'Mr. P:' At 80, Supervisor Remains the Backbone of One of Service's Largest C-17 Fabrication Shops

‘MR. P’

At 80, supervisor remains the backbone of one of service’s largest C-17 fabrication shops

STORY BY RANDY ROUGHTON// STAFF SGT. VERNON YOUNG JR.

22 June 2015

Mr. Bobby Pierce, 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Squadron, Joint-Base Charleston, S.C., repairman, sews a head rest cover for the interior of a C-17 Globemaster III, Feb. 28, 2015. Pierce completes work orders from C-17 maintainers to maintain aircraft safety standards. The fabrication shop saves the Air Force about $1.25 million annually on sewing refurbished and locally manufactured items.

When Bobby Pierce was learning to sew during his Air Force technical training in 1955, he never imagined he would still be teaching the skill to Airmen in his fabrication shop six decades later.
Pierce, or “Mr. P,” as he’s known in the 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Fabrication Shop at Joint Base Charleston, South Carolina, quickly made an impression on Tech. Sgt. Rico Kones when he arrived in 2001. Almost immediately, Mr. P became the person Kones looked to for guidance and information. Kones credits the veteran with teaching him how to sew, which Pierce continues to do with the shop’s Airmen.

Mr. Bobby Pierce, 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Squadron, Joint-Base Charleston, S.C., repairman, sips his morning coffee as he begins his duty day, Feb. 28, 2015. Pierce leads a fabrication shop of 10 civilians and several military members that provide a wide-range of fabrication services to the aircrews assigned to JB-Charleston.

“Mr. P is an inspiration to us all,” said Kones, an aircrew flight equipment special projects coordinator. “He is in his 80s, and he is still working here in the shop lifting heavy rolls of fabric and working out daily on his lunch break. Mr. P greets us all here daily with a smile and asks us, ‘How are you doing today?’ Although this is one of the busiest shops in (Air Mobility Command), Mr. P is always personable with the civilian members and GIs. He treats us all like family.”
Pierce is the senior of 10 civilian employees in the shop who represent more than 300 years of experience. It is one of the Air Force’s few fabrication shops that still produce all fabric-related items for aircraft. Every two years, the material in each of the base’s 50 C-17 Globemaster IIIs must be refurbished or replaced.

Mr. Bobby Pierce, 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Squadron, Joint-Base Charleston, S.C., repairman, escorts Staff Sgt. Matthew Mason, 437th Logistics Readiness Squadron non-commissioned officer in charge of documented cargo, Feb. 28, 2015. Pierce and 437th fabrication flight personnel completed a job for Mason’s crew to load onto a C-17 Globemaster III. The 437th AFE creates aircraft parts by request and the 437th LRS Airmen install the parts with the approval of the maintenance squadrons.

Employees use sheepskin to make custom cockpit seat covers Pierce calls “butt covers,” and also refurbish armrest and headrest covers, bunk cushions, heavy bunk curtains made of fire-resistant fabric and heavy-duty straps. The straps must be done on Big Bertha, the only one of the shop’s five sewing machines that can handle heavier materials. They even embroider the active-duty and reserve wing logos, along with the JB Charleston logo, into certain items so all C-17 passengers will know where the work was done.
Some shop specialists compare the work to NASCAR mechanics. In both cases, people just take the end products for granted without considering the work that went into them, Pierce said.
“If a NASCAR driver does really well, people think he was great, but they don’t know what went into that car, the work that was done on that car to put him into position to win,” he said. “But everything had to be perfect in that car for him to win. But how was it perfect? People see things like seat covers and think they magically appeared. They don’t think about the work that went into them. They just see them and don’t know the story behind them.”
Each morning, Pierce arrives at the shop early at 5:30 and makes coffee. He checks his emails and reads the newspaper over his breakfast before his shift begins an hour later. It’s a routine that has served him well since his first day on the job in 1986.

Mr. Bobby Pierce, 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Squadron, Joint-Base Charleston, S.C., repairman, guides C-17 crew chiefs’ Airman 1st Class John Williams, Senior Airmen Rahul Bhutani and Airman 1st Class Christian Moskovitz, Feb. 28, 2015. Pierce and 437th fabrication flight personnel completed a job for the Airmen to load onto a C-17 Globemaster III. The 437th AFE creates aircraft parts by request and the 437th LRS Airmen install the parts with the approval of the maintenance squadrons.

During those three decades, Pierce has witnessed the reorganization in 2007 that combined survival and equipment with aircrew life support. He’s also seen his share of other changes, such as when an Air Mobility Command commander’s ride on a C-17 led to a switch to a more comfortable bunk rest cover.
“In the early days of the C-17, Gen. (Walter) Kross rode on the aircraft and was displeased with the bunk rest cover,” Pierce said. “So it was changed to one that was much more comfortable for crew members to rest on.”

Mr. Bobby Pierce, 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Squadron, Joint-Base Charleston, S.C., repairman, sews a head rest cover for the interior of a C-17 Globemaster III, Feb. 28, 2015. Pierce completes work orders from C-17 maintainers to maintain aircraft safety standards. The fabrication shop saves the Air Force about $1.25 million annually on sewing refurbished and locally manufactured items.

Before basic training in 1955, Pierce was selected as a parachute rigger. He learned to sew, along with parachute preparedness and inspection skills, during 16 weeks of technical training at Chanute Air Force Base, Illinois.
His first assignment was at the former Hunter Air Force Base, Georgia, a Strategic Air Command installation; followed by Castle Air Force Base, California; Incirlik Air Base, Turkey and Shaw Air Force Base, South Carolina. He retired as a master sergeant in 1975 and chose to continue in the aircrew flight equipment field, first at Shaw, before he moved to his current shop 11 years later.
The one constant throughout his military and civilian careers has been his love of sewing.
“The one thing about sewing is it’s relatively a clean job,” Pierce said. “You don’t have mud and grease on your clothes normally. Also, it’s an inside job. You have air conditioning in the summer, and in the wintertime, you don’t have to be out in the elements. If you enjoy sewing, it’s kind of an art, a task in which you sew a piece of material to make it into an end item, like a cushion cover, or even a dress or pair of pants. You can do a lot of things with sewing.”

