17th Training Wing Public Affairs

By Senior Airman Abbey Rieves

GOODFELLOW AIR FORCE BASE, Texas—The 17th Training Wing opened its base to the community for the 40th year of Santa’s Market, at the Louis F. Garland Department of Defense Fire Academy, Nov. 19.

Originating as a small holiday craft market for training students on base, Santa’s Market has grown into a large-scale community experience with over 100 vendors and thousands of military and community attendees.

“This is our 40th Santa’s Market and first year back since COVID,” said 17th Force Support Squadron Arts and Crafts Director, Beverly Wildes. “Santa’s Market is a great opportunity to partner with our community and give them a little peak into Goodfellow Air Force Base.”

As one of the 12 installations in Air Education and Training Command, Goodfellow has trained over 18,000 pilots, 60,000 firefighters, and 360,000 intelligence, surveillance, and reconnaissance warriors, who serve missions globally.

“This is a really special event,” said Col. Matthew Reilman, 17th Training Wing commander. “We want the community out here and to continue our fantastic partnerships. We are happy to open the base and invite the community on to interact with the military.”