Airman for Life: New AFA Legacy Award

Dr. Lucy Greene, wife of Air Force advocate W. Parker Greene, received the first-ever W. Parker Greene Legacy Award at the Air Force Association’s 2019 Air, Space & Cyber Conference, held Sept. 16-18, in National Harbor, Md., just outside Washington, D.C.

A portion of the road leading from Valdosta, Ga., to Moody Air Force Base is named the W. Parker Greene Highway. The Moody headquarters building was christened the W. Parker Greene Base Support Center, and the coffee shop inside the W. Parker Greene Base Support Center is called Lucy’s Corner.

When Parker Greene passed away in 2018, he and his wife, Lucy, had worked tirelessly to strengthen the bonds between the civilian and military community in Georgia for more than 48 years. As a result, AFA established the award to recognize an AFA Field leader who exemplifies Greene’s personal qualities of public service leadership, airpower advocacy, and support of airmen and their families.

In the early 1990s, “Mr. Parker,” as he was known, was credited for making Moody AFB “BRAC-proof” as the executive director of the Moody Support Committee, created to protect Moody from the Base Realignment and Closure Commission.

Soon thereafter, he was appointed to the Georgia Military Affairs Committee by Georgia’s governor and earned the first-ever Chief of Staff of the Air Force Award for Exceptional Public Service.

He was twice awarded the Air Force Distinguished Public Service Award, the highest Air Force civilian honor.

“Parker Greene was an incredible man, who made us all want to be better men,” said Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. David L. Goldfein. “Men like Parker Greene teach us all what a life of service, well-lived, really means.”

The award will be presented annually during AFA’s ASC Conference to a civilian who exemplifies:

• Direct and long-lasting support of the Air Force, airmen, their families and the local community;
• Proven leadership and involvement in both the military and civilian community;
• Continued participation in Air Force and community organizations and activities;
• Advocacy of Air Force and national security issues at the federal, state, and local levels;
• Significant contributions to the base mission and its airmen;
• Recurring interaction with Air Force and federal, state, and local government leaders;
• Public engagement on the importance of airmen’s service and support for the Air Force;
• Demonstrated commitment to values of integrity first, service before self, and excellence in all they do.