Group photo of the 52 MXS Squadron at Spangdahlem after they completed their Earth Day project (Katie Wells)
Earth Day was a gorgeous, sunny day for a community service event held by the 52 MXS Squadron. As I walked up to the site where volunteers were planting trees, the sound of shovels hitting the dirt, drilling and laughter carried on the cool breeze. The group planted three new maple saplings native to Germany, and built a memorial bench on a plot of land between the 52 MXS Squadron building and TLA housing for the community to enjoy.
The area used to have a building from the 1950s when the base was first built. Last year, the building was torn down due to asbestos, and when the 52 MSX squadron found out nothing would be allowed to be rebuilt there, they had the great idea to beautify the unused space.
The 52 MXS Squadron work together to secure a maple sappling into the freshly dug dirt. (Katie Wells)
Part of the intention was to create a space,
“where someone can come sit on a bench, get under a tree, get out of their shop… It’s like a wellness park, is what we’re intending it for.”
— Rachael Kohlwey
The squadron has accomplished many projects throughout the last 10 years, including providing resources and aid to towns in the surrounding area when floods hit, creating a community garden near housing, bringing homemade cookies and singing Christmas carols to a retirement home in Bitburg, as well as hosting toy drives for orphanages and women’s shelters.
I chatted first with Senior Airman, Hailey Rinckey. She informed me that “To get our trees in the soil, we did two fundraisers, one was a bake sale. We had banana bread, brownies and different kinds of cookies. We opened that up to the props flight, so without them, it wouldn’t have been possible. And then we did a rage room. The thrift store donated a bunch of glass, plastic, we used some of the old furniture from our squadron building, and yeah, some of the guys could come down and smash some stuff. It was a lot of fun!”
The bench and trees are for the entire community to enjoy. Rinckey said, “We wanted to create a space where people could just come and gather, and just kind of have a mental reset or to enjoy outside. We see a lot of buildings and airplanes all day, so coming out, being able to sit where there’s grass and trees, we thought would be nice.”
She also told me that the area is meant to “memorialize the maintainers and what we do on a day-to-day basis.” An inscription will accompany the bench soon.
The inscription for the memorial bench written by Major James Hedgpeth (Rachael Kohlwey)
Next, I spoke with Lt. Marcus Lonn. I asked him what brought the group together and made them want to volunteer and start doing these types of community projects.
He responded thoughtfully,
“I think, especially being overseas and trying to get involved with the community, just saying hey, we’re here to support you guys, we want to help and be here doing these things. To show that we’re not just here to do our job, but we’re here to actively improve the community while we’re here.”
For him, the inspiration for the project was “not just giving back to the community, but also to the base. This area used to have a building here, so just making the base more friendly to the environment. It’s also Earth Day, so combining the two, we want to give back to the earth, we want to give back to the base, it’s our space, we got the okay to do this, so why not put something here that can be a long-lasting item for the base to utilize?”
The 52 MXS Squadron plant three maple trees across a grass area that used to be a building at Spangdahlem (Katie Wells)
Lonn also highlighted the different events the squadron is involved in to raise money. They often join larger events on base and sell popcorn, have bake sales, sell dirty sodas like Coke with orange cream (which is his personal favorite), and of course, the rage room. He said, “We try doing things that a lot of people can attend.”
By this time, most of the work was complete, and Rachael Kohlwey, the spearhead of the project, invited me to sit on the bench with her. Throughout her career, Rachael has made it part of her mission to bring the squadron together via volunteering and community service. She told me in more depth about the 52 MXS Squadron, what they do, her involvement and her time working there.
Rachael said her role is as civil servant and that she is Program Manager for vehicle control, facilities, safety, hazmat, waste management (and I got the impression, way more). She also teaches the Airmen how to operate the equipment, and does the licensing and, the community service organization for the flight and squadron. She is retiring this year and seems incredibly proud of the trees planted, stating “this is my last big impact.”
SrA. Hailey Rinckey and Rachael Kohlwey sitting on the 52 MXS Squadron’s memorial bench at Spangdahlem (Katie Wells)
She gestured out to the group still tidying up and putting on finishing touches,
“These guys are all maintainers, the MXS, their arsenal goal is to build and maintain the F-16s that do the work for the Air Force. So, these guys, all day long, they have to be very precise and very careful. It’s a high-stress job because you’re under a lot of pressure and you’ve got deadlines to make.”
Events like the fundraisers, especially the rage room, help the Airmen relieve stress. For the third year in a row, the squadron has earned the title of the “Number One Component Repair Facility in the United States.” They produce more engines for the F-16s than any other engine shop in the U.S. Air Force.
A few of the Airmen from 52 MXS Squadron pose for a picture around one of the maple trees they have been planting (Katie Wells)
Rachael reflected on a time when an Airman asked: “Why are we doing this?” She had two answers.
“Most of the time, if we didn’t do these community service projects, these kids [Airmen] sit in their barracks and never leave base. So, they don’t get to go out into the community and meet other people. It also helps them improve the Germans’ view of the Americans when we do stuff like this. To show we’re not just here to steal their resources and impose upon their culture. So that’s why I think it’s important for them to do it. I hope that when I am gone, someone else follows in my footsteps because we have been doing it for 10 years. I know they have a blast when they do it, but it is a lot of work, a lot of work.”
She believes
“everyone should give back, no matter if you’re a slick wing Airman who just came in, we’re blessed. We have food on the table, a roof over our head, free medical—we’re taken care of. You’re learning a skill, you’re learning a job, and no matter how poor you are in your bank account, you’re living a charmed life, and I want them to understand that yes, the military at times sucks badly, but the alternative is homeless, jobless, starving. You’re charmed, you can go to the hospital if you’re sick, it’s paid for—that’s not everybody in this world…”
She went on to discuss how each year, when the squadron does toy drives at Christmas for the orphanages in the surrounding area and the women’s shelters in Trier and Bitburg, the kids put practicalities on their lists like shoes, clothes, and bedsheets, rather than toys, “for a lot of the airmen, it’s the first time they’ve been exposed to these things. Like today, it’s the first time some of the young airmen have ever dug in the dirt. The community projects bring them together, they can joke, cut up and laugh together.”
She highlighted how great her team is and mentioned how supportive their natural resources officer, Astrid Walerius, has been, particularly on this project. She said, “only through her guidance and dedication were we able to get the project going.”
The 52 MXS Squadron puts the final touches on their memorial bench and planted trees at Spangdahlem (Katie Wells )
Rachael let me in on one last little secret. “We also planted flower bulbs all around base,” she grinned, “we didn’t tell anyone. Astrid thought it was a great idea that helps the bees, which helps the pollination.”
The group hasn’t officially decided on their next community project, but they believe it will be planned around Memorial Day or Fourth of July. Rachael said, “Last year we did a BBQ for the Fourth of July for a retirement home in Bitburg, and they loved it. They begged us to come back, so we might do that because it was just so much fun.”
While having the honor of being among the first people to sit on the new bench, Rachael and I gazed out at the freshly planted trees. The group intentionally spaced them out between a few pink cherry blossom trees closer to the parking lot. It wasn’t hard to envision how beautiful the view will be year-round with the pink blossoms of the cherry tree in the spring and the golden-hued leaves of the maples in the fall.
Group photo of the 52 MXS Squadron at Spangdahlem after they completed their Earth Day project (Katie Wells)
