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Change

  • Published
  • By TSgt Keisha Gwin-Goodin
  • USAF Band of Mid-America
10/8/2010 - SCOTT AIR FORCE BASE, Ill. --  Change is happening in the Band of Mid-America, and change is a good thing. About a month ago the Band of Mid-America's rock band, 'Starlifter,' and their rockin' brass quintet, 'Hot Brass,' have reorganized.

The ink had barely dried on the band's newest personnel roster before the two groups hit the ground running. Hot Brass dug into an aggressive rehearsal schedule to prepare for their first group of performances, one of which was the 2010 Air Force Ball. Enhancing the morale, motivation and esprit de corps of Scott Air Force Base's Airmen was the band's mission that night. "The Scott Club was packed," says MSgt Ron Johnson, drummer and NCOIC of Hot Brass, about the group's performance at this year's Ball, "we were able to really sell the show."

Hot Brass continues their intense schedule in preparation for a seven-day community outreach tour through Northern Illinois. This upcoming mission is focused on inspiring public trust and support for the USAF and aiding in our Air Force's recruiting initiatives. As one of the new members of Hot Brass, MSgt Johnson is looking forward to his very first TDY with the unique ensemble. "The tour should really help us gel as a team. The people in this band are really dedicated and work hard."

While Hot Brass continues to cover the mission here at Scott Air Force Base and throughout the Band of Mid-America's six-state AOR, Starlifter is ramping up for a deployment this winter.

While deployments are a way of life around the band, there are some for whom this will be their very first deployment. In fact, fifty percent of Starlifter will take off on their very first deployment later this year.

While vocalist A1C Carmen Emborski is one of those first-time deployers, she is quite familiar with deployments. Not only had her father, a retired Air Force Master Sergeant, deployed, her brother, an Air Force Explosive Ordinance Device officer, is currently deployed on a six month rotation. "As a military 'brat', I know the longing for family, for home, and for something that connects in the core of self. We lose a part of ourselves when we separate from a loved one." A1C Emborski is proud of her family's military heritage and is proud that she, too, is following in the footsteps of her family and serving her country in a by deploying downrange. "As a deploying musician, I'm thankful that there is a way to bring some comfort to our troops...and I'm grateful that we have the specific charge as an organization to use music to honor our country and those who serve."

So in the coming days, both Starlifter and Hot Brass will be busy indeed. While one group steps in to cover the mission here at home, the other prepares to "pay forward" the band's mission of rendering honor and enhancing morale in the deployed environment.