LCAP Inspection- The Shaving of the Heads…

Published June 11, 2010
By Amn Lana Applegarth
164 MXG

Memphis, TN -- The mood in the Maintenance Group (MXG) feels like one of both happiness and weariness. All the days pulled out here and all the hard work that was put forth resulted in an Outstanding Score on our LCAP Inspection...and for those of you who are unaware, it also meant that we had some higher-ranking men losing some hair. Sunday Drill (11 April), we had our Commander's Call, complete with chair and electric razor, and a few good men went home with a few less locks (which, as we found out, many had neglected to tell their spouses about this.) The MXG First Sergeants auctioned off the distinct pleasure of shaving someone's head here, which, as you can see, even our Wing Commander got in on the fun, bidding to shave the mane of Col Myers.
The stipulation had been -- that, if we scored an Excellent, Col Myers would shave off his mustache. His wife, Jenny said that she had only seen him without it three times during their 33
year marriage. The rest of the deal was -- for an Outstanding Score -- the Officers and Chiefs sit in the chair, we take some bids, and they lose some hair. The officers and chiefs with mustaches also had to get rid of any facial hair they had, not including eyebrows (as many of the hecklers wanted them to) complaining all the while that none of it would grow back. When asked for a quote, our beloved Col Myers just chuckled and replied, "I'm going home for three weeks to hide until my hair and mustache grow back out." (Contrary to that statement, I actually saw him at work the next day) However, many of these men did take off, perhaps to ... maybe hide and wait or possibly, to polish their shiny bald heads.

Some of our lucky shavers were: Col Harry Montgomery (Col Myers), Rusty Weaver (Chief Brown), Robbie Rogers (Chief Walker), Lana Applegarth (Col Montgomery), Kevin Jones (Chief Jones), Sean O'Brien (Chief Middleton), Tom Iosue (Chief Porter), Lance Pugh (Lt Col Stephens), Vince Cook (Capt Braddock), Michael Matlock (Chief Wagner), Command Chief Wade Hudson (Lt Col Stiles)- I apologize if I left anyone out, some of the pictures I got were blurred.
Our inspection is finally over and all of our hard work has paid off, but we can't let our guard down yet. With more inspections to come, however minor they may seem, we've got to live up to our Outstanding Score. I wish all the best to those involved in the two other inspections (both our stellar Medical Group staff and our Administrative and Communications staff members). Good luck to everyone. I know this base will do great things- and I'm sure that will be a continuing trend.

Thanks to the Maintenance Group and our Wing Commander for letting us have this morale boost. And, thanks to the men who volunteered to give up their precious hair and thanks to everyone who bid and shaved these men for helping make this Group a more jubilant place.

Congratulations on the Outstanding, MXG- you deserved it!