NCO sets pace to help Air Force family

  • Published
  • By Tech. Sgt. Cindy Dorfner
  • 100th Air Refueling Wing Public Affairs
ROYAL AIR FORCE MILDENHALL, England (USAFENS) --  Like many service members, Master Sgt. Pat Combs wanted to do something for the families of the nine base members who lost their lives in the MC-130H crash in Albania March 31.

What he ended up doing on April 16, however, might seem unimaginable to most people on base. He ran. And ran. And ran. And, when he thought he couldn’t run anymore, he kept on running.

In fact, Sergeant Combs, acting airfield manager for the 100th Operations Support Squadron, ran 21.6 miles, nearly eight miles farther than his personal best.

In completing his Forrest Gump-like feat, Sergeant Combs raised $1,600 worth of pledges from members of the 100th OSS and 100th Operations Group –– half of which he donated to the families of the crew of Wrath 11, with the other half for his squadron’s booster club.

A 17-year Air Force veteran, Sergeant Combs said he actually came up with the idea, to raise money by running, a while ago. He was deployed and would run along “runner’s road” nearly every day with “nothing but time on my hands.” He said he thought pledging a run would be a perfect way to raise money and he’d have to “earn it.”

With his busy duty schedule, though, the native of Battle Ground, Wash. , wasn’t able to volunteer during the initial base-wide support activities for the crew and families of Wrath 11, said Lt. Col. Terry Ward, 100th OSS commander.

“(But), he worked out his schedule and allowed his desire to do something to assist the families motivate him every step of the way,” Colonel Ward said.

Sergeant Combs, who took up running three years ago because the food and drink in Germany were “taking over,” normally runs off base.

For this adventure, he ran three times around a 7.2-mile loop on base, which took him past almost every facility on RAF Mildenhall; it took him 3 hours, 10 minutes.

According to Maj. David Valentine, prior to the run Sergeant Combs thought two laps would be the furthest he could go, but at the end of the second lap, squadron members and leadership urged him to keep going.

And he wasn’t alone. For the first lap, 1st Lt. Kevin Bush and Airman 1st Class Gary Fisher ran alongside. On the second loop, Major Valentine and Capt. Mike King joined him.

The third lap, Sergeant Combs was on his own –– except for Master Sgt. Shea Saul, 100th OSS first sergeant, who rode his bike alongside him the entire time.

Sergeant Saul said he followed on his bike to give Sergeant Combs a sports drink, show support and make sure he didn’t pass out.

At one point, the pair ran out of sports drink, so Sergeant Saul rode to the Shoppette to get more.

“He was one mile ahead of me … it took me 20 minutes and three miles to catch up to him. My legs were spaghetti by then,” the first sergeant said.

About a quarter into the third lap, Sergeant Combs said he started to feel pains in places he thought he couldn’t, but determination kept him going.

“I used to wrestle in high school, so I am used to being pushed to the limit,” he said. “The other key (to finishing) was staying focused on what (I was doing) and who I was doing it for.”

He also needed to keep focused after the run was over.

“I was in pain almost immediately after the run,” Sergeant Combs said.

“Walking was very slow for the next four days, and going down stairs was not a very good idea.”

Colonel Ward said he’s proud to be Sergeant Combs’ commander.

“He epitomizes the spirit of the NCO and put into practice some of the things we in the military have come to hold dear –– things like taking care of our own, selfless acts of volunteerism and personal achievement.”

These Combat Wingman traits of an Airman taking care of Airmen even captured the attention of wing leadership.

“That’s something no sane person would do without thinking he was doing it for a good cause,” said Col. Richard T. Devereaux, 100th Air Refueling Wing commander, during a presentation of a Wingman coin to Sergeant Combs April 19.

Sergeant Combs takes the praise in stride.

“Doing something special for the families meant so much because I would want my family to be taken care of, if something happened to me,” he said.

“These kinds of things hit close to home –– not only occupationally, but on the home front,” said Sergeant Combs.

“One of the families lived right down the road from me. Although we had never met, they were part of my community. That’s the best way I can put it –– the Air Force is a family.”