COMMENTARY>>Returning to the Herk legacy

By Col. Mike Minihan
19th Airlift Wing commander

My name is Mike Minihan. I’m an Airman and a Herk driver. My bride, Ashley, and my three kids, Adair, Mikey and Marley, are honored to once again call Little Rock Air Force Base home. Thank you all for our phenomenal reception and change of command. A special thanks to the Otey family for their leadership and sacrifice as Black Knight Lead ... Godspeed in the next chapter of their Air Force journey.

I’ll frequently share my thoughts with you in the Combat Airlifter ... I will always be brief and to the point. Here we go:
To live in and be a part of the award-winning Jacksonville community is a privilege. To lead the Black Knight operators, maintainers, supporters and medics is also a privilege. And to partner with the 314th Airlift Wing and the 189th Airlift Wing is a privilege.

To employ the Herk in combat and support Airmen, Soldiers, Sailors, Marines and Coast Guardsmen in harm’s way is an honor. We bring honor to all of our patches ... our flag, our command, our unit and our name.

We walk in the footsteps of giants. Our Tac Airlift founding fathers instilled in us our famous mindset and mission-hacking skills. We will further them.

We are blue collar airlift. We sweat and we rumble. We are wonderfully ugly. We deliver ... always.

We walk with quiet confidence and dominate. We work hard, play hard and, most importantly, we take care of each other.

Thanks, Team Little Rock. I look forward to meeting you all and personally thanking you for your service and sacrifices. You are America’s best.