910th AW historian receives top honors Published July 26, 2012 By Staff Sgt. Brenda Haines 910th Airlift Wing Public Affairs YOUNGSTOWN AIR RESERVE STATION, Ohio -- Tucked neatly away down a seldom-traveled hallway is a small office so vital to Youngstown Air Reserve Station that if operations there ceased, the wing's legacy as it is known today could be in danger of vanishing into thin air. This office -- manned by Air Force Reserve historians -- is responsible for collecting and preserving the historical records of the wing. From its humble active-duty beginning in the 1950s through its transition to the present-day 910th Airlift Wing (AW), Youngstown Air Reserve Station's history is not something that should be overlooked or ignored. One 910th AW historian, Master Sgt. Thomas Mason, was the recipient of the 2011 Air Force Reserve Command Wing History Award recently, for his superior documentation of the 2009 YARS mission. This document, a 72-page wing history, broken down into 13 appendices, serves as a historical link to the past that would be irretrievably broken if this information was not preserved. "There's a lot of stuff that [historians] do behind the scenes that people don't know about," said Mason, a native of Chesterland, Ohio. "A lot of people don't realize what we do." These behind-the-scenes efforts included continuously researching and methodically recording information such as training, inspections, deployments and other events during the 2009 calendar year. "When I first got here, the ops tempo was high," he said. "We had the air show, military ball and other events, one right after another. The history almost writes itself." This busy time of year helped Mason craft the history into an award-winning piece that will be filed away for the future. "When [the wing history is complete] I keep one copy, one copy goes to Air Force Reserve Command and the other will go into the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell where it will be under lock and key -- locked away, alarmed and vaulted," he said. Mason, who is a 25-year veteran of the Air Force and a civilian historian at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base in Dayton, Ohio, said he was honored and surprised to receive the award. "I was glad to get the award," said Mason, who plans to retire next year. "I've been up for Airman and NCO of the quarter, but this is my first award on the enlisted side." Mason gently places the crystalline trophy above his desk and closes the drawer containing a plethora of binders that securely holds years of wing history. Although he will be closing this chapter on his military career, he will continue to write and document Air Force history at his civilian job.