Mr. Bobby Pierce, 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Squadron, Joint-Base Charleston, S.C., repairman, guides C-17 crew chiefs’ Airman 1st Class John Williams, Senior Airmen Rahul Bhutani and Airman 1st Class Christian Moskovitz, Feb. 28, 2015. Pierce and 437th fabrication flight personnel completed a job for the Airmen to load onto a C-17 Globemaster III. The 437th AFE creates aircraft parts by request and the 437th LRS Airmen install the parts with the approval of the maintenance squadrons.

The one thing the fabrication shop does best with sewing is save the Air Force money, about $1.25 million annually, on refurbished and locally manufactured items, said Scott Lewis, an aircrew flight equipment foreman. One of the items where a big chunk of the savings is made is in heads-up display covers. The covers cost about $2,500, but the shop makes them for $150-175 each. This savings adds up to about $40,000 on each C-17, or up to about $1 million a year.
Even when the workload eases up somewhat, there is still plenty to do. This is when they get ready for the next aircraft due for refurbishing.
“We have to keep a supply of items on hand so we can change them right away and can get it back ASAP,” Pierce said. “So when things are a little slack, we make extra seat covers, bed rest covers, and we sew extra straps to make sure we have some spare sets ahead to take care of them whenever they come in. All we have to do then is strip them off and put our new covers on. We always have something to do ahead of time. To have a few extra sets really helps us out in the long run.”

Mr. Bobby Pierce, 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Squadron, Joint-Base Charleston, S.C., repairman, performs pull-ups during his lunch workout routine, Feb. 28, 2015. At 80 years old with nearly 60 years of federal and military service, his consistent workout routine has kept him abreast with the developing times and standards.

At 80 years and with almost 60 years of combined federal and military service, Pierce has no plans to retire. That suits the others in the shop just fine. They’ve grown accustomed to seeing his smiling face and carrying large pieces of fabric as if they were a few pieces of notebook paper.
“I’ve worked around a lot of older people in my career,” Kones said. “They talk about when they retire, they will go home with nothing to do. They need a mission to accomplish to keep them going. He has one.
“He’s the oldest in the shop, but we look at him as our Hercules because you will see him carrying around 25-pound fabric on one shoulder. Mr. P is the backbone of our section. He’s back there day in and day out, making sure our aircraft are looking good.”
But perhaps another lasting legacy Pierce will eventually leave the shop will be his role in inspiring another generation of mentors who are willing to go the extra mile for their own Airmen. Kones considers himself in that category.

Mr. Bobby Pierce, 437th Aircrew Flight Equipment Squadron, Joint-Base Charleston, S.C., repairman, displays his Air Force basic training portrait and squadron photo above his desk, Feb. 28, 2015. After retiring as a Master Sergeant in 1975, his dedication to the military continued and his love for sewing grew. As the leader of a long-standing fabrication shop, he remains the backbone of one of the premiere jobs in the Air Force.

“One of the biggest lessons that Mr. P has showed me about the shop and my career is that I am a leader, and it is my duty to ensure that the mission is getting accomplished and that my people are taken care of,” Kones said. “He showed me that if you take care of your people, they will take care of you. If you are there just working your people with no gratification, they will work because they have to for the paycheck. But if you show them that they matter, and that they are doing a good job, they will go that extra mile because of you.”

- See more at: http://airman.dodlive.mil/2015/06/mr-p/#sthash.2xJVDgMV.dpuf

Daily Deployed: RPA crewmembers prepare to fight each day they arrive for duty

DAILY DEPLOYED

RPA crewmembers prepare to fight each day they arrive for duty

 STORY BY RANDY ROUGHTON// PHOTOS BY STAFF SGT. VERNON YOUNG JR.

6 July 2015

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The Airmen of the 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, have a much different deployed experience than most other members of the Air Force. While they operate from Creech and come home to their families at the end of their shift, they’re responsible for missions happening across the world in Iraq and Afghanistan. This brings a whole new layer of issues these Airmen must overcome to perform their duties.
(U.S. Air Force video // Andrew Arthur Breese)

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After working the night shift as a newly arrived remotely piloted aircraft pilot at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, Maj. Jeremy slept on a mattress that snugly fit in his closet. He resorted to the unusual sleeping arrangement to get the rest he needed during the day as his three children played freely in the house.

Maj. Jeremy, a 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing MQ-9 Reaper pilot, spends time in his closet sleeping. During the day, Jeremy set up a bed in his closet to prevent his children from awakening him. His shift work demands that he work while his children are in bed and sleep while his children are awake.

At night, once the children were in bed, Maj. Jeremy gave his wife, Nikki, a kiss before he began his 35-minute commute from their north Las Vegas home to his midnight shift at Creech AFB, where he still pilots an armed remotely piloted aircraft 7,000 miles away in Afghanistan.
Unlike deployed manned aircraft pilots, Maj. Jeremy returns home after each shift fighting the war. However, he describes himself as feeling like “a ghost in the morning,” because he had to spend so much of his time catching up on his sleep while the rest of the family members went about their daily business. Some of the most heart-wrenching moments involved missing his children’s activities, such as his oldest son’s Little League baseball games and then 4-year-old daughter’s first dance recital.

Maj. Jeremy, a 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing MQ-9 Reaper pilot, enjoys some play time with his son. Jeremy values the quality time with his children even more because of his demanding work schedule. While working the swing shift, Jeremy found it hard to get in quality time with his children because of the conflicting schedules.

“Leaving home to go to a war zone is a mindset,” the former C-5 Galaxy pilot said. “It’s a huge emotional roller coaster, leaving the stressors of my family behind and inheriting new stressors on the way to work. It was a huge mindset change, and I had to have that capability to be able to wear different hats, being Dad and going in and fighting the war.”

Col. Jim Cluff, 432nd Expeditionary Air Wing commander, stands in an MQ-9 Reaper hangar doorway at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, May 4, 2015. The 432d is the first wing totally dedicated to operating remotely piloted aircraft: the MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper, and RQ-170 Sentinel. The wing has flown aircraft in Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom for intelligence surveillance reconnaissance and tactical missions, flown by pilots and sensor operators in the United States.

Most of the 432^nd Air Expeditionary Wing “Hunter” Airmen use their commutes to prepare their minds to be in a wartime mindset at work, said Col. Jim Cluff, the 432^nd AEW commander.

Col. Jim Cluff, 432nd Air Expeditionary Wing commander, is photographed at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. The 432nd AEW is the first wing totally dedicated to operating remotely piloted aircraft: the MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper and RQ-170 Sentinel. The wing has flown aircraft in Operations Enduring and Iraqi Freedom for intelligence, surveillance, reconnaissance and tactical missions, flown by pilots and sensor operators in the United States.

