AF Cyberspace, Communicators, Data Automation, Information. Space Operations, Air Traffic Controllers, Airfield Managers, Maintenance, Engineering and Installation, Combat Comm, and related support personnel, active duty, Guard, Reserve, civilian, and retired.
Hosts: Leslie McCormick ([email protected]) and Jay Adsit ([email protected])
Sept 25-29, Dayton OH (Home of America’s early efforts to fly)
is the Birthplace of Aviation. Wilbur and Orville Wright grew up, lived and died in Dayton, Ohio. They developed and built their first planes in Dayton and opened the first plane factory and flight school there. Dayton has a larger assortment of unique and authentic aviation sites than any other place in the world. See an original Wright Brothers’ Wright Flyer III airplane at Carillon Historical Park. This is the only plane to be recognized as a National Historic Landmark. Orville Wright himself oversaw the installation and designed the display of the aircraft. Dayton has been recognized as an All-American City and a Preserve America City.
Walk in the same spaces as the Wright Brothers; enjoy the innovation and creativity at the National Museum of the US Air Force; enjoy the company of those with similar backgrounds, enjoy listening or telling stories of “…way back when…” and help recognize the Air Force’s finest airmen in cyberspace and air traffic control with AF-level awards at our convention.
When: Sept 26-28 (travel days Sept 25 & 29)
Where: 
DoubleTree Hotel, Dayton- Miamisburg
300 Prestige Pl, Miamisburg, OH 45342
Events: Sept 26: National Museum of the USAF ($25)
The National Museum of the USAF, Wright-Patterson AFB, is the world’s largest military aviation museum. Leave our convention hotel in a 56-passenger motor coach. This 19-acre museum features over 350 aerospace vehicles; this is the world’s largest and oldest military aviation museum. You can see the Memphis Belle, nine Presidential airplanes, and a NASA Space Shuttle crew Compartment trainer. Contains flight simulators, movies on the big screen, and interactive exhibits detailing the evolution of flight and the brave people who piloted early planes. You can see the efforts the current museum staff are taking to move the museum from an aircraft museum to a museum of the US Air Force. If you finish your tour early, there are two locations within the museum to eat lunch or a snack. The motor coach will return to the hotel at 1300.
Sept 27 AM: Wright Cycle Company and Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center ($25)
The Wright Cycle Co. Complex is part of the Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park. We will leave our convention hotel in a 56-passenger motor coach and travel to the Wright Cycle Company Complex. This landmark was home to the Wright brothers’ early bicycle and printing businesses. National Park Service rangers will help us understand the Wright brothers’ progress through 1903 in its original location. The Motor Coach leaves for the hotel at 1145. The complex consists of The Wright Cycle Co. building and the Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center. At the original bicycle shop, their fourth of five shops in the area, exhibits provide information about the Wright Brothers’ business, while the interpretive center details the history of bicycles and the Wright brothers’ invention of the airplane.
Wright-Dunbar Interpretive Center Dayton Aviation Heritage National Historical Park
Explore interpretive exhibits and displays on the first floor which give more insight into the lives and aviation journey of Wilbur and Orville Wright. Wilbur and Orville started their careers as printers and operated their second print shop outside the home, as Wright & Wright Job Printers. In this location, the Wrights edited and published newspapers for the West Side patrons. On the second floor of the center, visitors will encounter additional interpretive displays about the Wrights and about poet Paul Laurence Dunbar. The second floor also is home to the Aviation Trail Parachute Museum which tells the story of the development of the free fall parachute from its invention at Dayton’s McCook Field after WWI, up to its role in current aviation and spacecraft.
Sept 27 AM: Golf ($65) 0645 – 1230 (includes cart and green fees)
The Golf Club at Yankee Trace, Centerville, OH.
First tee time is 8 AM, Friday. We will use the Calloway Scoring System.
Prizes for longest drive and closest to the pin. Individual prize for low net.
Plan is to carpool to the course; departing from the hotel about 0645.
Let us know if you are willing to provide a carpool vehicle and drive (on Golf form).
The course has clubs to rent if someone needs them.
Lunch is planned for after golf at the full-service grill and snack bar.
Golf host is Bill Bethea.
Sept 27 PM: Carillon Historical Park ($30)
Carillon Historical Park
The motor coach leaves the hotel at 1300. This indoor/outdoor museum transports you back to the birth of aviation. Stroll through the restored historical buildings and learn about Dayton’s early innovations. The Wright Brothers National Museum (part of the park) features more Wright Brothers artifacts than anywhere else in the world. The original Wright Flyer III, the only airplane designated as a National Historical Landmark, is here as well as the National Cash Register Company’s display of over 90 of its Dayton-made machines. There are two places to eat lunch within the park; one is the Carillon brewery. The motor coach leaves for the hotel at 1600. With a hand-carved carousel, 4-D theater, trains, slides, living history experiences, thousands of artifacts, extensive educational programming, and so much more, Carillon Historical Park brings Dayton’s past to life.
Sept 28: Breakfast Buffet/Annual Business Meeting, 7 AM – 11 AM
  Missed Roll CallElection of Officers (if required) Seminar Presentations Adjourn |
Saturday afternoon: free time.
You may wish to visit:
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- The Cox Arboretum Metropark, 6733 Springboro Pike, Dayton: a beautiful 174-acre special place for visitors to escape among trees, shrubs, specialty gardens, mature forests, and prairies; enter and connect with nature. Discover and rest in the serenity and majesty thoughtfully arranged to capture your imagination.
- SunWatch Indian Village/Archaeological Park, 2301 W River Rd, Dayton, is the site of an 800-year-old American Indian Village situated along the banks of the Great Miami River.
- Dayton Art Institute, 456 Belmonte Park N, celebrates Oktoberfest the weekend of our convention. Sample unique ethnic foods and crafts and international beers.
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Sept 28 Evening: Awards Banquet (Formal/Semi-formal attire)
Meal selection required on registration form.
Cash Bar, 5 PM – 6 PM
Dinner and General Meeting, 6 PM – 9 PM
Break Room, 9 PM – Midnight
– AFCATCA Awards –
– Guest Speaker –
– 50/50 Drawing –
Break Room will be open from noon – 4 PM on Saturday and will reopen after the annual banquet until midnight
Sept 29: Farewell
Chief, AF MARS to speak at AFCATCA Convention Seminar
David Antry, Chief, Air Force MARS, will be the guest speaker at this year’s 2024 AFCATCA Convention in Dayton, OH. Air Force MARS is a DOD-recognized auxiliary charged with providing high frequency (HF) radio contingency communications support. Air Force MARS members are experienced radio operators who communicate on military frequencies using both voice and digital modes. They voluntarily devote their time and resources to ensure that the Defense Department has reliable contingency communications capability, if needed, regardless of circumstance. AFMARS operators provide support to individual military installations as well as the National Command Authority. AFMARS’ primary operational requirement is to establish AFMARS communication nets, configured to support a broad spectrum of potential applications over a wide range of territorial and organizational entities. With nearly 700 members throughout the continental United States, Alaska, Hawaii and the Caribbean, Air Force MARS members are ready to provide HF support whenever and wherever needed.