412th TW commander, chief, mingle with veterans at ball

  • Published
  • By Kenji Thuloweit
  • 412th Test Wing Public Affairs

Brig. E. John Teichert, 412th Test Wing commander, and Chief Master Sgt. Roosevelt Jones, 412th TW command chief, joined fellow veterans at the John P. Eliopulos Hellenic Center in Lancaster, California, for this year’s Coffee4Vets Veterans Military Ball Nov. 3.

Coffee4Vets is a non-profit veterans support group founded in 2011. The group meets every Tuesday for breakfast and coffee at Crazy Otto’s in Lancaster.

Teichert served as the keynote speaker for the evening that also featured dinner, prizes, presentations and dancing.

“While we do a lot of very important work for the warfighter and our nation up there at Edwards — we call ourselves the Center of the Aerospace Testing Universe — we wouldn’t be doing anything if we weren’t standing on the shoulders of giants,” Teichert said. “You all, the veterans of our United States, are those giants that enable us to build upon the foundation that you created for us; to do the things that continue to make this country great and keep her free.”

The general talked about three veterans that inspire him: Brig. Gen. Robbie Risner, a former Air Force ace and prisoner of war; Revolutionary War spy Nathan Hale; and the pilgrims who set sail for the New World on the Mayflower in the 1600s.

“They were examples to us of what it means to see something that is more important than themselves,” said Teichert. “They were examples to all of us of what it means to combine together as a force to serve community and to serve country. You all, as veterans of our United States, have demonstrated decisively to us what it means to serve…for a cause greater than yourself.”

The first Veterans Military Ball put on by Coffee4Vets was in 2014. The weekly Tuesday meetings are open to all veterans.