Team Edwards dedicates Higher Grounds to late base chaplain

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Julius Delos Reyes
  • 95th Air Base Wing Public Affairs
EDWARDS AIR FORCE BASE, Calif. --  Team Edwards dedicated the Higher Grounds Internet Cafe to a deceased installation chaplain during a ceremony here Aug. 10. 

Chaplain (Lt. Col.) Herrie Reed Jr., 95th Air Base Wing installation chaplain, passed away from a stroke on Sept. 22, 2006. 

"About a year ago, Chaplain Reed said he had an idea about a spare room in one of the dormitory buildings," said Col. Bryan Gallagher, 95th Air Base Wing commander. "He said, 'We need to make this a place for Airmen, where they can congregate and relax.'" 

That was how the Higher Grounds Internet Cafe came into existence. 

"It is really interesting how we can start from nothing," Colonel Gallagher said. 

Higher Grounds is a facility designed to give dormitory residents a relaxing, non-alcoholic environment within walking distance from their rooms. The facility is located in the first floor dayroom of dormitory 2423. 

During the event, Brig. Gen. Cecil Richardson, Air Force deputy chief of chaplains, Master Sgt. Shawn Aldridge, 95th ABW superintendent, and Gwendolyn Reed, the chaplain's widow, unveiled Chaplain Reed's portrait. 

Other special guests included Maj. Gen. Curtis Bedke, Air Force Flight Test Center commander, and Aida O'Connor, Edwards Civilian Military Support Group founder. 

Chaplain Reed enlisted in the Air Force in 1974 after graduating from Lillie B. Williamson High School in Mobile, Ala. He served until 1977 when he left to attend the University of Mobile. He graduated with a Bachelor of Arts in Psychology and Sociology in 1981. 

He also earned a Master of Divinity degree in 1983 from New Orleans Baptist Theological Seminary. 

Chaplain Reed was then a pastor of the Unity Missionary Baptist Church of Mobile before joining the Air Force again. He was commissioned as a first lieutenant in 1984 and entered the Chaplain Orientation Course at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. 

Chaplain Reed arrived at Edwards in July 2005. One of his major accomplishments at Edwards was Operation Zip Lock, which was a Hurricane Katrina relief program. 

The Higher Grounds Internet Cafe was opened July 13 and is run by a staff of volunteers.