Airmen at Nellis Air Force Base, Nev., woke early Sept. 24 to take part in the Chief Master Sgt. of the Air Force James Binnicker Memorial Run on base!

The 9K/5K memorial run benefits the Air Force Enlisted Village’s assisted living residence memory care wing for military widows with Alzheimer’s and dementia.

The Air Force Enlisted Village is in Shalimar, Fla. Formerly known as the Air Force Enlisted Widows Home Foundation, the village was founded in 1967 after the Air Force Sergeant’s Association conducted a survey and found that more than 50,000 widows of enlisted Airmen were living in poverty. A group of active-duty and retired Air Force noncommissioned officers with the assistance of former Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. John D. Ryan and his wife set about to correct this deficiency. Their goal was to provide a home for surviving spouses of enlisted Air Force members.

The Binnicker Memorial Run is now in its seventh year. The race is named after the ninth chief master sergeant of the Air Force who was also the president and CEO of the Air Force Enlisted Village from 2000 to 2015.

“Thank you to everyone who participated! It was a great day for a run!”