Samantha Weeks didn’t hesitate.
The answer was right on the tip of her tongue.
“The people,” Weeks said when asked what she’d miss the most about Columbus. “There’s not one specific event, there’s so many from a daily and a weekly perspective because it’s all about the people.”
After nearly two years with the Columbus Air Force Base, Weeks is retiring as the base’s Wing Commander, effective Monday. The Air Force Base plans to announce the change of command and introduce the new Wing Commander on Monday as well.
“If I was to try and capture those (memories) in a big picture, this is obviously a flying training base, so we obviously create pilots here. Every single month I had the opportunity to see anywhere from 15 to 30 Air Force pilots earn their silver wings,” Weeks said. “As a pilot, that is an amazing opportunity to be part of their cultivation and really see the Air Force grow and evolve in the future.”
In Weeks’ tenure, she said there were both triumphs and challenges. On her first day as commander in August 2018, the base had an infant fatality. The next morning, there was an aircraft accident. In the last few months of her leadership, she was responsible for helping the base navigate the deadly worldwide pandemic, COVID-19.
“Those (challenges) all teach me how to be a better person and how to be a better leader,” Weeks said.
Nevertheless, she prefers to relish the base’s accomplishments. In two years under Weeks’ leadership, Columbus Air Force Base graduated more than 850 pilots. The base built a brand new kid’s freedom park, is re-doing the base’s fitness trail and re-opening the auto hobby shop.
Before Weeks even stepped foot on base, she was provided an understanding of the base from friend and fellow airman Simon Kassemi.
Kassemi served on the Columbus Air Force Base before Weeks’ tenure, and met Weeks at the Air Force Academy in 2008 when he was a cadet. The pair have maintained a friendship for 12 years.
“I’ve only ever wanted to be three things: a Ghostbuster, a Ninja Turtle and a pilot,” Kassemi said. “In my pursuit of that ultimate ambition of becoming a pilot in the Air Force, Col. Weeks was there to help me when I was going through my lows and to help celebrate my highs.”
Nevertheless, Weeks’ time in Columbus is coming to an end. In the near future, she will take a 60-day leave, where she said she plans to rest and relax and focus on self-care and time with her family.
Weeks will take fond memories of the community she grew to love with her.
“We say we recruit airmen and we retain families,” Weeks said. “My family is not my husband and children or dad and sisters, it is people that I meet along the way. The community here, once you’re a part of it, you understand that Columbus is the friendly city. There could be no better definition of it. The community, the outreach and the connection the community has for the base is unique. It’s a small base and a small community, and we’re tied together and you can’t find better support for the military community than the people of the Golden Triangle region.”
Before she departed, Weeks took the time to recognize three “outstanding members of the community who have made exceptional contributions to the base.” The three community members she chose were Gary Laughlin, Barbara Bigelow and Carole Simmons.
Hodge is the former sports editor for The Dispatch.
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