“I ask them every time they come through that gate to have a deployed mindset and a warfighter mentality,” Cluff said. “But then I want them to undeploy every day and every night when they drive home. It puts a lot of stressors on our Airmen when you ask them to do that every day.”
Each shift is like a police stakeout from thousands of feet away. The pilot flies the RPA while working with his sensor operator and intelligence analyst to look for patterns of life and day-to-day interactions on the ground. The crews provide around-the-clock intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance support to troops on the ground. In addition, the RPAs often search for high-value terrorist targets and sometimes launch missile strikes.

Airman 1st Class Tyler, a 432nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron MQ-9 Reaper maintainer, inspects the wing of the aircraft after a training mission at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. Maintainers provide a visual inspection to the remotely piloted aircraft to detect cracks and prevent possible malfunctions for future missions. As an RPA maintainer, he works closely with pilots, sensor operators and intelligence officers to complete each mission objective.

“All of those (missile strike) decisions are made away from Creech AFB and Cannon (Air Force Base, New Mexico) in the theater, as they should be,” Cluff said. “In the end, we all have a vote, as well. My Airmen have a vote at the end of the day because they’re the ones pulling the trigger and guiding the weapon. If they’re not comfortable with the shot, they won’t take it. (RPA crewmembers) are professional Airmen, they are professional aviators, and that profession brings responsibility. That responsibility is if I’m going to take a life today, I’m going to take a life knowing that it’s the right thing to do.”

An MQ-9 Reaper flies a test mission over Creech Air Force Base, Nevada, May 6, 2015. The MQ-1 Predator is an armed, multi-mission, medium-altitude, long-endurance remotely piloted aircraft that is employed primarily as an intelligence-collection asset and secondarily against dynamic execution targets.

In addition to conducting missile strikes, RPAs are also used to gather intelligence. That information is then collected, processed, exploited, analyzed and disseminated through the Air Force Distributed Common Ground System. The DCGS, which consists of 27 geographically separated network sites, produces intelligence information from data collected by sensors on the MQ-1 Predator, MQ-9 Reaper, RQ-4 Global Hawk and other intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance platforms. The 480^th Intelligence, Surveillance and Reconnaissance Wing at Langley Air Force Base, Virginia, executes worldwide DCGS operations.
RPA pilots can fly up to almost four times the average of 300 hours flown by manned aircraft pilots. While most people connect RPAs with protecting troops and hunting terrorist targets, they can also save lives, as the RQ-4 Global Hawk and RQ-1 Predator did in damage assessments and assisting aide convoys after the earthquake in Haiti in 2010. They also continue to deal with myths about the job. They particularly dislike the word “drone,” because they feel it carries a connotation of an aircraft potentially delivering a strike without human decision-making.
“Every Predator can fly for almost 24 hours,” Cluff said. “That is a lot of video to look at, and it takes a lot of people to do that. So it’s a manpower intensive operation we are involved in.

Maj. Bishane, a 432nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron MQ-9 Reaper pilot, controls an aircraft from Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. Remotely piloted aircraft pilots work closely with intelligence officers, sensor operators and maintainers to complete mission objectives. RPA personnel deal with the stressors of a deployed military service member while maintaining the normalcy of a day-to-day life through programs designed to enhance communication skills, family and spiritual growth.

“We fly airplanes from here around the world 7,000 miles away, and there’s always a man or woman in the loop. That loop just happens to be 7,000 miles wide, and there is always somebody involved in the decision-making.”
Another myth many people have about RPA pilots is that they are nothing more than glorified video game players, said Maj. Bishane, an RPA pilot who volunteered for RPA duty.
“What I tell people is ‘Yes, if you play video games, there are certain skill sets that may translate,’” Maj. Bishane said. “‘However, the individual you’re watching is a real person, and perhaps the family, and it starts to sink in that this is a real-life thing happening, and you have to manage your emotions appropriately. Because if a ground commander decides you need to pull the trigger and execute the strike, this is an individual that perhaps you’ve been watching for a long time, and you start to learn about them in some respects. Now you have to execute that strike and you may see the aftermath, in terms of a funeral or something like that. Yes, you’re looking at them through a screen, so you’re not necessarily right there. However, you start talking about how much you’re watching the target, and it becomes a more intimate ballet with you and that target.’”
RPA pilots obviously don’t face the same immediate physical risks their counterparts in manned aircraft experience directly over their targets. However, combat, whether from directly over the enemy or from a world away, still delivers an emotional toll. A 2011 study at the School of Aerospace Medicine at Wright-Patterson Air Force Base, Ohio, found that almost half of RPA pilots experience high operational stress severe enough to disrupt their personal lives.

A remotely piloted aircraft maintainer assigned to the 432nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron removes wheel chalks from a MQ-9 Reaper after a training mission at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. Aircraft maintainers and pilots work together to greet the aircraft upon each landing.

“There is a safety net physically, but emotionally we have to put up with a lot,” Maj. Jeremy said. “We have so many different roles to play, switches to flip and different hats to wear that the emotional and mental toughness you need to do it is sometimes as dangerous as the physical aspect of being in the war.”
Chaplain (Capt.) Zac does his part each day to help take care of the wing’s Hunter family during visits with the 432nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron Reaper weapons expediters, followed by chit-chats with maintainers in an RPA hangar.

Airman 1st Class Zack Snell, a 432nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron MQ-9 Reaper aircraft maintainer, performs pre-flight checks prior to a mission at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. Snell, a dedicated crew chief, performs daily maintenance tasks to prepare himself and the aircraft for future deployments. Maintainers work closely with pilots and sensor operators to load artillery and equipment essential to each mission. The pilot trusts the hands of the maintainers to deliver a well-equipped and mechanically sound aircraft.

“Take it easy,” he tells them as he says goodbye with a handshake. “Holler if you need anything.”
The chaplain is part of a unique human performance team that combines chaplaincy staff with a psychologist, a physiologist and a physician that are available 24/7 to provide counseling and guidance.
“There needs to be a daily presence,” Chaplain Zac said. “Sometimes I can look in someone’s eyes and say, ‘Airman, you don’t look like you did yesterday.’ But that means I or the chaplain’s assistant were there yesterday. That daily contact gives us the ability to notice those things and intervene before it’s too late.”
Post-traumatic stress disorder amounts to a small percentage of what the human performance team sees in RPA crewmembers. More often, they see combat stress and relationship issues, he said.

