Members of the Association,
It is with my deepest sympathy to write that Chief Master Sergeant
(Retired) Paul H. Lankford, the first enlisted Commandant of the Air
National Guard Noncommissioned Officer Academy at McGhee Tyson Air Base,
Tennessee passed away on 22 August 2008.
Services for Chief Lankford were held at the Smith Trinity Chapel in
Maryville, Tennessee on 26 August 2008. Chief Lankford was buried
at the Sherwood Memorial Gardens with full military honors on 27 August
2008.
A copy of Chief Lankford's obituary
can be found on the Smith Funeral & Cremation Service's web site at
http://www.funeralquestions.com/obits/smithmortuary/memorial.asp?listing_id=114066.
On behalf of the Air National Guard Noncommissioned Officer Academy
Graduate Association, the Board of Directors sent a spray
of red roses and white carnations to Chief Lankford's service and made a
donation to Gideon International. We are also including a special
tribute to Chief Lankford in the next issue of The Graduate.
Suggestions and ideas have been pouring in as to what we should do as a
memorial tribute to the Chief. More to come on that; however, I
feel we should definitely combine our efforts with those being planned
at the Training and Education Center for a ceremony during the Satellite
Noncommissioned Officer Academy and Airman Leadership School graduation
in mid December. We will post final plans on the NCOAGA web site.
How fortunate we were to have known such a true American hero and to
have shared in a small part with him his passion of enlisted PME.
Linda J. Dahl, MSgt, ARANG
President, NCOAGA Chapter 1
"Life at the Academy is like a train."
CMSgt Paul H. Lankford
May 1, 1919 - August 22, 2008
