Continuing a Proud Legacy

First Detachment Commander

Lieutenant Colonel Clarence Holloway was the detachment's first commander. He was a documented Tuskegee Airmen, who was also awarded a Congressional Gold medal.

Lt Col Holloway graduated from Tuskegee University in 1949 with a Bachelor of Science degree in Agronomy (Agriculture) and also designated as a distinguished military graduate through the school's Air Force ROTC program where he received a commission as a Second Lieutenant. He was also a chartering member of Tuskegee's Gamma Phi chapter of Alpha Phi Alpha. Clarence continued his educational studies receiving a Master of Science degree in Agronomy from Tuskegee Institute 1956 and a Master of Arts degree in Educational Counseling from Chapman College in 1971.

After his retirement from the Air Force, Clarence served as the Director of Personnel and Human Resources at ASU.

First Graduating Class

The Air Force ROTC program at Detachment 019 was established in April 1971 through Alabama State University. In May 1974, the detachment made history when it commissioned its first class of 13 Second Lieutenants into the United States Air Force.

The original commissioning class included: Walter Burks, William Chaney, Willie Frank Collins, Reginald E. Early, John H. McKnight, Robert L. Moore, Kenneth L. Silas, James Stamps, Roderick M. Thornton, Jerry F. Underwood, Roger Varner, Lindsey T. Williams, and Juanita Bell, who was also the first black female in the State of Alabama to be commissioned through the AFROTC program.

First Huntingdon Student

Detachment 019 enrolled its first officer candidate from Huntingdon College in the fall term of 1976 when cadet Debra Freisleben joined the program. Ms. Freisleben commissioned into the Air Force in 1979 as an Aircraft Maintenance Officer. She also received the detachment's first minor in Aerospace Studies.

First General Officer

In 2021, Detachment 019 received its first General Officer from the school's commissioning program. Colonel Terrence Adams was selected as a Brigadier General by the United States Air Force