New Museum Exhibit Honors Air Force Enlisted Service Members

The enlisted maintainers element of a newly opened Enlisted Force exhibit is located in the Korean War Gallery of the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio. [Courtesy: U.S. Air Force]

A new permanent exhibit at the National Museum of the U.S. Air Force in Dayton, Ohio, is honoring the backbone of the service: enlisted service members.

Enlisted airmen and guardians represent about 80 percent of the Department of the Air Force, according to the museum.

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The new Enlisted Force exhibit, which took more than three years to compile, includes displays of more than 50 elements representing the roles of airmen throughout the Air Force's 76-year history. On display, for example, are uniforms of airmen from 1918 to 2019 that include a World War I mechanic, World War II public affairs specialist, a Cold War-era police officer, Southeast Asia war flight engineer, aerial gunner from the Persian Gulf War, and HALO parachutist from the Global War on Terrorism.

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“Today’s Space Force is small. It’s just like the museum when it started as an engineering study collection—very small,” said John Bentivegna, chief master sergeant of the U.S. Space Force. “But guardians are creating our Space Force history each and every day. And 100 years from now, the Enlisted [Force] exhibit in the National Museum of the U.S. Air and Space Force, will be overflowing with that history that we’re making today.”

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The display shows the roles of airmen past and present through photographs and video. The full exhibit, which contains nearly 50 elements, is placed throughout the 10 galleries of the museum. [Courtesy: U.S. Air Force]

According to the museum, exhibits include:

A display featuring the story of Staff Sergeant James Meredith, one of the first Black airmen to serve in an all-white squadron during WWII.
An introduction to enlisted maintainers in the areas of aerospace propulsion, electrical systems, and weapons systems who troubleshoot urgent repairs, overhaul complex systems, and closely inspect parts.
A display featuring a uniform worn by Sergeant Benjamin Fillinger, one of 15 airmen from Wright-Patterson Air Force Base who transferred into the U.S. Space Force in 2020.
A display featuring U.S. Air Force band musicians, arrangers, and audio engineers who connect the public to the service through music.

The new exhibit is open to visitors daily from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m. EST. Admission and parking are free.