Airman 1st Class Zack Snell, a 432nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron MQ-9 Reaper aircraft maintainer, performs pre-flight checks prior to a mission at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. Snell, a dedicated crew chief, performs daily maintenance tasks to prepare himself and the aircraft for future deployments. Maintainers work closely with pilots and sensor operators to load artillery and equipment essential to each mission. The pilot trusts the hands of the maintainers to deliver a well-equipped and mechanically sound aircraft.

“We’re in combat. As a result, we are deployed in place, and that brings certain stresses and difficulties in people’s lives,” he said. “Most of the things we deal with are relationship oriented, but that’s a part of being away from your family so much and being in a difficult environment.
“We have to have relationships, and the only way we can have relationships is through access. So we have to have the same clearances other people have. We have to be able to walk where they walk and work where they work,” Chaplain Zac said. In doing that, we build relationships, which allows us to have proactive care rather than reactive care. We don’t just want to put people back together. We want to prevent people from breaking in the first place.”
One of the ways Maj. Jeremy stays strong is by remembering conversations with some of the service members RPAs protected when he was deployed . That’s how he and his fellow RPA crewmembers know the importance of the job they’re doing on this small base in the Nevada desert.

A MQ-1 Predator and a MQ-9 Reaper assigned to the 432nd Aircraft Maintenance Squadron remain ready for their next mission at Creech Air Force Base, Nevada. The two aircraft have provided intelligence, surveillance and reconnaissance during Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom.

Fortunately, Maj. Jeremy no longer sleeps in his closet. He now works a day shift so he can make his son’s baseball games and other family activities. Still, there are days when he wonders if he can continue to successfully balance his family responsibilities with the demands of a continuous wartime mission. However, there are always those days that reinforce the importance of the RPA mission.
“Some days, you go to work and think this is awesome,” he said. “Other days, you feel really burned out and think, ‘Do I really want to do this for another 10 to 12 years? But then I hear from some of the guys we support and leave work in a completely different mood than when I went in.”

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Maj. Jeremy’s struggle to balance mission and family is typical of the life of remotely piloted aircraft pilots. Manning remains a critical issue for the Air Force as MQ-1 Predator and MQ-9 Reaper operations have surged nine times in eight years. The Air Force needs 1,700 pilots but only has 1,000 fully trained, according to Air Force Chief of Staff Gen. Mark A. Welsh III. The service needs 300 newly trained pilots annually, but is only getting about 150, with almost 250 leaving the field each year, Welsh said.
Earlier this year, Secretary of the Air Force Deborah Lee James announced short-term actions in an “RPA get-well plan.” Those actions included incentive pay increases and bonuses for crews, directing additional funds to the mission, augmenting current crew manning, increasing the number of pilot graduates and increasing the use of Guard and Reserve Airmen, as well as contractors. Also, Secretary of Defense Ash Carter approved resetting the combat air patrol planning guidance to show the decrease in patrols from 65 to 60 to alleviate the RPA community’s state of constant surge. The Air Force also plans to mobilize reserve component forces to take on three patrols and is working on funding actions to relieve RPA crewmembers’ stress. The service recently added almost $8 million into the RPA program to increase technical school capacity, increase reserve component manpower augmentation days and contract some downrange and recovery efforts.

- See more at: http://airman.dodlive.mil/2015/07/daily-deployed/#sthash.TKHpJXnn.dpuf

Horseback Security: Air Force's only active horse patrol helps protect Vandenberg's humans and wildlife

The buckskin quarter horse’s brown coat glistened in the California sunshine as Reserve Staff Sgt. Lauren Daniels brushed it outside his stall.

“You’re such a good boy, Duke,” the 30th Security Forces Squadron conservation law enforcement patrolman told the horse before she heard a loud snort behind her. “You’re coming, too, Patton,” Daniels then reassured the white palomino who was named after one of the most famous generals in American history. “We’re not leaving without you.”

Daniels and her fellow patrolman, Staff Sgt. Kevin Danis, then saddled the two horses and loaded them on a trailer for their patrol of the Vandenberg Air Force Base beaches.

Reserve Staff Sgt. Lauren Daniels gives a morning greet to Duke by petting and talking to him while checking for any cuts he may have sustained during the night.

The mounted horse patrolmen’s job requires considerable patience and work to care for the horses and prepare them for patrolling the base’s challenging terrain that ranges from rough hills to sandy beaches. Each of the four horses, including two other quarter horses named Buck and Trooper, has his own individual personality, strengths and quirks, Daniels said.

“A horse is kind of like if you mixed a dog and a toddler together and then made it 1,500 pounds,” she said. “Like a dog, you have to learn how to work with each one, or they will just shut down. You have to be patient and take the time to get to know them, like you would any co-worker, so you will have a good working relationship.”

During this Saturday shift, the patrolmen were specifically on the lookout for violators of the beach areas that were closed to protect the Western snowy plover’s nesting season. They issued three tickets for the violation.

About 20 percent of California’s Western Snowy Plovers are at Vandenberg AFB. The small shorebird, which ranges between 1.3 and 2 ounces, is federally listed under the Endangered Species Act. The birds nest in dunes, and their pebble-sized eggs on the base’s three beaches are vulnerable from March 1 through Sept. 30.

The Western Snowy Plovers, along with ensuring no people are in the unauthorized areas for the base’s space launches, are the primary reasons for the horse patrol at Vandenberg, although they have also had an impact in other ways, such as rescuing hunters and crowd control during protests of the missile launches.

After completing the first stretch of a beach patrol, Reserve Staff Sgt. Lauren Daniels and Staff Sgt. Kevin Danis take a short break before returning back. Portions of the beach at Vandenberg Air Force Base, California are closed off annually to help protect the Western snowy plover, listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, and its nesting habitat that burrows in the sand along the beach. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Andrew Lee)

“The need for a mounted horse unit was twofold,” said Wayne Moses, 30th SFS lead conservation law enforcement officer. “The initial justification was for the backcountry sweeps inside the impact limit line during our launches. The second reason is we aren’t allowed to ride mechanized vehicles such as (all-terrain vehicles) on the beaches during snowy plover nesting season. During nesting season, it’s wiser to use the horses to patrol because they have less impact on the environment.

“There’s nothing like the mounted horse patrol in the Air Force, nothing like it in the armed forces. We are the sole law enforcement patrol that uses horses.”

