JOINT BASE LANGLEY-EUSTIS, Va. –
Nearly 70 U.S. Air Force Junior ROTC cadets from Hampton Roads area high schools attended the annual Shadow Day at Langley Air Force Base, June 23, 2015, to get a first-hand look at Air Force operations.
The Shadow Day is part of a week-long Air Force Junior ROTC Summer Leadership program hosted at Langley. Throughout the week, cadets experience physical fitness tests, academic evaluations, dorm and uniform inspections, and drill competitions.
During the Shadow Day, the cadets followed Airmen from different career fields to see exactly how Langley Airmen contribute to the mission on a daily basis. Cadets watched demonstrations and visited work centers including civil engineering, intelligence, logistics readiness, medical, communications, maintenance, public affairs, operations support and security forces.
Staff Sgt. Jasper Roberts, 1st Operations Support Squadron aircrew flight equipment technician and Mobile, Alabama native, showed the cadets the process of handling aircrew flight equipment, such as parachutes, survival kits and helmets.
"I really enjoyed the opportunity for mentorship because I was able to showcase a different side of how we make jets fly," said Roberts. "The cadets were really enthusiastic to learn the importance of what we do and how it fits into the big picture of the mission."
Senior Airman Brandon Burns, 1st OSS airfield management shift lead and Miami native, said he wanted to give the cadets the entire scope of what his job entails, including flight plans, flight tracking and runway maintenance.
"It was exciting to show that there isn't one aspect of my job that is more important than another, but that all are extremely important to the mission," said Burns. "Being shadowed makes me feel really good, because I didn't think [my] briefing would have as big of an impact on the cadets as it has, and that I can potentially influence their future career choices."
In addition to seeing operational aspects of the mission, cadets were given an up-close look at security forces protocols, such as use of force and weapons safety. According to Tech. Sgt. Franklin Mosley, 633rd Security Forces Squadron trainer and Lawton, Oklahoma native, Shadow Day offered the cadets an opportunity to learn proper techniques in an interactive environment.
"The cadets were able to see that through the different [use of force simulator] scenarios, we have to still maintain the ability to engage or handle a situation while still executing proper safety techniques," said Mosley. "It was great to be able to show them what we do on a daily basis, and the tools we use to execute our mission. They were able to get an understanding of our training and culture; that we operate as a team, and these fundamentals carry whether home station or deployed."
Cadet Jeremiah Gaulding, a student at Newport News' Menchville High School, said the experience touring airfield management gave him greater insights into the Air Force as a whole.
"It showed me that everyone is important, that everyone does [his or her] own job, but it's for one goal - to keep everyone safe," said Gaulding. "Seeing the different types of jobs also showed me that there are more options than what I even thought, or that you can start off in one job and end up doing something different, but still remain in the Air Force."