VIDEO: Air Force Base Looks to Grow Closer With the Community

COLUMBUS, Miss. (WCBI) – The Columbus Air Force Base and leaders from the Golden Triangle met in Columbus as part of the new Air Force Community Partnership.

This program is a nationwide movement to make air force bases more involved in the neighboring areas.

This is the fourth meeting that the Columbus Air Force Community Partnership has had since it’s creation in May. Already, 17 different initiatives have been added to a list that they will use to strengthen the bond with Columbus.

“Really this is just a way for the Air Force in the communities to partner together, share resources where it makes sense to do so, and become more official about how we get things done as partners,” said Columbus Base Commander, Colonel Douglas Gosney.

Air Force bases have been signing onto this partnership program for the last four years.

For the first few meetings, Pentagon representatives come down to make sure the initial steps are taken correctly.

“For the most part, it’s really been to bolster the bond. You know, most communities across the country are really just so supportive of our service members, and I know that Columbus it was especially strong. And so we are just furthering what was already successful,” said Pentagon Air Force Officer, Colonel Timorah Beales.

Of the 17 programs on Columbus’s list, 3 have been signed: a commissary service to local food pantries, chaplain services, and a community garden.

The community support comes as no surprise to Base leaders..

“This is something that Columbus is known for, so some of this is codifying the things we are already doing and have been doing for years. But really this is just another example of our communities working together to strengthen, and it shows the great support that we get at the base from the communities,” said Gosney.

It’s not just in Columbus seeing a smooth transition.

Across the country, over one thousand initiatives have been signed, and the feedback has been overwhelmingly positive.

“I can’t even tell you how wonderful it’s been; it’s really been one of my favorite jobs in the Air Force. Just the little things, the little impacts here and there, have really made such a huge difference to some of our bases and our communities,” said Beales.

This is the last meeting that Pentagon officials will be available here in Columbus. However, should anything happen, they’re only one call away in Washington.