Stan Unruh – Page 803 – St. Joseph Post Archive

St. Jo native takes over at Rosecrans

Posted on January 5, 2014January 4, 2014

The 139th Airlift Wing hosted a change of command ceremony on Sunday in the fuel cell hanger.

Col. Ralph Schwader, the Wing’s vice commander and a St. Joseph native, is taking command of the 139th Airlift Wing during the ceremony.

Outgoing commander, Col. Michael Pankau, retired after more than 29 years of military service.

“I’m very pleased to have an officer with Col. Schwader’s proven track record of character and experience at the helm of the 139th,” said Maj. Gen. Steve Danner, adjutant general of the Missouri National Guard. “He will build on the great work done by his predecessor and fellow veteran, Col. Michael Pankau.”

Schwader, an experienced C-130 pilot who has flown 6,277 flight hours, said he is ready to take command.

“I am very honored to be selected by Maj. Gen. Danner as the next wing commander of the 139th Airlift Wing,” Schwader said. “Col. Mike Pankau has done an outstanding job leading this organization over the past three years during some significant challenges that included numerous combat deployments of 139th personnel. He leaves the wing secure on a great path for the future. I am very proud to be part of the 139th Airlift Wing and look forward to leading this team of combat-tested men and women veterans into the future.”

Schwader graduated from Central High School in 1981 and Missouri Western State University in 1985 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Economics. The Colonel also earned a Master of Science degree in Aviation Safety from University of Central Missouri.
Colonel Schwader received his commission through the Air National Guard Academy of Military Science, Knoxville, Tennessee in 1987, followed by attendance at USAF Undergraduate Pilot Training, Williams Air Force Base, Phoenix, AZ., C-130 Pilot training, Little Rock Air Force Base, Arkansas. He returned to the 180th Airlift Squadron, Missouri Air National Guard where he performed co-pilot duties aboard the Lockheed C-130.

In 1994, Col Schwader became a full-time technician supporting the 139th Operations Group as a Standardization and Evaluation officer. Over the years he served in positions in Training, Current Ops, Chief of Standardization and Evaluation, Director of Operations, 180th Airlift Squadron Commander and 139th Operations Group Commander before assuming the 139th Airlift Wing Vice Commander position.

Colonel Schwader deployed for DESERT SHIELD and was mobilized for DESERT STORM. He has also served on numerous military tours, operations and deployments, supporting airlift commitments around the world including VOLANT OAK, CORONET OAK, SOUTHERN WATCH, PROVIDE HOPE, PROVIDE COMFORT, JOINT FORGE, UPHOLD DEMOCRACY, and OPERATION NOBLE EAGLE.

The Colonel was activated and deployed numerous times in support of OPERATION IRAQI FREEDOM and OPERATION ENDURING FREEDOM. He served as Commander for the 774th Expeditionary Airlift Squadron, Kharshi-Khanabad Air Base in Uzbekistan, where he integrated numerous C-130 Air National Guard units and an Active Duty squadron into one cohesive war-fighting component. He also served as the Deputy Operations Group Commander, 445th Expeditionary Operations Group, Bagram AB Afghanistan overseeing 8 Squadrons and 1 Flight to include fighters, airlifters, PJs, Marines and ISR assets. Colonel Schwader is a USAF Command Pilot Evaluator with more than 6,000 flight hours in the C130.

EDUCATION
1986 – Bachelor of Science, Agriculture Economics with minors in Agronomy and Animal Science, Missouri Western State University, St. Joseph, MO.
1997 – Squadron Officers School, by correspondence
1999 – Air Command and Staff College, by correspondence
1998 – Masters of Science, Aviation Safety, Central Missouri State University
2004 – Air War College, by correspondence
2009 – Advance Joint Professional Military Education, Joint Forces Staff College, Norfolk VA

ASSIGNMENTS
1. February 1990 – October 1993, C-130 co-pilot, 180th Tactical Airlift Squadron, St. Joseph, Mo.
2. October 1993 – November 1994, Aircraft Commander, 180th Tactical Airlift Squadron, St. Joseph, Mo.
3. November 1994 – December 2001, Stan/Eval officer, 139th Operations Group, St. Joseph, Mo.
4. January 2002 – June 2004, Chief of Stan/Eval, 139th Airlift Group, St. Joseph, Mo.
5. June 2004 – December 2005 Director of Operations, 180th Airlift Squadron, St. Joseph, Mo.
6. December 2005 – May 2006, Commander, 180th Airlift Squadron, St. Joseph, Mo.
7. May 2006 – Aug 2011, Operations Group Commander, 139th Operations Group, St. Joseph, Mo.
8. Aug 2011- Present, Vice Commander, 139th Airlift Wing, St. Joseph, MO

