New Edwards commanding officer urges preparation to preserve peace
LANCASTER, Calif., — The new commanding officer at Edwards Air Force Base, Calif., is clear that he is not predicting conflict between the United States and other nations, but taking note from antiquity to Shakespeare, he advises that readiness is all.
Newly promoted Brig. Gen. Douglas P. Wickert, commanding officer of the 412th Test Wing at Edwards took to the podium as keynote speaker at the Veterans Military Ball.
Expressing gratitude for all the veterans in the room, all of whom had served in eras from World War II up to the present moment, Wickert said a debt was owed to all for the service they rendered in defense of American freedoms.
Wickert said, “I want to speak on a serious note.” He added words from antiquity, “If you want peace, prepare for war.”
Wickert arrived at the “Flight Test Center of the Universe,” from a post as permanent professor and head of the Department of Aeronautics at the U.S. Air Force Academy.
He said the mission of the U.S. military is to head off the emergence of rival powers who want to achieve superpower dominance.
He noted that China has become closely aligned with Russia, particularly since Russia’s invasion of Ukraine, and that hostile North Korea is aligned with both.
“I do not think of Chairman Xi as President of China,” Wickert said. “He is Chairman of the Community Party of China.” He added that Xi’s goal is for China to be the dominant superpower in the world.
“We want peace,” he said. “If you want peace, prepare for war.”
Wickert was commissioned in 1995 as a distinguished graduate of the Air Force Academy and has flown more than 40 aircraft.
At the Nov. 2, 2024, event, in a packed ballroom of veterans, supporters and area elected officials gave a standing ovation to a pair of World War II “Greatest Generation” veterans and a brother airman who spent most of his career in with the Strategic Air Command.
The annual Veterans Military Ball hosted by the Coffee4Vets nonprofit at the Hellenic Center opened to a sold-out room of guests who gathered to celebrate service in the week before Veterans Day. Dress for the event was formal wear, gowns, and officers and NCO in “Mess Dress” uniform.
This year’s honorees were veterans of World War II’s Army Air Forces, Lt. Jerry Hodges of the famed Tuskegee Airmen, Lt. Kenneth Johnson, who served with the 15th Air Force in Italy, and retired Air Force Chief Master Sgt. Charles “Chuck” Simmons.
At age 99, Hodges could not attend in person, but sent a video message recounting his service as air crew with B-25 Mitchell medium bombers. At age 100, Kenneth Johnson received a standing ovation, as did Simmons.
Much of Simmons career was as a crew chief serving on B-52 armed nuclear bombers on continuous alert status during the Cold War that lasted from the late 1940s until the Soviet Union dissolved in 1991.
Simmons, 91, served in a squadron led by Col. Paul Tibbetts, command pilot of the Enola Gay that dropped the atomic bomb on Hiroshima to usher in the end of World War II.
“These men are giants,” said Juan Blanco, President of Coffee4Vets and one of the evening’s masters of ceremony. “We are blessed to have them among us.”
Representatives of Squadron 17 of the United Kingdom’s Royal Air Force, Allied partners serving at Edwards, turned out among the hundreds gathered to honor the veterans.
Among those gathering to honor and salute Johnson and Simmons were elected officials and their representatives. The city councils of Palmdale and Lancaster turned out, each with a military veteran serving on the council: Eric Ohlsen, a Palmdale councilman served with the Coast Guard, and Lancaster Councilwoman Lauren Hughes-Leslie, a West Point graduate, served as an Army captain.
Marine Corps veterans in dress blue uniforms presided with Brig. Gen. Wickert and Air Force Col. Ahave Brown in the cutting of the ceremonial cake.
