Goodfellow comes to chamber of commerce luncheon Published March 20, 2014 By Airman 1st Class Devin Boyer 17th Training Wing Public Affairs SAN ANGELO, Texas -- The Chamber of Commerce honored a Goodfellow service member and received a brief from the 17th Training Wing commander at the luncheon held at the Cactus Hotel March 11. Col. Kimberlee Joos, 17th TRW Commander, Chief Master Sgt. Thomas Good, 17th TRW Command Chief, Marine Corps Maj. Devin Rullman, Marine Corps Detachment Commanding Officer, and this year's Order of Merit recipient gathered with people from different businesses and organizations during the luncheon. Retired Col. Charles Powell, former 17th Training Wing Commander, presented the Order of Merit award to Marine Corps Staff Sgt. DeWayne Meats Jr., Marine Corps Detachment and Louis F. Garland DOD Fire Academy Crash Fire Rescue instructor for his outstanding service to the community and country. "It's important for the business people in the community to understand and recognize how much volunteer support we get from Goodfellow ... the award winner is always someone who is very locally involved in the community," said Phil Neighbors, Chamber of Commerce president. Meats has volunteered for over 450 hours in support of nine local and national non-profit organizations, but he doesn't like to brag about it. "I am not anyone special," said Meats. "I just give back to the community like I saw people do when I was growing up. I grew up very poor in the inner-city of Long Beach, Calif., and if it were not for volunteers, I would not have been able to have the experiences I have had, which molded me into the man I am today." In addition to the Order of Merit award, Joos informed attendees about the history of Goodfellow and discussed current and future projects for the base. "Some of the projects that are in the works include utilities infrastructure upgrades, classroom restructuring and lighting improvements to enhance safety for personnel," said Joos. "Intel campus upgrades are also in the works, which will result in state-of-the-art classrooms that significantly increase the student capacity and extend the lifespan of the buildings by 20 years." Joos also discussed what Goodfellow plans to do for the future in order to keep the students and staff here safe. "Two live-fire structural burn trainers currently impose safety problems due to costly chronic corrosion on the steel frame structures," explained Joos. "Our plan is to replace these steel frame structures over the next few years, so we can properly train and certify DOD firefighters in a safer environment." During the luncheon, the Chamber of Commerce gave attendees the opportunity to hear and see what goes on at the base. "I get to work with Goodfellow a lot in my role with the chamber, but for the majority of business people, they have very little exposure to what goes on training wise and day-to-day at the base," said Neighbors. "It's a great opportunity for them to have heard from [Joos] today, not only the history, but the current impact and future plans ... it was an outstanding presentation to the community." The luncheon was an opportunity for the community of San Angelo to better understand and support what goes on at Goodfellow. "For us locally, Goodfellow is the largest employer in the community and the area, so it helps us all to know how to better support what's going on at Goodfellow and what might happen in the future," added Neighbors. The Chamber of Commerce and Goodfellow leadership meet on a regular basis. San Angelo leadership, along with Goodfellow, will meet March 25 to continue discussing the Air Force wide community initiative partnership.
