Falcon 5/6 gives back by taking away

Published Aug. 23, 2010
By Staff Sgt. Don Branum
U.S. Air Force Academy Public Affairs

U.S. AIR FORCE ACADEMY, Colo. -- About 30 volunteers with the Falcon 5/6 gave back to a community in northwest Colorado Springs by taking things away Saturday.

Crews cleaned up several bags worth of weeds and garbage from the West Woodmen Trail, a 2-mile-long gravel path that runs along the south side of Woodmen Road between Raven Hills Road and Woodmen Valley Park.

"I came out to give back and help the local community," said Tech. Sgt. Kelly Links, a dental technician with the 10th Dental Squadron. "They do a lot for the base."

The cleanup effort earned a "thank you" from a woman who was on the trail with her two dogs. She asked what the Airmen, dressed in physical training uniforms, were doing; when they told her they were cleaning up the trail, she said, "Well, aren't you guys nice!"

Saturday was the first day set aside by the Falcon 5/6 for volunteers from the Academy to clean up the trail. The Academy's enlisted Airmen adopted the trail in July. Other cleanup dates are scheduled for Sept. 18, Oct. 16, Nov. 20 and Dec. 18. To volunteer, contact Tech. Sgt. Matt Kurpaski at 333-3310 or Senior Airman Brianna Reid at 333-0449.