HISTORY OF THE RHODE ISLAND REGIONAL SQUADRON.
The Rhode Island Regional Squadron, Sampson Air Force Base Veterans Association, Inc. is a 501(c)(3) nonprofit organization established in Rhode Island and is principally composed of Air Force veterans of the Korean War era who attended basic training at Sampson Air Force Base. The Squadron is an affiliate of the Sampson Air Force Base Veterans Association, Inc. whose website is
www.sampsonvets.com.
The Rhode Island Regional Squadron, Sampson Air Force Base Veterans Association, Inc. was first organized informally in 2009 when a group of Air Force veterans, all who had attended basic training at Sampson Air Force Base, Lake Seneca, New York between 1950 and 1956, started meeting for lunch at Denny’s Restaurant, Warwick, Rhode Island. Their motivation was to keep the spirit of Sampson Air Force Base alive and to reminisce about the life changing effects that resulted from their Sampson and Air Force service. They currently meet on the fourth Tuesday of each month at Twin Oaks, Cranston, Rhode Island.
From an initial group of nine, the squadron membership has grown to fifty three members strong. In addition to monthly luncheons, they periodically take field trips and enjoy social get-togethers with other Squadrons. They found that all military services were represented at the cemetery by memorials except for the Air Force and pledged to correct that omission by designing and causing a memorial to be erected at the cemetery. The memorial has been designed and its construction specifications have been approved by the RI Veterans Cemetery administrators. (Refer to the Air Force Memorial pages.) At this time, the group is formulating its promotion, publicity and fundraising campaign towards a goal of $40,000. Contributions can be sent to the RI Air Force Veterans Memorial Fund at the Squadron’s address, above.
In 2011, the group decided to formalize their relationship and to incorporate. They spelled out their organizational purpose and objectives, drafted by-laws and filed for nonprofit status which was approved by the Internal Revenue Service in 2014. As spelled out in the by-laws, the Rhode Island Regional Squadron, Sampson Air Force Base Veterans Association, Inc., is organized exclusively for educational and charitable purposes under
Section 501(c)(3) of the Internal Revenue Code or the corresponding section of any future Federal tax code, and specifically:
- To advance educational opportunities regarding the Air Force and the men and women who served and are serving in the Air Force through speaking engagements and presentations;
- To establish, erect and maintain a memorial to the people who served in the United States Air Force, at the Rhode Island Veterans Cemetery;
- To preserve and strengthen the spirit of comradeship among its members;
- To promote patriotism and encourage the demonstration of respect and honor to those who have contributed to the building, preservation, and defense of the United States, its institutions and ideals;
- To perpetuate the memory and history of our dead who served in the armed forces of the United States;
- To perpetuate the memory and history of the former Sampson Air Force Base in Romulus, NY and the people who served and were trained there;
- To maintain and extend the institutions of American freedom and encourage loyalty to our country's laws and Constitution;
- To carry out any other acts incidental to or connected with the foregoing purposes or advancement thereof, but not for the pecuniary profit or financial gain of its members, directors, or officers; and
- to do any and all other acts or things that may be necessary, appropriate, proper, advisable, incidental to or convenient for the furtherance and accomplishment of the services and acts described.
A complete copy of the RI Regional Squadron’s incorporation documents, by-laws and other legal documents can be found in the Membership pages.
SAMPSON AIR FORCE BASE VETERANS ASSOCIATION, INC.
Sampson Air Force Base, located on the eastern shore of Lake Seneca in the Finger Lakes Region of New York, was first established by the United States Navy as a Naval Training Station in 1942. After WWII, it was closed until the outbreak of hostilities in Korea in 1950. At that time, it was reopened by the Air Force as a basic training facility through which over 300,000 airmen received their initial military training. It was again closed in 1956. The SAFBVA was established to perpetuate the history and memory of those who had served at the base during the period 1950 – 1956. Their website is www.sampsonvets.com.
The Sampson Air Force Base Veterans Association, Inc. is a nonprofit organization organized in New York to preserve the memory and history of the base and strengthen and perpetuate the spirit of comradeship among its members, Air Force veterans who attended basic training at Sampson AFB. It also is pledged to erect and maintain museums and memorials to the former Sampson Air Force Base and to the people who served there, and to publish and disseminate information concerning their lives and their patriotic activities. To that end, the Association fosters the establishment of Regional Squadrons organized l to carry on the Associations mission, regionally.
As a recognized Regional Squadron of the Sampson Air Force Base Veterans Association, Inc. (SAFBVA), the Rhode Island Squadron supports and adheres to the operational requirements of the SAFBVA and follows its by-laws tenants.