Each morning, the unit’s NCOIC, Staff Sgt. Veronica Beyer, and other conservation law enforcement patrolmen arrive at the stables to feed the horses and check them for any cuts they may have sustained during the night, and clean the pens. Previously, the patrolmen would put hay in the feed bins, but the horses would scatter it with their snouts while trying to get to oats and molasses, Beyer said. This led to the horses ingesting a lot of sand, which could lead to the potentially fatal colic. Beyer’s research led to inexpensive hay nets, which are placed about eye-level with the horse. The nets not only help the horses’ digestion and decrease the risk of diseases and stomach ailments, but also forced them to eat slower. Beyer also trains the patrolmen to learn techniques like grooming and tacking and how to pick up clues on the horse’s behavior. She also provides desensitization training for the horses to get them accustomed to objects that frighten them, such as plastic bags.

“Plastic bags are the biggest thing,” she said. “We take things that are scary to horses and just get them gradually used to it. They’ve all gotten used to plastic bags except Buck. He’s still terrified of them, like he thinks the bag is going to eat him.”

Vandenberg Air Force Base, California has the only remaining mounted horse patrol in the Air Force, which helps them patrol the beaches and other austere environments where vehicles can’t go. The patrol team is comprised of seven Airmen from the 30th Security Forces Squadron who are the base’s conservation law enforcement patrolmen. The patrolmen are accompanied by four military horses – Patton, Duke, Trooper and Buck.

Vandenberg’s mounted horse patrol, the Air Force’s only remaining horse unit used for law enforcement, helps the squadron cover the base’s almost 100,000 acres and 40 miles of coastline and protect the space launch mission. They ensure there are no unauthorized people from the coastline to the main roads, where normal patrols can’t go, and take the horses on the mountain side of the base for south side launches, Daniels said.

“They also play an intimidation factor,” she said. “People don’t really want to mess with any cop on a horse.”

While on mounted patrol on the beach or on one of the base’s rugged hills, the conservation security forces members survey their surroundings and constantly talk to their horses.

“Calm, active and alert would describe some of the feelings that constantly go through my mind when on patrol,” said Staff Sgt. Michael J. Vera, another conservation law enforcement patrolman. “I must remain calm in all situations that arise that might spook the military working horse and work him through it. I must actively sustain positive control over the MWH. Lastly, staying alert. Being aware of our surroundings helps me foresee any obstacle that we might come across while patrolling.”

The relationship with the military working horse is vital. The patrolmen spend a lot of time with the horses to create the bond that’s necessary for them to work as a team on patrol, Vera said.

During the mornings, Reserve Staff Sgt. Lauren Daniels mucks out the horse stables as part of checklist to maintain the proper upkeep of the military equines for the mounted horse patrol and their stables.

“There’s a relationship that has to be built when going on a mounted patrol,” he said. “That’s why we spend the majority of our time with the horses. That time spent with them creates a bond between rider and horse. All four horses have different personalities and temperaments. I put all my trust in the horse when I’m patrolling the beach. Likewise, he puts trust in me that I’m leading him to all the right places.”

The importance of the working relationship between the patrolmen and horses to the base’s space mission was one factor that led retired Chief Master Sgt. David Ybarra to bring the mounted patrol to Vandenberg about two decades ago.

Today, retired Chief Master Sgt. David Ybarra owns a diner near the base with his wife, but in 1994, he was manager of what was then the 30th Security Police Squadron when his NCO in charge, Master Sgt. Jim Mercer, suggested the idea to him. Ybarra immediately saw the need for a horse patrol to support the space mission, provide crowd control during protests of the space mission and resolve concerns about the snowy plovers.

Ybarra called a friend at Howard Air Base, Panama, which was about to close and disband its own horse patrol, which would send the horses back into the logistics system. Instead, Ybarra’s squadron received the four horses and then bought two more from a northern California rancher for a price that also included patrolmen training.

Even with the protests about missile launches in the height of the space program, the base never had a security incident, and Ybarra gives some of the credit to the horse patrol.

Military horses bathe in the sunlight while in their stables at the Vandenberg Saddle Club near Vandenberg Air Force Base, California. The 30th Security Forces Squadron has a team of Airmen who are Vandenberg AFB conservation law enforcement patrolmen.

“I think the biggest impact for me as security police manager was how it enhanced our ability to provide protection for our launches,” said Ybarra, who retired in 1999. “We have some areas out there that are pretty rugged, and it would be easy for a criminal element to hide and want to do damage to our resources, especially during a launch. Everybody sees the public relations portion of the space launches, but for me, as a cop and a military man, the biggest benefit was being able to increase the security for our mission here on Vandenberg.”

Judge, the last of the original four horses the patrol received from Panama, was retired in 2011, along with Willie, who was purchased from a rancher. The patrol came close to being phased out, but was saved by the 30th SFS commander, Lt. Col. Michelle Stringer. Not only did she keep the mounted horse unit, but she also authorized the purchase of six more horses, Moses said.

So two decades after the first horses arrived at Vandenberg AFB, horses and their patrolmen are still working together to protect both people and wildlife safe. As an indication of their relationship, Beyer constantly rubs her horse’s neck and talks to him as if he’s another patrolman.

“I like to take the time to be fully focused on the horse because even though they can’t talk to us, you can learn a lot from their body language, and they are speaking to you, in a sense,” Beyer said. “That’s why you need to have that connection with your horse. You know their mannerisms, when they’re upset, when they’re not, and they listen to you, even though they can’t understand us, they definitely understand our tone. They feed off of our energy completely. So if you’re nervous or upset, it’s going to make them nervous or upset.”

Reserve Staff Sgt. Lauren Daniels and Staff Sgt. Kevin Danis patrol alongside the Pacific Ocean on the closed sections of beach on Vandenberg Air Force Base, California to ensure there are no trespassers. Portions of the beach are closed-off to help protect the Western snowy plover, listed as a threatened species under the Endangered Species Act, and its nesting habitat that burrows in the sand along the beach.

Beyer, who has been riding horses since the age of 9 and was also involved in equestrian jumping, joined the conservation section in November 2011 and became NCO in charge about a year ago.

“When you’re around a horse, everything that is going on in your life, all of the craziness, just kind of goes away,” she said. “It’s like my Zen place, if you will.”

