JBER 'port dawgs' host annual memorial 5K

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Valerie Monroy
  • JBER Public Affairs
JOINT BASE ELMENDORF-RICHARDSON, Alaska --  Air Transportation Airmen from Joint Base Elmendorf-Richardson participated in an annual Port Dawg Memorial 5K run, May 20, 2016.

The 5K was hosted to celebrate National Defense Transportation Day and to honor fallen Port Dawgs, said Air Force Staff Sgt. Tyler Siebrass, 732nd Air Mobility Squadron capability forecaster.

Aerial port Airmen provide cargo and passengers services around the world to provide movement and transportation. Their work ethic and time spent in aerial ports leads to the port dawg term.

"Every year, aerial ports, Department of Defense-wide, put on Port Dawg Memorial runs to help remember our fallen port dawgs from the past year," he said. "It always important to find a way for people to remember their friends; this run is a way for us to look out for one another and be supportive."

Before beginning the run, the Airmen and families gathered to listen to Chief Master Sgt. Dwight Tucker, 732nd AMS, as he read the names of the five fallen Airmen.

The Airmen remembered were: Staff Sgt. Nicholas Santandrea, 728th AMS, Incirlik, Turkey, Staff Sgt. Michael Proud, 728th AMS, Incirlik, Turkey, Staff Sgt. Isaac Gervasio, 71st Aerial Port Squadron, Langley, Virginia, Tech. Sgt. Tina Walker, 73rd APS Fort Worth, Texas, and Senior Airman Tyler Foster, 123d Contingency Response Group, Louisville, Kentucky.

"Port dawgs get their nickname from working tirelessly around the clock no matter what the weather," Siebrass said. "We are on the flight line making sure the warfighter down-range is getting the supplies they need to fight the fight."