882 TRG Dining Out: A Celebration of Past, Present and Future Published June 13, 2007 By Tech. Sgt. Jennifer Walmper 882nd Training Group SHEPPARD AIR FORCE BASE, Texas -- As the Air Force celebrates its 60th birthday, the 882nd Training Group is joining in on the festivities. To celebrate, they will host a dining-out on June 23 at 6 p.m., at the Sheppard Club to honor the Air Force's rich heritage. The featured guest speaker will be Brig. Gen. (Ret) Don Wagner, former chief of the Air Force Medical Service Corps. The entertainment will be provided by the Fort Hood Army Quintet. The Air Force dining-in custom began in the 1930s with General H. "Hap" Arnold's "wing-dings." The close bonds enjoyed by Air Corps officers and their British colleagues of the Royal Air Force during World War II surely added to the American involvement in the dining-in custom. The dining-in/out has served the Air Force well as an occasion for military members to meet socially at a formal military function. It enhances the esprit de corps of units, gives the commander an opportunity to meet socially with their subordinates and enables military members of all ranks to create bonds of friendship and better working relations through an atmosphere of good fellowship. The 882nd TRG jointly trains medical professionals from the Air Force, Army and Navy. This event will bring together traditions of the past, as each branch continues to build camaraderie as we fight the war on terrorism. This opportunity will afford each member of the group to realize that as a team, we can train together, we can play together and now we can dine together. Reservations are limited. For more information, please contact Tech. Sgt. Jennifer Wampler, at jennifer.wampler@sheppard.af.mil or 676-0402.