Stockton Field Aviation Museum
7430 C E Dixon St, Stockton, CA 95206, United States
The Stockton Field Aviation Museum (SFAM) is a non-profit, all-volunteer organization whose purpose is to give the public a greater understanding of the history of American WWII aviation, including the people who planned, constructed, operated, prepared and flew the aircraft of the largest generation of our country. Our passion is to conserve the time ‘s equipment, stories and technical knowledge, and give it to the public through hands-on activities in the history of living. Our attention is not only on Stockton Field but all of the WWII training fields and heritage of military aviation in our country.
Bob Hope in a radio recording of a USO demonstration for the Army Air Corps Cadets at Stockton California, Stockton Air Field, during WWII, on May 25, 1943. Before Glenn Miller, Benny Goodman or Tommy Dorsey, Kay Kyser was a hugely successful Big Band leader. Circa 1941-1943 Big Bands in the Stockton California Air Field at a USO exhibition. This airfield had been home to the Westcoast Army Air Corp Training Center during WWll.
Psychologists have put a lot of work into researching why people donate their time freely to a vast variety of causes. An urge to support others is still on the list of motives. But it is not the only explanation for that. And when motivations are closely investigated, it isn’t even the primary factor.
The urge to give back and help build a better future is one of the reasons we volunteer here. This we understand. Not only does it make us feel good and honored in helping to advance our aviation heritage; we also feel a sense of duty. If we didn’t help support and preserve the aviation life that has been so good for us, we would be lesser people.
Yet there are other, more egoistic motives to volunteer. One explanation that makes the list of any psychologist is a normal human appetite for compañerism. We want to spend some time with those who share our passions and interests. Volunteering makes friends. It brings together people who otherwise would never meet, much less collaborate.
Another very important personal motivation for volunteering is networking. That is a concept that means meeting people in the future that may be of interest to you and vice versa. SFAM volunteering helps people from all walks of life and careers come together. You can meet people who can support and provide advice from an unimaginably broad variety of occupations and industries.
A further great advantage of volunteering is personal education. Of course you learn to do your volunteer duties, but you also work with people who have wonderful information stores and personal experience they share with you. Of course, an SFAM volunteer learns about all aspects of aviation, but due to the depth of our volunteer corps, you can spend your time with anyone from a rocket scientist — no joke, we have them — to an investment banker, to a welder, to a specialist in computer engineering. I guarantee that SFAM volunteers come from all walks of life and have been active in a wide array of careers.
