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, where they received the John R. Burton Award. 

The John R. Burton Award is a biennial award that recognizes the best multiperson history office in the Air Force. The award is named after Chief Master Sgt. John R. Burton, who was the first senior enlisted historian for Air Force Systems Command. Later, he was selected as the assistant for enlisted program management, and was responsible for managing Air Force historians worldwide during the mid-1980s. 

All 13 Air Force major commands nominate one single and one multiperson shop for this award. 

What makes Elmendorf's office so unique is that it's in charge of tracking and writing annual histories for the 3rd Wing, 11th Air Force, Alaskan NORAD Region, Alaskan Command, and Joint Task Force-Alaska. Beckstead said that these reports range anywhere from 200 to 500 hundred pages. He himself completed a 375-page history for 11th Air Force. 

Orr said that this is "equivalent to writing a Ph.D. dissertation every year." 

Not only is this office responsible for recording annual histories for the five units, the historians also reply to requests for information from servicemembers and the general public. This year, they've had more than 135 queries, ranging from fourth graders up to four-star generals, that required more than 120 hours of research. Their research dates back to 1867 when the United States bought Alaska from the Russians and established a military government over the territory. 

However, their hard work has paid off. 

"It means a lot to get recognition like this. The people at the very top are noticing what we're doing down in the trenches, and say you're doing a good job," said Beckstead, who has been in the history business for more than 20 years. 

After being recognized on such a high plateau, Beckstead said it gives him and his office more desire to produce the same high-quality work when they are here and when they deploy. Both Beckstead and Orr said they take great pride in deploying right alongside our service men and women. Orr has one civilian deployment behind him, and Beckstead is preparing for his second deployment in August.

"We are the victims of our own success," is how Orr described his office. The more the word gets out about how good of a history office Elmendorf has, the more people will demand from it. "And, we're up to the challenge."