MSU Silver Wings
About Silver Wings
Founding of Silver Wings
The first chapter of Angel Flight (AnF) was founded at the University of Omaha in 1952. Until 1957, Angel Flight was primarily a national idea with many names, uniforms, and activities. However, in April of that year, an important step toward unification was realized at the Eighth Annual Conclave of the Arnold Air Society. At that time, representatives from sixteen groups met in New York City to join their purposes under a National Coordination Headquarters.
In the years that followed, Angel Flight members worked to give the organization a professional, service-oriented image, as well as to support the AFROTC units on each campus. During the 1980′s,the Executive Board of Directors approved a petition to allow the local unit of Angel Flight to use the name “Silver Wings”on the local campus in order to accommodate diversity of membership, changing needs on the local campus,and a difficulty in recruiting members for AnF at some schools. These chapters were chartered by the national Angel Flight as Silver Wings or Silver Wings Society Flights.
At the 1995 National Conclave, the general assembly voted to amend the AnF National Constitution to officially change the name of the national organization to “Angel Flight-Silver Wings (AnF-SW).”This legislation officially changed the organization name on all documents,insignia,and materials published by region and national level headquarters. In order to meet the diverse needs of the local chapters,each chapter was allowed to choose either “Angel Flight-Silver Wings”,“ Angel Flight”, or “Silver Wings”for the local chapter name.
The 1996 Executive Board of Directors proposed and the chapters approved a resolution to redefine the mission and objectives of the national organization and further diversify its membership. This legislation moved the organization out of its military support role into that of a collegiate advocacy group. These changes were met with enthusiasm by AAS and on the local campuses,and in 1998, the NATCON Assembly voted to officially change the name of the organization to “Silver Wings.”All chapters chartered following this legislation will be known as Silver Wings and will function as a civilian organization that emphasizes leadership, citizenship, and development of professional skills. To provide continuity of identity on the local campus,existing chapters chartered under the name Angel Flight or Silver Wings may continue to operate under these names (at the discretion of the local unit).
Mission of Silver Wings
Silver Wings ’predecessor organization, Angel Flight, had a specific objective of supporting the mission of Arnold Air Society. While this is no longer explicitly stated,Silver Wings remains committed to developing strong civilian leaders with an understanding of aerospace power–and obviously,the continuing partnership between AAS and SW is critical to building this understanding.
As specified in the Silver Wings National Constitution, Silver Wings (SW) is a national, co-ed, professional organization dedicated to creating proactive, knowledgeable, and effective civic leaders through community service and education about national defense. This mission includes the following interrelated objectives:
1. Personal Development of Individual Members:
Local chapter activities and projects provide character growth through service to the community,which enables the individual member to develop a sense of purpose within and a responsibility to the local community.
2. Professional Development of Individual Members:
Local chapter activities and the national organizational structure provide members with leadership opportunities and the chance to develop professional skills. These include,but are not limited to oral/written communication,public speaking,and project planning and execution.
3. Civic Awareness:
Exposure to Air Force issues and personnel enables members to develop a personal awareness of aerospace power and the role that it plays in the national defense. The leadership and skills development objectives are enhanced by opportunities for members to actively promote aerospace issues in the community through educational programs, seminars, public relations activities, and voter awareness projects.
While Arnold Air Society and Silver Wings are separate organizations, our strong partnership is based on highly complementary missions. The focus of the Arnold Air Society mission is to build strong officers for the United States Air Force. Silver Wings also focuses on leadership development,and both organizations work together to further each others’goals.