Since most of the patrolmen have little or no experience with horses before joining, Beyer is in charge of training, both for them and the horses. As long as they don’t have a deathly fear of the animals, Beyer says she can teach them. She starts at the beginning with hand and leg placement and signs to look for that the horse is getting stressed or upset. One of the biggest lessons is teaching them that because horses are pack animals, they want someone to be their leader. So she emphasizes the patrolman learn to become the horse’s “alpha.”

“When these guys first came, they’d never been around horses,” she said. “To see them from then to now, it makes me very proud. At the end of the day, this is a 1,200-pound animal that can kill you. So I try to minimize that before they even go out there.”

Reserve Staff Sgt. Lauren Daniels ties up a hay net for Buck, a military horse for Vandenberg Air Force Base’s mounted horse patrol. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Andrew Lee)

Daniels was one of those patrolmen with little experience with horses when she joined the conservation section about two years after she arrived at Vandenberg AFB in late 2006. But now, as she returns to the stables at the end of the day to feed and groom the horses, Daniels greets the animals as she would if they were her personal pets.

“Coming from a place where I didn’t know anything about horses and never having been around them much to how it is now, it’s like going home and saying hi to my family,” she said. “You know everything about them, how they’re going to act and react, and as you get to know them, they get to know you, and it’s because of those interactions that we can still get the job done so well.”

Just to prove the point, Daniels and Beyer say goodnight to Buck, Duke, Patton and Trooper before they close the stables doors, only to return to begin another day on the horse patrol the following morning.

- See more at: http://airman.dodlive.mil/2015/06/horseback-security/#sthash.lUTPzGlf.dpuf

Lessons From Beneath: Adaptive Scuba Diving Becomes Important Outlet for Wounded Warriors

LESSONS FROM BENEATH

Adaptive scuba diving becomes important outlet for wounded warriors

STORY BY RANDY ROUGHTON

24 November 2014

A Wounded Warrior participate in a scuba diving class at Spring Lake in San Marcos, Texas. The Center for the Intrepid provides rehabilitation for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans who have sustained amputation, burns, or functional limb loss. (Courtesy photo/George Cummings)

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Even though the retired staff sergeant was interested in adaptive scuba diving, one obstacle was in the way, and it wasn’t his amputated right leg. Keith Morlan was terrified of drowning.
This phobia, which pre-dated both his motorcycle accident in 2007 and further injuries during a deployment to Afghanistan, made Morlan skeptical when he was introduced to adaptive scuba diving while undergoing rehabilitation at the Center for the Intrepid, part of the San Antonio Military Medical Center at Fort Sam Houston, Texas.

Keith Morlan packs up his scuba gear after participating in a scuba diving class at Spring Lake in San Marcos, Texas. The Center for the Intrepid provides rehabilitation for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom casualties who have sustained amputation, burns, or functional limb loss, and provides education to DoD and Department of Veteran’s Affairs professionals on cutting edge rehabilitation modalities, and to promote research in the fields of Orthopedics, prosthetics, physical and occupational rehabilitation. (U.S. Air Force photo/ Staff Sgt. Jonathan Snyder)

“When I was first introduced to scuba diving, I had my nervousness because of my phobia about drowning,” said Morlan, who medically retired from his Air Force cable antenna maintenance career in 2011. “But my therapist told me about how we would sit in the classroom and talk about how we were going to scuba dive, the equipment we wear, and the warning signs if we were to expect any trouble. I think for a lot of us in the class who all had surgery for our amputations, life as we knew it had changed forever, but I think this gave us a sense that we were not the only ones going through what we were going through. We could actually do a lot more than we thought we could do.”
In Spring Lake, located at the headwaters of the San Marcos River in south central Texas, as well as in the Gulf of Mexico during a trip to Panama City Beach, Fla., the following week, the wounded warrior divers discovered a sense of self-confidence and awareness that can sometimes be difficult to find in activities on the surface. In the water, it mattered so little that they were missing a limb that all six divers left their prosthetic arms and legs on the dock.

A prosthetic leg and wheelchair sit on the dock while Wounded Warriors participate in a scuba diving class at Spring Lake in San Marcos, Texas. The Center for the Intrepid provides rehabilitation for Operation Iraqi Freedom and Operation Enduring Freedom veterans, and education to DoD and Department of Veteran’s Affairs professionals on cutting edge rehabilitation modalities to promote research in the fields of Orthopedics, prosthetics, physical and occupational rehabilitation. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Cory Payne)

“I don’t believe today we have anybody who’s using a prosthetic underwater,” said Mark Heniser, a Center for the Intrepid physical therapist. “We have done that in the past, and we can adapt to that. But for the most part, they do far better by leaving their arm or leg on the dock and just learn how to swim with one arm or leg. They can control their buoyancy better. The bottom line is an artificial limb, even if it’s an aid on the surface, is an anchor under water.”
The program is a partnership with Duggan Diving in nearby Universal City, Texas, and also sponsored by the Air Warriors Foundation and a local organization called Red River Rats, along with The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment on the Texas State University campus in San Marcos.
The divers receive four nights of classroom instruction, followed by three nights of diving in the base swimming pool and four dives in two days in open water at Spring Lake, part of The Meadows’ management plan. The divers who made their certification dive practiced donning and taking off their masks, rescuing a diver in distress and an unconscious diver, fixing gear underwater, and navigation with a compass, both on the surface and beneath.

A Wounded Warrior participates in a scuba diving class at Spring Lake in San Marcos, Texas. The dive in the clear waters of Spring Lake was the culmination of the veterans’ National Association for Underwater Instructors adaptive scuba diving certification through the Center for the Intrepid. (U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Cory Payne)

The dive in the clear waters of Spring Lake was the culmination of the veterans’ National Association for Underwater Instructors adaptive scuba diving certification through the Center for the Intrepid. The center has taught scuba diving to more than 600 wounded and injured service members since the program’s inception in 2005, Heniser said.
“Adaptive scuba diving really gives these guys a true sense of accomplishment and self-confidence, in that they can do this sport, and scuba is a sport, as well as any able-bodied person,” Heniser said. “What we actually do is we put them through a regular scuba program and then help them to adapt.
“But for me, personally, it’s become very gratifying over the years to see some of these guys I may see in their beds two or three days after they were injured,” he said. “Then, over the course of several months, I see them learn to walk and run, we get them into the pool for the first time without their limbs, and then they progress to something like scuba. It’s almost like seeing someone in your family grow. It is even more gratifying to be contacted three or four years later by someone thanking me or our organization for getting them started because they’ve just been on a scuba trip with their wives in Florida, Hawaii or the Caribbean because this is one sport they can do throughout their lives.”

