On Monday, Jan. 20, 10 a.m., retired Air Force Lieutenant Colonel and historian, Richard Griset, will present the amazing history of Luke Air Force base.
In March of 1941, the Del Webb Construction Company broke ground for the construction of Luke Air Force Base. By June 1941, it was training young men to become pilots. Since that time, Luke Air Force Base has trained qualified pilots to become fighter pilots, a mission that continues to this day. Over the decades, there have been many changes to the base to include adding the most recent aircraft, the Lockheed F-35A Lightning II. Luke Air Force Base has trained future Medal of Honor winners, fighter aces, career officers, generals, and allied pilots. Over the years, the base has remained the largest fighter training base in the free world.
Richard Griset retired in 2006 as lieutenant colonel with a bachelor's and master's degrees in history. With his retirement from active-duty service, Griset was hired for the intelligence wing historian position at Langley Air Force Base. When the Luke wing historian position opened in 2010, he was selected. He currently serves as a historian for Luke Air Force Base and is responsible for preserving Luke's history and heritage while piecing together missing fragments from the base's 74-year history.
Tickets go on sale at 9 a.m. in the lobby of the Renaissance Theater and are $5 at the door. No registration is required.
The theater is equipped with a hearing loop system which is a special type of sound system for people who use hearing aids. The loop system provides a magnetic wireless signal that is picked up by a hearing aid when it is set to the T-setting (telecoil). Many hearing aids are equipped with telecoil technology.
