MacDill kicks-off AirFest with Richard "Dick" Cutshall Memorial Run

  • Published
  • By Senior Airman Jenay Randolph
  • 6th Air Mobility Wing Public Affairs
MACDILL AIR FORCE BASE, Fla. --  
MacDill kicked off the Tampa Bay AirFest 2016 festivities by honoring the base's very first Air Boss. More than 50 members of Team MacDill participated in the annual Richard "Dick" Cutshall AirFest Memorial Run, March 11, 2016, at MacDill Air Force Base, Florida.

"This event allows us to pay tribute to an important MacDill member," said Master Sgt. Bradford Johnson, a participant and a first sergeant assigned to the 6th Comptroller Squadron. "He paved the way for a better relationship and strengthened the bridge we now call community relations."

Known as the original "Air Boss," Cutshall was the individual in charge of air show operations. He helped launch what is now one of the largest air shows in the country, the MacDill AirFest, which evolved into the Tampa Bay AirFest.

Before holding this title, Cutshall spent his life around airplanes, helicopters and pilots, in control rooms and on airstrips. Since the age of 16, he wanted to be a pilot.

Although he was unable to be a pilot due to a surplus of candidates and his older age, he still contributed to air operations by serving as an air traffic controller in the United States Air Force, and subsequently as a civilian operations director at Avon Park Air Force Range, Florida, which is, used as a training facility for military personnel.

Upon separating from the military in 1987, Cutshall joined in an effort to turn a long-running, but relatively small air show into something special.

The event sometimes doubled as an opportunity to give a hero's welcome to returning overseas military personnel. In 1991, Persian Gulf War soldiers were recognized for their efforts in Operation Desert Shield and this year, the show will be dedicated to Lt. Joseph Helton, a security forces member killed on a mission in Iraq.

Cutshall excelled at getting performers to buy in, whether for service member recognition or highlighting military aircraft that epitomize airpower.

"You can always have the Air Force Thunderbirds and the (Navy) Blue Angels, but there are a lot of other groups you can go out and get, too," said Steve Cutshall, Dick's brother and a retired Air Force Airman. "There's the vintage aircraft pilot, the old commemorative Air Force - they come in with their B-25s and B-17s and that kind of stuff. Dick would go out and bring these guys in."

Cutshall passed away from cancer on Christmas Day in 2011, but his legacy lives on through AirFest, which occurs roughly every two years at MacDill.

This year, MacDill is hosting the Tampa Bay AirFest 2016 March 19th and 20th, which includes the Air Force Thunderbirds, along with various aerial acts and static displays. For more information on this year's show, visit www.macdill.af.mil/airfest2016/.