TACAMO set to celebrate Hispanic Heritage Month Published Sept. 18, 2009 Strategic Communications Wing ONE Public Affairs TINKER AIR FORCE BASE, Okla. -- The Take Charge and Move Out community will celebrate Hispanic Heritage month Sept.29 at the Alert Facility Theatre beginning at 9 a.m. Retired Master Chief Petty Officer of the Navy Joe R. Campa is the guest of honor for the event. Chief Campa joined the Navy in 1980 and went on to become the first Hispanic-American to serve in the Navy's most senior enlisted position. The event is sponsored by The Oklahoma Chapter of The National Naval Officers Association. NNOA is essential in maintaining operational readiness by providing professional development, mentoring and support of cultural awareness. "Hispanic Heritage Month is the period to recognize the contributions of Hispanic-Americans to the U.S. military and to celebrate Hispanic culture," said NNOA Oklahoma Chapter President Lt. Cmdr. Cedrick Jessup of Fleet Air Reconnaissance Squadron FOUR. "We are very honored to have former MCPON Joe Campa come out to TACAMO, not only to celebrate with us but to also educate us on the Hispanic heritage." The tradition of observing Hispanic Heritage began Sept. 17, 1968, when President Lyndon B. Johnson designated a week in mid-September as National Hispanic Heritage Week. Twenty years later in 1988, President Ronald Reagan extended that week to a month-long observance.