FLIGHT INFORMATION
Rating: Command Pilot
Flight Hours: More than 6000, Combat Hours: 324.3, Combat Support Hours: 175.6
Aircraft Flown: C-130H, C-130E, T-38, T-37

MAJOR AWARDS AND DERCORATIONS
Meritorious Service Medal with two devices
Air Medal with four devices
Aerial Achievement Medal with two devices
Air Force Commendation Medal with one device
Air Force Achievement Medal
Air Force Combat Action Medal
Joint Meritorious Unit Award
Meritorious Unit Award
Air Force Outstanding Unit Award with Valor device and three devices
Combat Readiness Medal with nine devices
National Defense Service Medal with one device
Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal with one device
Southwest Asia Service Medal with three oak devices
Afghanistan Campaign Medal with one device
Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal
Global War on Terrorism Service Medal
Armed Forces Service Medal with one device
Humanitarian Service Medal with one device
Air Force Overseas Ribbon Short with one device
Air Force Expeditionary Service Ribbon with gold border and one device
Air Force Longevity Service Ribbon with four devices
Armed Forces Reserve Service Medal with M device and silver hour glass (ten years of service)
Small Arms Expert Marksmanship Ribbon (pistol)
Air Force Training Ribbon
NATO Medal
Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kingdom of Saudi Arabia)
Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait)
Louisiana Emergency Service Medal
Missouri Commendation Ribbon with one device
Missouri NG Desert Shield/Storm Service Ribbon
Missouri NG Expeditionary Ribbon with one device
Missouri State Emergency Duty Ribbon
Missouri NG Long Service 20 Year Ribbon

EFFECTIVE DATES OF PROMOTION
Second Lieutenant May 19, 1988
First Lieutenant November 3, 1990
Captain April 16, 1993
Major July 3, 1997
Lieutenant Colonel September 2, 2002
Colonel May 6, 2006

The Truth about Small Places

Posted on January 5, 2014January 5, 2014

By Julie Hurst

When our family gathers, it is for three reasons: 1) a birthday, 2) a holiday or 3) a meal. It can be any combination of 1 or 2, but always 3.

And when we gather, we pray. Often my husband Blake’s dad says the grace. He is a man rock-solid in conviction and integrity, a man who eased into flexibility late in life, coincident with the birth of his grandchildren and great grandchildren. But when he closes his eyes to say a blessing, his voice is husky with emotion; when Charlie thanks his Creator for this family, this land, this work, this season of harvest, his gratitude wells up from deep within. The amens around the table, in a cornfield, around the Christmas tree or before fireworks are serious, heartfelt and unanimous.

This is ground zero for our family farm. Blake is a scion of a scion of a man and woman who survived the dirty ’30s without knowing they were survivors. Starting from nothing … again … was not unusual for that generation. Sturdy, stubborn, hard-working but also frugal, clever and forward-thinking, Blake’s grandfather and mother and then father and mother grew their farms and their families with one eye on the future and another on their bank accounts. Experience can be a brutal teacher. Exuberance is not to be trusted. Optimism should be relegated to baseball. Blake and his brothers lived and breathed the family ties: the hierarchy, the expectations, the responsibilities, the fables and stories and oral history of the community, as well as the wet spots, rocky slopes, sandy points and gumbo of the land.

This sort of narrative, as wide as it is deep, is the real reason our country needs small places. I am reminded of this with every turn of the calendar to a new year, every Memorial Day that my neighbors show up for planter boxes of flowers to set out at the county cemeteries. I began my apprenticeship 37 years ago in a bitter cold Christmas season in the dining room of my future in-laws. The conversation was peppered with names resurrected from bygone farms and homesteads, with interjections and clarifications about who married whom, what year they graduated or where they were buried. I learned a mighty lesson that day: Time is a perennial in farm country, dormant perhaps, but long-lived.

This is the truth about small towns, the blasts from a past when what you didn’t raise yourself could be had at the intersection of two lettered roads. The rooted ones, the hangers-on, the folks with mailboxes that match their headstones — these are remnants of our national nature, the institutional repository of knowledge so arcane, it may as well be the Biblical “begats.” We need to know this part of our historical culture still exists, to realize that satellite news, social media, technology micro- and mega- have not completely erased nor replaced the “deep geography” of our rural past.