Wounded Warriors takes a group photo before starting a scuba diving class at Spring Lake in San Marcos, Texas. The Center for the Intrepid is in partnership with Duggan Diving in nearby Universal City, Texas, and sponsored by the Air Warriors Foundation and a local organization called Red River Rats, along with The Meadows Center for Water and the Environment on the Texas State University campus in San Marcos.(U.S. Air Force photo/Senior Airman Cory Payne)

Since his introduction to adaptive scuba diving, Morlan still has his phobia of the water, but like his recovery from injury, he’s learned to adapt. He has added whitewater kayaking to adaptive scuba.
“I haven’t overcome my fear of drowning, but I have become a lot more relaxed around the water,” Morlan said. “I don’t think you really know what you can do unless you try it. With scuba diving, you obviously have the air tanks, but it’s allowed me to be able to interact more with the water.
“Under the water, once you can clear your ears and the pressure goes away, you feel the tranquility of hearing the ocean water because all you hear are the bubbles coming out of the respirator. It’s soothing that you just get to hang out and be relaxed in the water. After learning different kicks and different styles, I was really surprised I was able to overcome my fear and enjoy it because I was able to maneuver around as if I had no disability at all.”

Wounded Warriors participate in a scuba diving class at Spring Lake in San Marcos, Texas. The Center for the Intrepid’s mission is the collaboration of a multi-disciplinary team, providing state-of-the-art amputee care and assisting patients as they return to the highest levels of physical, psychological and emotional function. (U.S. Air Force photo/Staff Sgt. Jonathan Snyder)

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Making Airmen: MTI pushes trainees through eight weeks of basic training

