Historically speaking -- Ellsworth's human database

  • Published
  • By Airman 1st Class Alystria Maurer
  • 28th Bomb Wing Public Affairs
ELLSWORTH AIR FORCE BASE, S.D. --  Decades ago, a young boy dug through an old box in his grandmother's closet and found a faded and tattered photo of his grandfather wearing all of his military ribbons and badges. Wonder, curiosity and a sense of awe ensued.

The boy would spend much of his young life trying to figure things out about the image and studying more about his grandfather's life, especially the organizations with which he was associated.

"It sparked a passion in me," he said.

His passion remained throughout his childhood and eventually led him to write his thesis for his master's degree on his grandfather using the archives at the Air Force Historical Research Agency at Maxwell Air Force Base, Ala. for information. During his research he learned his grandfather served at Ellsworth at one point in his career.

Later, he applied for and received the historian position at Ellsworth AFB and then returned to AFHRA, this time for training.

After graduation, he was assigned to Ellsworth where his grandfather trained.

That boy is Paul Marcello, 28th Bomb Wing historian. And he's now stationed at the same base where his grandfather trained back in 1944.

His grandfather, Alfred Marcello, was assigned to Ellsworth in 1944 for B-17 combat crew training. It was designed to train teams to fly the bomber and be a cohesive, well-trained crew during WWII missions.

Paul's mission today is much different than trying to figure out what a ribbon means, however; he's now responsible for recording all day-to-day activities of the 28th BW.

"If the historian doesn't know about it, then it likely never happened," Marcello said.

Hundreds of documents are sent to Marcello each day. He sorts through them and decides if they are pertinent to Ellsworth's history. The events he records that are secret are kept classified for 25 years and then released to the public. Other files that are top secret stay classified unless they are needed.

"To be an effective historian, you have to be a subject matter expert or at least try to be," Marcello explained. "If not, you need to be close to the people that are."

He has been the historian at Ellsworth since March of 2011 after being active duty in the Air Force for eight years. Marcello served as a C-141 Starlifter crew chief at Joint Base McGuire-Dix-Lakehurst, N.J. and at Dover AFB, Del. His journey to pursue his passion led him to work as a museum curator and an interpretive park ranger for a time, then brought him here to Ellsworth to preserve its history.

He added that he loves being able to do the research, find the answers and help people.
"That's the fun part for me -- knowing that I'm helping people find what they're looking for," he said.

Marcello said historical documents are designed to provide Airmen with information from the past to help them make decisions today and in the future.

"In 25 to 50 years from now, information I put together might help someone with their research," Marcello noted. "If I don't take the time to put this information together, it would be lost."

Not only has Marcello documented Ellsworth's history, but he has also deployed and annotated the work being done downrange. While deployed he records missions and key events which helps commanders plan future missions.

"When I was a kid, I was fascinated by my grandfather's photo and history of the military," Marcello added. "That fascination led me on the path to Ellsworth where my grandfather once trained. It's a great feeling to find the answers to questions I had about that picture growing up."