Julie Hurst, of Westboro, Mo., is a grower at Hurst Greenery and a member of Missouri Farm Bureau, the state’s largest farm organization. Julie’s husband, Blake, is president of Missouri Farm Bureau Federation.

– See more at: http://www.mofb.org/NewsMedia/CuttotheChase.aspx#sthash.Cn4e5ySR.dpuf

Two injured in icy rollover crash

Posted on January 5, 2014January 5, 2014

Two people were injured in a Saturday night rollover crash in Andrew County.

According to the Missouri Highway Patrol twenty-five year old Summer D. Furgeson of Atchison was driving a 2000 Ford Explorer south on US 169, five miles north of St. Joseph on Saturday night when she lost control while negotiating a left curve. The Explorer went off the north side of the road and overturned, coming to rest on the driver’s side. Furgeson and a passenger, Clifford M. Parnham age 56 of Atchison, were transported to Heartland Regional Medical Center. Furgeson was not wearing a seat belt.

Teens injured in Saturday night crash

Posted on January 5, 2014

Three teenagers were hospitalized following a Saturday night crash in Grundy County.

According to the Missouri Highway Patrol Nineteen-year-old Derrick L. Knifong of Meadvile was driving a 1999 Oldsmobile on Route E, six miles north of Laredo in Grundy County on Saturday evening.

The vehicle approached a right hand curve and Knifong lost control of the vehicle. It went into a broad slide, went off the left side of the road and struck a corner post. The vehicle came to rest off the west side of the road facing west.

Knifong and passenger Trevor H. Corzette, age 18 of Meadville and William G. Devaul age 17 of Meadville were transported to Wright Memorial Hospital in Trenton.

Corzette was later transferred to St. Luke’s Hospital in Kansas City. They were not wearing seat belts.

Bitter Cold Weather

Posted on January 5, 2014January 5, 2014

Dangerously cold conditions will spread into the region today, and will combine with brisk north winds to create wind chills as low as -25 to -35 degrees F, or even a few degrees colder. Very little improvement is expected on Monday with highs topping out in the single digits above and below zero, and continued wind chills in the -20 to -30 degree range. A wind chill warning is in effect across the region for this evening through early Tuesday. These frigid conditions can be life threatening for anyone outdoors.

Sunday night Partly cloudy, with a low around -10. Wind chill values between -20 and -30. Northwest wind 11 to 18 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.
Monday Partly sunny and cold, with a high near 1. Wind chill values between -22 and -32. West northwest wind 14 to 17 mph, with gusts as high as 26 mph.
Monday Night Partly cloudy, with a low around -5. Wind chill values between -14 and -19. West wind 6 to 11 mph becoming south southwest after midnight.
Tuesday Mostly sunny, with a high near 20. South southwest wind 6 to 11 mph.
Tuesday Night Mostly cloudy, with a low around 13.

Attempt to turn KC fountain red comes up short

Posted on January 5, 2014

(AP) Parks department officials in Kansas City were attempting to show some team spirit ahead of Saturday’s Kansas City Chiefs playoff game by putting red dye in a fountain on the city’s north side, but things didn’t exactly turn out as planned.

The result was a frothy, frozen blob that had colors ranging from crimson to pink to white.

Internet websites poked fun at the spectacle, with Deadspin saying it looked “like something horrible happened” while USA Today declared that it looked like “something from a horror movie.”

Kansas City was unsuccessful in its bid for its first playoff win in two decades against Indianapolis.

But with bone-chilling temperatures on the way, the display is likely to be in place for some time nonetheless.

Make a Reading Statement at Rolling Hills Library

Posted on January 5, 2014January 5, 2014

Make a "State"ment Adult Winter Reading Program — Make a “State”ment Adult Winter Reading Program

“Make a ‘State’ment: Read” during this year’s adult winter reading program! Participants will select titles based on their location in the United States. A list entitled “Literary tour of the United States” from the website Qwiklit.com served as the inspiration for this year’s theme.

Reading six books chosen from eight different categories will entitle you to a prize packet, an invitation to the final party and an entry in a grand prize drawing for a Kindle e-reader! The program runs January 6 through March 8, 2014. Reading logs are available here or pick one up at either branch of the library.

City issues Phase 2 of emergency snow ordinance

Posted on January 5, 2014January 5, 2014

Phase II of the Emergency Snow Ordinance has been in effect since 10:30 p.m. Saturday

All vehicles parked on Emergency Snow Routes must be removed within two hours or be subject to ticketing and towing. The removal of all vehicles from emergency routes allows street crews to efficiently and effectively conduct plowing operations.