The blue, round-brimmed hat of the 6-foot-3 military training instructor towers over the unfortunate young trainee who attracted its wearer’s attention. The eyes of the future Airmen on the trainee’s left and right widen as they stand at attention, relieved they aren’t on the receiving end of this specific example of what the MTI calls “the shock and awe effect.”
“Don’t shake your head at the position of attention, trainee,” Tech. Sgt. Chananyah S. Stuart corrects in his distinct Virgin Islands’ accent. “You will pay attention to me, whether you want to or not. You will pay attention to everything I say and everything I’m going to do.”
Later, one of the witnesses of the flight’s first encounter with its MTI, Trainee Charles Stackhouse expressed feelings of apprehension about what Stuart would be like as an instructor.“My first impression of Tech. Sgt. Stuart was a little scary,” said Stackhouse, who would eventually become the flight’s element leader. “I wasn’t exactly intimidated, but it was different from anything I’d ever experienced, and I was definitely nervous.”
Tech. Sgt. Chananyah Stuart reminds a trainee of the procedures for entering the dining facility. Stuart, a 323rd Training Squadron military training instructor, is extra demanding on his trainees from the very beginning because he believes it sets them up for success.
Little do the members of the 323rd Training Squadron’s Flight 552 realize how their impressions of their MTI will change throughout the eight-and-a-half weeks of basic military training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. By the mid-point of their training, Stackhouse, dorm chief Justin Parker, and others will not only adopt some of their MTI’s favorite sayings like “speed and intensity,” but also his marching cadence, complete with his accent on certain syllables. Flight 552 forms for the first time at about 1 a.m. outside the base’s new BMT Reception Center, located a conveniently short march across the drill pad to the squadron. Stuart is joined by five other MTIs to help “motivate” the flight as he marched them to their home for the next few months.“We will do everything quick, fast and in a hurry,” Stuart tells his new flight. The trainees will soon learn that everything their MTI tells them will include those same three ingredients. The trainees’ night of shock and awe continues as they are introduced to their dormitory. Stuart has a lot of information to give the trainees and only an hour and a half before 2:30 a.m., when they need to be in their bunks with lights out.“Face your wall lockers right now,” he tells them. “Yell out that number. Find the number on your bed right now. Find your security drawer right now.”Later, Stuart gives the 52 trainees one of the biggest lessons they will learn during “zero week,” when he shows them around their dorm. Tech. Sgt. Chananyah Stuart inspects his flight’s dorm after a surprise inspection produced several discrepancies. Flight 552 is in their final week of training, and Stuart, a military training instructor, uses the inspections to fight complacency amongst the trainees. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Jeffrey Allen)“This is no longer called a bathroom,” Stuart says. “It is the latrine. You are not at home anymore.”The Flight 552 trainees might have been surprised to learn their MTI has not always been comfortable with raising his voice. Stuart learned his MTI package was approved while en route to a deployment in Afghanistan in 2011. The generally soft-spoken civil engineer NCO trained his voice to become accustomed to yelling by the time he reported for MTI duty in June 2012. Stuart’s fellow MTIs have taken notice of the ease with which he transforms from an easygoing gentleman to get into a trainee’s face at the slightest drop in military bearing.“He will be smiling at you one minute, then his face turns to stone like a light switch,” said Staff Sgt. Dennis Weiss, as he watched Stuart counsel a trainee from the “Snake Pit,” the dreaded table where the instructors sit in the dining facility. “All you see is this instant change of face.”Military training instructor, Master Sgt. Julio Alarcon, asks a basic military trainee why he can’t deliver a proper military reporting statement. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Jeffrey Allen) Stuart is always wearing the stern face when he teaches drill, how to give a reporting statement, the wearing of the uniform, and making dust cover beds because he considers all four indicators of the flight’s progress, as well as for individual trainees.“The beds are the meat and potatoes of the dorm,” Stuart said. “If the beds look good, you know it will be an outstanding flight. If not, you can tell the flight doesn’t have that pride. So you have to be sure you give them that good info.”MTIs must also keep vital flight information accessible at all times. Like all MTIs at Lackland, Stuart must carry a flight notebook whenever he leads a flight. The notebook includes the weekly schedule, flight roster, appointment slips and the white armband roster, which identifies any trainees who are especially susceptible to the heat. Inside Stuart’s hat is a heat chart that tells him what he’s allowed to do with the trainees under conditions that put the squadron under red or black flag. His own water bottle is in one hand or nearby any time he’s outside under the late-summer San Antonio sun. Despite the heat, both from the Texas summer and from their instructor,the flightsurvived zero week, and moved on to the first full week of training, which consists of M-16 weapon identification, breakdown and assembly; maintaining the trainees’ personal living areas and Stuart’s favorite – marching and drill.“Let’s go! You are way too slow for my taste right now,” he yells at one trainee before pulling him out of formation for more intensive drill intervention. Military training instructor, Tech. Sgt. Chananyah Stuart, leads Flight 552 on the “Airman’s Run” in the basic military training reception center auditorium. Stuart keeps his flight in step by calling cadence with his fingers because the noise made by cheering parents and family members make it difficult for trainees to hear him. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Jeffrey Allen)“We see everything,” Stuart tells the trainee. “If we see something and don’t say anything, it’s probably just because we have given up on that trainee. But we see everything.”Toward the end of the first full week, there is a subtle change in how the instructor barks out orders. He begins to let them in on the reasoning behind the madness, as when he checks to make sure everyone’s buttons are fastened on their Airman battle uniform.“I want to see if you are paying attention to detail,” Stuart tells his flight. “Why? Because many of you will be working on aircraft. If you can’t put that one screw where it’s supposed to go, millions of dollars and some lives go down the drain. This is why we do everything we do, so you can pay attention to detail.” “Right now, they are starting to see the big picture,” Stuart said later. “Because everything we do right now, we relate to the big picture of the operational Air Force.”In the second week of training, as the flight begins classes to prepare for the Basic Expeditionary Airmen Skills Training, which occurs in week six, drill training makes major strides. Stuart teaches marching concepts, such as left and right step, columns left and right, formation of the flight, rest positions, how to count off, and other essential drill concepts. The trainees are also becoming proficient in making their beds the way he taught them, along with their dorm details.“Good to hook?” Stuart asks the flight after teaching them columns left and right, his way of checking for comprehension. Another time, he concludes a correction with, “It’s common sense,” spreading his arms wide to emphasize the point. During week three, trainees receive their name tags and tapes, dog tags and their common access cards, which are kept with their paperwork until they leave BMT. Stuart also teaches them about their military pay. Other than a few infractions, for the most part, Stuart is pleased with the flight’s progress. He can hear the confidence in how they are snapping off their reporting statements.“Every time you do something well that we tell you to do, you’re getting closer to becoming Airmen,” he tells them. Tech. Sgt. Chananyah Stuart, a military training instructor, stands in front of his flight before beginning physical training at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland, Texas. The flight is in its eighth and final week of Air Force basic military training. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Jeffrey Allen) By week four, Stuart has the flight moving on to what he likes to call “cruise control.” He no longer has to tell them everything, because they have become self-sufficient in many ways. When a trainee does step out of line, the flight’s leaders often correct the problem without Stuart getting involved.“We use (cruise control) because it’s like having a vehicle training itself,” Stuart said. “It’s like being on auto-pilot and having an airplane go up into the sky, and as soon as it gets into the sky, it begins to fly itself.”The trainees test their endurance, strength and willpower on the obstacle course. They also learn team-building as they cheer each other on as they overcome each of the 20 obstacles. In week five, the trainees have their flight and individual photos taken, and Stuart stresses proper hydration and foot care. He begins pre-deployment preparation for the BEAST the following week, making sure every trainee has items needed from the BEAST Deployment Packing List. He leads the flight in a bag drag, a quick inspection of items needed to take to the BEAST. Once at the BEAST, when trainees get the opportunity to apply what they have learned in a deployed, war-time environment, the flight shows signs of what their MTI taught them through the first four weeks of training. The BEAST includes a weapons familiarization course; firing on the combat arms training and maintenance range; self-aid and buddy care scenarios; training to fight combatives with pugil sticks; and the Creating Leaders, Airmen and Warriors mission, which recently replaced the obstacle course. On the new course, the objectives are considered checkpoints rather than obstacles. The night before the culminating exercise at the end of BEAST week, Stackhouse and Parker enjoy the chance to focus on just being trainees without the burden of leadership duties.“We made a lot of mistakes in the first exercise, and it gradually got better,” Parker said. “All we could do was pinpoint those things we were still having trouble with and work on them.”At the end of week six, members of Flight 552 and several other flights in Sentinel, their living area zone, captures the BEAST Excellence Award by earning the fewest demerits in the culminating exercise. The award gives the flight 10 points toward becoming honor flight. A week later, Stuart learns the flight has won honor flight, making Flight 552 the top flight of all those graduating BMT that week. Honor flights traditionally receive an extra town pass during graduation week. Military training instructor, Tech. Sgt. Chananyah Stuart, inspects Flight 552′s guidon bearer, Airman Calvin Kim, before the graduation ceremony at Joint Base San Antonio-Lackland. (U.S. Air Force photo/Master Sgt. Jeffrey Allen)“Tech. Sgt. Stuart represents the very best aspects of our United States Air Force and the exceptional basic military training instructors assigned to the 37th Training Wing,” said. Col. Trent H. Edwards, the 37th TRW commander. “I am proud, not only of his individual leadership accomplishment, but the accomplishments of the members of Flight 552 for the team effort it took to be recognized as the honor flight.”In week seven, Stuart has his trainees complete their first Joint Hometown News Program release, and they take their written tests and complete their final evaluations in drill and physical fitness. In their final week, they see downtown San Antonio for the first time in two months, since they left the airport for the 30-minute bus ride to BMT. Once they receive their Airman’s coins at the Airman Coin and Retreat Ceremony, they can finally be called Airmen, and their big week concludes with their parade and graduation ceremony. Even though the flight took top honors, both at BEAST and in being named honor flight, Stuart’s impact was perhaps best illustrated in how the Flight 552 trainees adopted certain aspects of their instructor’s personality and teachings. Once, another MTI said he heard Stuart’s distinctive voice leading the flight in drill in the squadron atrium, or so he thought. The voice actually belonged to Parker, the flight’s dorm chief. As the trainees took on many of Stuart’s words, they also developed a deep respect, as their instructor knew they would from that first night’s march across the parade field.
“In the beginning, Tech. Sgt. Stuart was the only MTI I’d ever known, so I figured they were all like him,” Stackhouse said.. “Then, as the weeks progressed, I realized that he is actually, if not the best, one of the best MTIs out there, just from hearing other MTIs and flights talking about him and holding him in such high regard. It just makes me feel blessed to have been trained by him.”
- See more at: http://airman.dodlive.mil/2014/11/making-airmen/#sthash.5z4ajVVP.dpuf