Many of you may already be aware that Mr. Al Hemphill, “The Godfather of Air Force Audiovisual/Visual Information” passed away on Sunday, 9 March in Northern Virginia. David Levy alerted me to this sad fact, after seeing a Facebook post from Ray Dabney. By my calculations, Al would have turned 88 in May. I last saw him on his birthday in 2013, just before my wife and I left Virginia for sunny Colorado Springs. He was typical Al, funny, upbeat, talkative, interested in what I and my family were doing, and full of lots of great stories involving many of you AAVS vets out there.
Al was like a father-figure to me in the almost 5 years that I worked for him in AF/XOORV and AF/SCV on the Air Staff at the Fort. He was a true mentor, I was his protégé, learning the ropes in the ways things got done at the Pentagon, mainly in the POM/PPBS process. Al put me in the hot seat before the 3-star AF Budget Panel right at the outset, advocating for the Air Force $125 Million annual VI and AAVS budgets. He introduced me to our Major Force Program budget analysts, Jake Baker and Jackie Wolper up on the 5th floor, two names and guys tattooed in my brain. Many times I made the hike up from the bowels of the basement to their offices, to plead our case for funding VI and AAVS ops at Hill, Keesler, Norton, Nellis, and all the other AAVS Squads, Dets, and OLs all over the world. Al had a soft spot for the Air Force Academy, and Col Bruce Doyle always got his wish list filled!
We also did a lot of great TDY’s together: Offutt, Hill, Scott, Nellis, McClellan, Mather, Norton, Randolph, Lackland, Tyndall, Eglin, Peterson, USAFA, and Cheyenne Mountain, the coolest of all. I’ll never forget the large illuminated display sign outside the gate at Norton, thanks to Robbie Robinson, that read “Welcome to the Godfather and his Godson”!
Al was a terrific boss, a great role model, a friend, a fun person to be with, a devoted family man, who loved his job, and was a tireless advocate and totally dedicated supporter of all things AAVS and AF VI. I consider myself very, very fortunate to have had the opportunity to work with and for him.
Tom Dickinson