On October 17, 2022, Supreme Council conferred the Daniel D. Tompkins Award for Distinguished Service on Colonel Alan B. Berg, 32°, USAF, Retired, for his outstanding and exemplary devotion to country. Colonel Berg is a Scottish Rite member of the Valley of Boston and currently resides in Arizona.
The Tompkins Medal may be conferred by the Supreme Council or by the Sovereign Grand Commander upon a deserving Masonic or Scottish Rite Brother who has rendered exemplary service to his country, or the Masonic fraternity at large not often witnessed among the general membership.
The Tompkins award was presented by Michael J. Clark, 33º, Secretary for Valley of Las Vegas AASR, following an luncheon in Las Vegas, Nevada with Brother Alan’s father, Ill. Bro. Joel Berg, 33°, who is also a member of the Valley of Boston and resides in Nevada. Illustrious Brother Clark read a special letter from Sovereign Grand Commander Peter J. Samiec to Brother Berg and then presented him with the Tompkins Medal.
Both father and son were “beaming from ear to ear,” said Brother Clark. “Being a veteran myself, it was a pleasure and honor to present this award.”
Brother Alan Berg (holding the letter from Commander Samiec) with his father, Ill. Bro. Joel Berg
Colonel Berg, 32°, was raised a Master Mason in The Consolidated Lodge in Boston, Massachusetts and became a Scottish Rite Mason in the Valley of Boston in 1984. He served in the United States Air Force for 33 years. During that time, Colonel Berg served in many outstanding capacities, including as a Flight Surgeon in West Germany; Chief of Aerospace Medicine for the 49th Aerospace Medical Squadron; Deputy Command Surgeon for the US Joint Forces Command; and Chief of Human Factors Division for the AF Safety Center, where he oversaw all USAF mishaps and safety prevention initiatives from 2011-2013.
Upon his retirement, he had logged nearly 2000 flight hours and has flown 21 different types of aircraft, from B-52s to UH1H. In addition to the well-deserved Tompkins honor, Colonel Berg is the proud recipient of the Legion of Merit, Defense Superior Service Medal, Bronze Star, Defense Meritorious Service Medal, Kuwait Liberation Medal (Kuwait), Humanitarian Service Medal, and more.
A big congratulations to Colonel Berg, from all of us at Supreme Council!