By MIKE COURSON
Great Bend Post
Great Bend High School will once again do its part to celebrate area veterans with its annual Veterans Day Assembly on Friday, Nov. 10. The event will feature heartfelt and patriotic music. The 2023 keynote speaker will be Lt. Col. Bruce Jamison, a 2004 GBHS graduate and distinguished member of the United States Air Force. Educator Carol Pfannenstiel helped put together the program and said it's the least the school can do for veterans.
"It's good for our community," she said. "It's good for our students to see that. That's the big thing we do this for. We have to remember these men and women sacrificed a lot for us."
Veterans can enjoy a breakfast casserole made by Family and Consumer Sciences students from 8:50 to 9:25 a.m. in the GBHS commons area. Guests are encouraged to use the main entrance off Morton Street, and golf carts will be available to assist guests with transportation to the building. Student ambassadors will help guide guests inside the school.
"The program will start in the gym at 9:30," Pfannenstiel said. "We will have students at the door until right at 9:30 just making sure anyone who shows up late, we'll still make sure we get them to the gym and where they need to go."
Veterans and the public in attendance can enjoy performances by the GBHS band, orchestra, and vocal music department. Lt. Col. Jamison is the chief of Wing Plans and Programming, 22nd Air Refueling Wing, McConnell Air Force Base, Wichita.
More about Lt. Col. Bruce Jamison
Lieutenant Colonel Bruce A. Jamison is the Chief of Wing Plans and Programs, 22d Air Refueling Wing, McConnell Air Force Base, Wichita. He is responsible for base contingency operations, emergency management preparation and response, readiness reporting, and Operational Plan management.
As the Chief of Wing Plans and Programs, Lt. Col. Jamison supervises a team of 20Airmen, Civilians, and Contractors who oversee the Wing’s nuclear mission, force generation training and certification, Agile Combat Employment, and the Wing crisis action team.
Lt. Col .Jamison earned his commission in May 2008 as a graduate of the United States Air Force Academy. He graduated from Undergraduate Pilot Training in 2010 and currently serves as a KC-135R/T instructor pilot. He has served in various flying and operations support squadron functions, including Squadron Executive Officer, Aircrew Flight Equipment Officer and Squadron Chief of Training. He has also served as the Executive Officer to the Director of Operations, Headquarters, Air Combat Command and as the Director of Operations, 39th Operations Support Squadron, Incirlik AB, Turkey. He has flown operational missions worldwide including combat missions in support of Operations ENDURING FREEDOM, IRAQI FREEDOM, FREEDOM’S SENTINEL, INHERENT RESOLVE, and RESOLUTE SUPPORT